The 20th VDA-QMC Quality Summit of the Automotive Industry opened today in Berlin. The focus of the two-day summit will be on approaches to solving problems such as continuously improving the quality of products, processes and systems of companies in the German automotive industry, even against the backdrop of changing and growing challenges. A good dozen renowned speakers from the German and international automotive industry will give lectures and debate on current topics such as software-defined vehicles, artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and diversity.
The annual quality summit is the most important specialist conference for automotive quality management in Germany. The event is organized by the Quality Management Center (VDA QMC), a department of the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). This year, around 150 representatives from the German and international automotive industry are taking part in the summit, which is taking place in the Classic Remise Berlin.
“The transition to climate-neutral mobility of the future has increased the pace. Today, more innovations are being developed and brought to market than in former phases of the automotive supply chain. At the same time, new challenges have emerged. These include a much more stringent international regulatory framework, new competitors and a deteriorating political framework that is challenging companies and can only be overcome through strong quality management,” VDA President Hildegard Müller said at the opening of the event.
In her speech, Müller also addressed this year’s title of the summit ‘Quality is more than…’. She emphasized: “For companies in the German automotive industry, quality goes far beyond the issue of product quality. German automobile manufacturers and suppliers offer quality in all production and business processes and are also constantly developing these processes further – this is exactly what makes their products so good and in demand worldwide. Quality is the cornerstone of the global success of the German automotive industry, the success of the transformation and the safe, digital and climate-neutral mobility of the future.”
The German automotive industry is determined and committed to the Paris climate goals, the VDA President continued. “In the years 2024 to 2028 alone, companies in the German automotive industry will invest around €280bn in research and development. In addition, there will be around €130bn for the construction and conversion of production facilities and their equipment. This underlines the will of our industry to successfully implement the transformation as quickly as possible.”
SOURCE: VDA
