The innovation committee, which is populated by ARN Managing Director Paul Dietz, ARN Battery & Quality Assurance Manager Janet Kes and a number of external experts, meets four times a year. “The committee was set up so that, with the aid of external experts, we could open up to external influences and developments,” offers Janet Kes. “We reveal what we are currently doing and the external specialists tell us about developments in their respective fields. In this way we can keep each other on our toes with respect to what we can expect in the longer term. We can thus make sure that ARN can continue to comply with the obligations that will be imposed on us tomorrow and the day after.”
Excellent example
Like preceding years, the committee met four times in 2022. Topics on the agenda included: expected legislation and regulations, collaborations with future battery processors, inside and outside the Netherlands, and research into the deep discharging and dismantling of battery packs by car-dismantling companies. An excellent example of a project that was spearheaded by the innovation committee and realised in 2022 is the EV dismantling starter set.
Roadmap
The committee has defined four main themes, namely: Car batteries, Vehicle configuration, Digitalisation and Business models. “We have developed a roadmap for each of these themes, with projects that will take further shape in the coming years,” explains Kes. “Furthermore, the committee is helping us to further expand our network. We have already established contacts with knowledge institutes and universities, for example.”
Kes is quick to emphasise that the themes the committee discusses are often topics that ARN is already proactively working on. “Several times a year we discuss whether we are still on the right track and if there are potential aspects that we might still need to take into account. Each time it constitutes an opportunity for the organisation to verify that everything that we are doing really needs to be done.”