Interview with Martin Eckstein, Lumics GmbH
Good morning, Martin! How did your love of lasers come about?
By coincidence: on an Erasmus exchange in Scotland, I ended up working on a laser research project because the team seemed so friendly. They had MacBooks! And then I thought, wicked, if they're doing physics on a MacBook, it can't be that complex. I'm away from home, I want to do something fun.
Sounds like a healthy attitude. But tell us in your own words how the project with Ambrosys materialized and what the challenge was?
Our production accumulates loads of data. Logistics, measurements, production control, ERP systems - data has been recorded there for 20 years. We build > 50,000 diodes a year, which are all measured individually and written to databases. And to manage this, a maze of purchased and self-programmed software has grown over the decades. Many developers have contributed and developed further, and over time have cobbled together a huge pile of stuff.
So you wanted a big, thorough solution?
I used to meet programmers at all sorts of parties and told them that we were a bit lost. And they then recommended Markus Abel from Ambrosys to me.
And what was Markus's answer when you described your situation to him?
Markus' answer was, of course, that he said "sure, we can do anything." But the common understanding of how Ambrosys can support us took a bit of time. They normally work strictly in these sprints. One sprint costs €10,000 for a junior and a developer. You have to define what they do really well beforehand. You can then check once or twice in between to see what comes out of it. And then, bang, the sprint is over and at the end you get a result, namely software that runs properly. If I concentrate properly, I manage to define what I want so well that I waste as few sprints as possible.
For you, development sprints feel like solid-rocket boosters that burn out quickly. Once you ignite them, you can no longer control them, you get a huge boost, but you don't know in which direction. Can I put it like that?
Yes, something like that. Of course, it's very efficient if you want a result, because there are a lot of people behind it, a lot of power, a lot of know-how. Let’s say I'm TollCollect, I go to Ambrosys and say: I trust you, you get a good brief, and off you go. In such a case, this sprint technique is awesome. The development company has peace of mind and comes back with the result. But we are not a large corporation, we are a medium-sized company that has to adapt extremely quickly to feedback from the market. That means we are a "tinkering shop", in a positive sense. We do everything small and iteratively. Here, you can come in after a week and say: Hey, I've noticed that button, something else needs to happen there, and I need a different view.
I find what you're saying quite interesting. Because from the perspective of a large IT project, those sprints are exactly the small steps that allow you to work in an iterative and agile way.
Sure, they are like a very powerful booster, as you said. Once they've been unleashed, they get you very far very quickly. But it's a bit too big for us.
But Ambrosys accepted the "tinkering". Didn't they?
Yes, they did. They fancy working with us, for sure. And we've already learned an awful lot from Ambrosys, simply because someone shows us how to do it properly.
Ambrosys offers coaching, but also the development of components or applications. What are they better at? Coaching or developing themselves?
They are better at developing things themselves – that's my impression – because they have all the experience. Of course, they facepalm big time when they see our level.
Have you already reached a stage where you can take stock? How does it feel to work with Ambrosys?
How does it feel? You feel understood. They really try to get involved with us. It's very positive that they try to adapt to our needs. Adapt to the fact that we need more coaching and a more small-scale schedule.
From your understanding, what would you recommend Ambrosys for, for whom or for what use?
They are a good partner for companies that want to outsource their software development and need very secure, very GDPR-compliant solutions quickly. For authorities or anyone who has highly sensitive processes in their infrastructure and needs future-proof software that is not available on the market. That's where I see them as a suitable partner, i.e. for high-end processes, data analysis and security. When someone says: I'm going to hand over full responsibility to you.
Those were lots of interesting answers with many perspectives new to me. I wish you a successful day and thank you very much for your help!
Yes, good luck to you then! Bye.