From Problem Understanding to Continuous Transformation
Accelerating R&D performance through structured transformation
Dräger, a global leader in medical and safety technology with a strong focus on ventilators, anesthesia, and neonatal care devices, sought to significantly enhance its R&D performance. Facing increasing regulatory complexity and competitive pressure, Dräger partnered with Siemens Advanta to establish a scalable transformation program enabling faster innovation cycles while maintaining uncompromising quality and compliance standards.
Dräger was confronted with structural and operational challenges within its R&D organization:
- Needed to accelerate time-to-market without compromising quality
- Increasing system complexity in digital-first and customer-driven product development
- Limited transparency across R&D projects and bottlenecks
- High coordination effort in cross-functional, multi-project environments
- Requirement to embed regulatory and compliance excellence into every development increment
To remain competitive, Dräger required more than incremental improvements – it needed a holistic, system-wide transformation of its R&D operating model.
We designed and implemented a tailored, end-to-end R&D transformation program based on a comprehensive diagnostic of the existing operating system and selected flagship projects.
Key elements of the transformation included:
- Strategic Northstar Definition: Clear alignment on ambition, performance targets, and governance structure.
- Unified R&D Operating System: Standardized processes, transparency mechanisms, and decision frameworks.
- Proactive Bottleneck Management: Early identification and resolution of critical constraints.
- Impact-Driven Project Governance: Structured prioritization and outcome-focused steering across complex initiatives.
- Mindset & Culture Shift: Embedding excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement across the organization.
- Platform & Reuse Strategy: Leveraging modular architectures to enable scalable innovation.
This structured transformation created a robust foundation for sustainable performance improvement.
The transformation program delivered measurable and lasting results:
- 30+ improvements implemented within 12 months
- 60+ additional improvement measures identified and in progress
- ~10% velocity increase in running R&D projects
- Shortened development cycles and improved operational transparency
- Strengthened capability to scale best practices across product lines
By establishing a scalable R&D operating model, Dräger enhanced its innovation performance while reinforcing regulatory excellence - creating a competitive advantage in a highly demanding MedTech environment.
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