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“Mobility Solutions for the Future” is the field of expertise for FMS GmbH (Future Mobility Solutions). The company, based in Gaimersheim, Bavaria, is active in areas such as consulting, planning and development of systems for digitization and autonomous driving. This includes communication between cars and traffic lights. In addition, they provide technical services in the automotive sector including the conversion of existing vehicles. Future Mobility Solutions was awarded the Bavarian Founders Prize 2019 for its innovative concepts in the concept category.

Innovation Origins spoke to director and co-founder Prof. Dr. Harry Wagner about his company.

The founders: Prof. Dr. Harry Wagner and Dipl. Ing. Josef Obermeier © FMS

How did you come up with the idea for this start-up?

Mobility is an issue that affects all levels of society. The changes in mobility over the next 10-15 years will be similar to the changes telecommunications went through during the past 15 years. New trends will lead to new business models. Along with new players on the market and changes in the value creation structure. We want FMS to address this transition and provide total solutions. Not just for industry, but also for cities, municipalities and public transport companies.

What makes Future Mobility Solutions so special compared to the competition and what problems does it resolve?

We differentiate between mobility solutions that are used in a product and mobility services that guarantee users access to future mobility. Digitization and software development play crucial roles in both cases. Our added value is that we look at the entire mobility ecosystem. For example, we develop solutions for autonomous driving and the associated concepts for infrastructure managers. We are able to cover the entire development cycle for mobility-specific problems. In addition to functionality and software development, integration and testing are also possible. As well as research and the creation of innovative solutions.

As such, we can design mobility solutions for both consumers and businesses, digitize business processes and models or build applications. The ‘Virtual City’ is one of our products. Traffic and mobility can be visualized on a large scale and simulated in the future using this tool. This enables us to support various related projects in a targeted manner.

What has been the biggest obstacle that you have had to overcome?

Last winter, when had no heating in our offices and were fully booked up with orders and the delivery of our warm, soft shell jackets was also delayed. This didn’t break the team spirit fortunately, but working on developing software code with cold hands was a bit uncomfortable.

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What motivates you to go to work every morning?

What motivates me at the moment is that the heating in our newly renovated rooms actually works. Seriously: What motivates me is working with my teams on the diverse and innovative solutions that we are proud and passionate about developing for ourselves and our customers.

Was there ever a moment when you wanted to give up?

Every day at 5:30 a.m. when the alarm goes off. But at 5:45 the anticipation of a new day kicks in. We haven’t thought about giving up yet.

And vice versa: What are you particularly proud of?

This year, I was especially proud to receive the “Bavarian Founders Award” in the category “Concept” and to be nominated for the last round of the eMove360° Award 2019 in the category “Mobility Concepts & Software”. I am above all proud of my team here, because these awards are for our employees and their ideas.

What can we expect from you in the coming years?

Various solutions for improving mobility. We call one of them Mobility Roaming, but we don’t want to talk about that yet. Aside from that, we will continue to work on developing Virtual City as an industry-wide solution. Above all, we want to have a positive impact on tomorrow’s sustainable mobility.

What is your vision for future mobility solutions?

We want to be a leading partner for all mobility issues in the future and develop excellent, unique and innovative products, services, processes and business models in cooperation with our customers.