Imagining tomorrow’s products today

An exclusive interview with a technical leader

Larry Maloney, Contributing Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 2/1/2007

Michael Vohrer President and CEO Rohde & Schwarz Munich, Germany Michael Vohrer studied communications engineering and began his professional career at Rohde & Schwarz in 1975. Starting as a development engineer, he rose to become head of the Test and Measurement Division in 1996, responsible for the marketing, design, and development of T&M instruments and systems. In 2003, Vohrer became a member of the Executive Board and was appointed president and COO, in charge of the Broadcasting Division and the Test and Measurement, Radiomonitoring and Radiolocation Division. In January 2006, he became CEO of the company, which employs 6800 people in more than 70 countries. Contributing editor Larry Maloney spoke with Vohrer about industry trends in a recent telephone interview. Michasel Vohrer offers additional comments on LXI, telecommunications issues, and new growth opportunities in the continuation of this interview.

Q: How do you assess the progress of your company after a year as CEO?

A: We continue to build on the Rohde & Schwarz reputation for quality products and fast customer service. In the 2005–2006 fiscal year, which ended in June, we had net revenues of approximately €1.3 billion (approximately $2.52 billion), about an 18% increase over the 2004–2005 year.

Q: What do you see as the biggest challenges in continuing this growth?

A: The Internet is turning the world into a village. Our customers, especially the large mobile-communications companies, are becoming more international. So, we need to offer a global line-up of products, as well as the same excellent service, no matter where our customers are located. We also must be sensitive to the different mindsets and cultures of employees and customers worldwide. And we need to put continued emphasis on innovation in products, sales, and service.

Q: What were your most significant product introductions of 2006?

A: A major new product for EMC test is our R&S ESU family of EMI test receivers. These receivers use FFT-based test methods that perform measurements up to 100 times faster than earlier receivers. Another notable product is the R&S FSUP, which combines in one instrument a sophisticated spectrum analyzer and a phase-noise tester. The result is a much simpler and less costly test set for engineers who develop communications, broadcast, and radar systems.

For mobile digital TV, we developed a new test platform, the SFU, which is compatible with all five global standards: DVB-H, T-DMB, ISDB-T, DMB-TH, and MediaFlo in the US. We believe we have an advantage in this market because of our long experience with test platforms for producers of mobile phones. Increasingly, mobile-phone technology will be combined with mobile digital TV standards.

Q: How about new technologies?

A: Standards in such fields as mobile communications are expanding continually. So, our company needs to be integrally involved in defining tomorrow’s standards. That means working closely with standards groups and large customer companies all over the world. We plan to offer test and measurement solutions at a very early stage for emerging generations of mobile-phone and mobile-radio applications. For instance, we are up-to-date on a large product portfolio for HSPA (high-speed packet access), a technology that will allow mobile phones to provide data rates similar to wireless LAN and WiMax.

At the 2006 Electronica show, we demonstrated the first solutions for generating and analyzing signals for UMTS Long Term Evolution (LTE), a technology that allows high-data-rate applications for future mobile phones. WiMax also is very important, and we provide a wide range of RF test devices for development and production.

Q: What other steps do you take to foster innovation?

A: As a private company, we have greater freedom to pursue technologies that customers are going to need two, three, or five years from now. Late in 2005, we opened in Munich a new 16,000-m2 R&D facility, which is home to about 500 development engineers. There, we follow a strategy of keeping in our own hands technologies that are core to our competitive advantage, such as microwave innovations, very fast analog-to-digital converters, and integration of functionality on ICs. If I can use only those technologies that I can buy, then I am limited to doing what others do. That is not enough for Rohde & Schwarz.