In the TÜV NORD GROUP we set great store by dialogue in the spirit of partnership between the customers and our experts. We listen and work together to come up with solutions. Here are six examples which show how we have helped our customers take the right steps.
With kaayo, TÜV NORD is offering workshops, appraisers and lawyers a digital platform that simplifies claims processing.
The kaayo digital platform is a corporate start-up of the Mobility business unit of the TÜV NORD GROUP. It makes settling claims in the event of an accident more transparent and error-free and thus more convenient for all parties involved. “The whole thing is basically software for efficient collaboration between workshops, appraisers and lawyers,” says Christian Hegel, Managing Director of kaayo. kaayo has been in the market since 1 July 2024. Ten members of staff are employed by the company.
“An accident often brings with it a whole string of problems. It’s easy to lose track of things,” says Annika Appelhoff, Project Manager at TÜV NORD Mobilität. kaayo simplifies the processes. Service companies can easily and conveniently create claims in kaayo and network all service providers with one another.
The efficiency gain begins with the damage report: Injured parties receive a QR code or link from their workshop. This will take them to the individualised website on kaayo, where they can report their claims for themselves. This immediately gives workshop employees, appraisers and lawyers a complete overview of the case, allowing them to receive orders and enquiries directly and communicate with each other. “This saves countless phone calls, e-mails and faxes and shortens processing times,” says Christian Hegel. “We’ve found not only that kaayo reduces labour and costs, but also that its ease of use also increases our customers’ sales. Our customers like using kaayo for this and many other reasons,” says the managing director with a smile.
Here’s a recent success story: “Within a few weeks, we succeeded in converting a workshop chain with 13 sites to kaayo,” Mr. Hegel reports. “With such a strong and flexible team, we’re confident about the future.”
Christian Hegel, Managing Director of kaayo, and Annika Appelhoff, Project Manager at TÜV NORD Mobilität
The work of the specialists at the TÜV NORD high-frequency-laboratory in Cologne ensures that devices which emit a radio signal do not interfere with each other.
A world without radio or EMC testing would be a world with significant interference. It’s to prevent this scenario that there are high-frequency laboratories such as the one in TÜV NORD’s Industry business unit. They carry out precision testing of the radio technology installed in devices and evaluate its security. The TÜV NORD high-frequency laboratory is one of the few in Europe that covers frequencies from 9 kilohertz to 330 gigahertz. The team led by Laboratory Head Ralf Trepper tests devices for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), i.e. their immunity to interference and effects on other devices, for frequency use (radio), i.e. the effect they have on other radio devices, and for electromagnetic fields (EMF) which can have an impact on people.
“Our focus is on RED tests,” explains Mr. Trepper. RED stands for the EU’s Radio Equipment Directive. Before a device with radio technology can be introduced onto the market, it must first pass all relevant tests in the above-mentioned areas.
“We test distance warning aids in cars, garage door openers, remote keys, washing machines, construction site traffic lights and VR goggles – in short, devices in which radio technology is installed,” explains Denis Raschka, Mr. Trepper’s deputy. Cybersecurity is also becoming increasingly important and will be an integral part of RED from 2025. “We work very closely with our colleagues from TÜVIT,” says Mr. Raschka. “The data security of wireless communication is checked for vulnerabilities and its ability to withstand cyberattacks.” Once all the tests have been passed and all requirements met, the device is cleared for market launch. Of the approximately 150 devices tested in the laboratory each year, about 60 percent have to be reworked beforehand.
The experts have already tested many devices and witnessed over time the rapid development of this technology, which requires constant investment. “The challenge is to recognise trends early on and make proper investment decisions. So far, we’ve succeeded in doing that,” says Mr. Trepper.
Ralf Trepper (right), head of TÜV NORD’s high frequency laboratory, and Dennis Raschka, his deputy
In Hanover, the public transport company ÜSTRA has gone over to electric buses – a climate-friendly alternative, but one that also poses challenges.
When the bus batteries are being charged and the light rail vehicles supplied with power, load peaks occur in the power grid. To compensate for these, the braking energy of the light rail vehicles, which has hitherto simply been wasted, is now also being utilised. ÜSTRA and the railway technology group Alstom have developed an innovative direct current substation.
The surplus braking energy of the light rail vehicles is recovered and stored, fed back into the traction power grid and used to charge the electric buses. This takes the strain off the public power grid and ensures that the buses don’t grind to a halt in the event of a power outage. Another sustainable feature is the utilisation of used bus batteries whose capacity is no longer sufficient for driving operations: They are given a second lease of life as part of the storage system. This saves resources and reduces waste.
“Our safety and risk analyses have contributed to the safe operation of this innovative project which brings together the mobility and power grid sectors,” explains Verena Schneider, Head of New Energy Business in the Energy & Resources business unit of the TÜV NORD GROUP. Since the existing regulations for railway technology and the power grid do not take this kind of innovative sectoral twinning into account, TÜV NORD has stepped in to support the development with its expert opinions.
The power requirements of the trains fluctuate – depending on whether they are accelerating or braking. The new storage system reduces these fluctuations. “ÜSTRA and Alstom have found a sustainable and efficient solution that will take the strain off the public power grid, even with the expansion of electric mobility, and are in this way making a contribution to the energy transition,” says Malte Berghaus, Head of Power Grids at TÜV NORD.
Germany’s Pro-Rail Alliance has awarded this concept the country’s Transport Transition Award – proof of how groundbreaking the solution is for the sustainable future of local transport. “We see ourselves not only as auditors, but also as supporters of developments of this kind, and are helping make sustainable solutions like these both safe and viable in the long term,” says Mr. Berghaus.
Verena Schneider, Head of New Energy Business in the Energy & Resources business unit, and Malte Berghaus, Head of Power Grids, both TÜV NORD
At first glance, climate change and IT security don’t seem to have much to do with each other. Leevi Lee and his team train companies in Asia and beyond to look more closely at both.
The people of Taiwan are well practised in dealing with the forces of nature. Earthquakes regularly shake the small island in the South China Sea, and tropical storms swirl over it, dumping vast amounts of rain. Due to climate change, precipitation is decreasing overall, but heavy rainfall and droughts are becoming more frequent. This affects not only the local economy, but also supply chains around the globe. Taiwan plays a key role in the global economy: Most of the computer chips that are installed worldwide come from here. What happens when supplies falter is something the world experienced during the Covid 19 pandemic.
Leevi Lee is Senior Product Manager IT Service at TÜV NORD Taiwan, where he leads the team in the Certification business unit, which certifies information management systems according to ISO 27001. The auditors are working on behalf of companies in Taiwan and twenty other countries to establish how they can remain operational in the event of flooded server rooms and drought-related production stoppages, for example. Mr. Lee is supporting the government of Taiwan in matters concerning the country’s critical infrastructure and also well-known chip manufacturers. “Information security is playing a crucial role in making operational processes sustainable in the face of climate change,” says Leevi Lee, adding: “All stakeholders need to understand the complex relationship between these two areas. Only then will they be able to develop suitable strategies to build climate-resilient processes.” In the manufacturing industry, many companies traditionally have a second production site outside Taiwan – or at least the opportunity to set one up quickly in the event of a crisis. Redundancy is just one of many strategies that Leevi Lee and his colleagues recommend.
When the most violent earthquake in 25 years shook Taiwan on 3 April 2024, it became clear how resilient the island state was – in no small part thanks to the activities of TÜV NORD: The following day, almost all households had had their power restored, and trains were running again in the area close to the epicentre.
Leevi Lee, Senior Product Manager IT Service, TÜV NORD Taiwan
Seville-based ALTER, part of the TÜV NORD GROUP, is supporting ESA and NASA in a space project. In the LISA mission, the history of the universe is being researched using gravitational waves.
ALTER, a company in the Digital & Semiconductor business unit, is playing a decisive role in equipping the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) space mission of ESA and NASA. “The mission is an exciting technical challenge,” says Eva Díaz, Business Development Manager at ALTER. As a Coordinated Parts Procurement Agency, ALTER’s job is to ensure that all the requirements of the European Space Agency ESA for high-precision electronics are met. “We’re accompanying the project at every stage – from design to procurement to testing the technology as a whole,” explains Ms. Díaz.
LISA will be the first gravitational-wave observatory to be stationed in space and is scheduled for launch in the next decade. Gravitational waves are waves in space-time caused by massive cosmic events such as the fusion of black holes or neutron stars. The mission consists of three space probes arranged in a triangle with a side length of 2.5 million kilometres whose distances are measured by laser interferometry. The design is intended to render visible cosmic phenomena such as the fusion of black holes and to deliver insights into the nature of space that cannot be captured with conventional light.
Alongside procurement, ALTER is also responsible for the quality control of the electronics. The components must withstand extreme conditions such as massive temperature fluctuations and cosmic radiation. “They mustn’t be allowed fail, because repairing them in space isn’t possible,” explains Eva Díaz. This is why ALTER is testing every component in state-of-the-art laboratories. The tests simulate the conditions in space and include, for example, thermal vacuum and radiation tests. The use of acoustic techniques is important in all cases and crucial when it comes to detecting material irregularities such as cavities, porosity or cracks.
The work will take at least seven years. “The project will give us even more recognition and underpin our leading position as a supplier of semiconductors for scientific missions,” says Eva Díaz.
Eva Díaz, Business Development Manager, ALTER
TÜV NORD has taken a stake in 3spin Learning, a digital platform for immersive training. Realistic courses can be created with virtual and augmented reality, all without any programming knowledge. The potential for companies is enormous.
TÜV NORD has acquired shares in the 3spin Learning platform, with the aim of integrating immersive learning methods into the courses offered by the in-house academy in the People & Empowerment business unit. “This is allowing us to offer our participants some completely new learning experiences,” says Melanie Rudolph, Head of Corporate Development at the TÜV NORD Akademie.
“It’s all about the digitalisation of learning by doing,” explains Thomas Hoger, Managing Director of 3spin Learning. “The platform makes it possible to simulate complex scenarios that would be impossible or difficult to implement in the real world,” adds co-Managing Director Oliver Göck. For example, learners can look virtually into a machine or undertake training that would be too dangerous or expensive to carry out in reality. “This type of learning can be repeated at will and is completely risk-free,” Mr. Hoger adds. Learners can use the platform with VR goggles or on a notebook.
3spin Learning has already convinced some well-known customers such as Lufthansa, Deutsche Bahn, a number of universities and pharmaceutical companies. The possible applications are wide-ranging: From onboarding and sales calls to emergency and crisis management or fire drills, the platform offers the right solution for a wide range of training scenarios. Thanks to artificial intelligence, interactive training scenarios can be implemented with 3D avatars.
A particular benefit is evident in cost and risk management. Companies such as airlines can use virtual training to avoid expensive machine downtime while still offering realistic training opportunities. Another highlight of the platform is the ability it gives customers to create and customise their own courses with AI support. In this way, companies can offer their employees ideal training opportunities.
With its integration of 3spin Learning, TÜV NORD is now in the position to support customers with innovative, practical and sustainable training solutions. Immersive learning is thus on the way to becoming the new standard in education.
Thomas Hoger (left), Managing Director of 3spin Learning, Melanie Rudolph, Head of Corporate Development at the TÜV NORD Akademie, and Oliver Göck, Co-Managing Director of 3spin Learning