Innovation Challenges

How might we enable MANN+HUMMEL to deliver consistent, and expert-quality recommendations to customers in a scalable and timely manner digitally?

What are we looking for?

MANN+HUMMEL is seeking innovative solutions that can streamline and accelerate solution design, product selection, and product comparison, enabling faster, more consistent, and scalable decision making across diverse water and filtration applications. The objective is to reduce manual effort and reliance on individual experts by standardising customer input and systematising technical knowledge and decision logic—ensuring recommendations are accurate, transparent, and grounded in real-world operating requirements.

The desired outcome is improved operational efficiency, shorter response times, and scalable expertise that strengthens customer trust and improves experience. By preserving appropriate expert oversight and decision transparency, MANN+HUMMEL aims to respond more confidently and rapidly to complex challenges worldwide, whilst laying the foundation for future-ready, knowledge-driven innovation.

How might we enable mining operators to reduce total cost of ownership through real-time equipment insights, predictive maintenance capabilities and optimised fleet coordination, to reduce downtime and maximise operational efficiency?

What are we looking for?

MANN+HUMMEL is seeking innovative solutions that provide off-highway mining businesses with an integrated telematics platform to optimise fleet management and reduce operational costs. The solution should deliver a seamless service combining telecommunications and informatics to collect, transmit, and analyse real-time data from mining vehicles and equipment. By utilising sensors, GPS, and wireless networks to monitor performance, location, and equipment health, the platform should enable predictive maintenance capabilities that improve operational efficiency and minimise downtime.

This initiative represents a strategic expansion of MANN+HUMMEL's service offering through new subscription-based business models, where customers can access tiered service packages tailored to their operational needs. The solution should demonstrate clear value proposition for mining operators whilst creating sustainable revenue streams through service-based engagement.

The solution should address off-highway equipment including tractors, dumpers, graders, bulldozers, excavators, loaders, drilling machines, compactors, power generation units, and commercial trucks. Important considerations include integration with critical filtration systems including fuel, oil, air, water separators, and hydraulic filters to provide comprehensive equipment monitoring.

How might we extend the value of heavy-duty filtration beyond the product to strengthen reliability, enhance safety, improve uptime and maintain trust in increasingly complex and automated operations?

What are we looking for?

As heavy-duty operations become more complex, distributed, and automated, many of the emerging challenges are no longer driven by a lack of technology, but by how information, responsibility, and trust are managed across the operating ecosystem. MANN+HUMMEL is open to digital, system-level, service-based and hybrid approaches that complement its existing filtration products and IPs, rather than replacing them.

Solvers should clearly indicate which of the four challenge areas below their solution addresses and specify which components would be included in their proof-of-concept demonstration. Solutions may tackle a single challenge area comprehensively or integrate multiple areas into a unified approach, but proposals must articulate the scope and focus of their intended solution clearly.

How might we enable end-to-end traceability of incidents and maintenance actions in heavy-duty environments so aftermarket stakeholders can make sustainability-led decisions that reduce waste and increase circularity?

What are we looking for?

MANN+HUMMEL is seeking new open-ended concepts, platforms, or service models that help shift aftermarket maintenance from a reactive, product-centric approach to a more predictive, transparent, and sustainability-driven system. Instead of isolated tools or ad hoc solutions, they are looking for innovative ideas that may focus on one or more parts of the aftermarket ecosystem, including fleet operators, workshops, technicians, distributors, and sustainability teams.

Solvers should clearly indicate which of the following challenge areas (Sustainability Reporting & Traceability, Education & Engagement, and/or Circularity Initiatives) their solution addresses and specify which components would be included in their proof-of-concept demonstration. Solutions may tackle a single challenge area comprehensively or integrate multiple areas into a unified approach, but proposals must articulate the scope and focus of their intended solution clearly.

In addition, MANN+HUMMEL is open to innovative ideas across all solution spaces that can integrate seamlessly with existing maintenance and operational workflows, support informed decision-making at the point of action, and can scale across products, customer types, and geographies. Proposals should consider the realities of remote operations, limited connectivity, and time-constrained workflows, while remaining scalable across customers, applications, regions, and products.

How might we develop an integrated recruitment and workforce management system that streamlines end-to-end operations, enhances internal efficiency, and strengthens candidate retention within MCI’s ecosystem?

What are we looking for?

MCI is seeking an integrated end-to-end digital recruitment and workforce management mobile platform to reduce operational complexity from job posting and scheduling to timesheet tracking and salary payout. The solution should improve efficiency, provide a seamless experience for candidates, clients and internal teams, and ultimately strengthen candidate retention within MCI's ecosystem especially for fast jobs.

How might we empower SMEs to independently steer the industrial design process through a virtual designer that embodies NOK's design sensibility and expertise?

What are we looking for?

NOK is looking for a solution that guides SME customers through the industrial design process—from crafting user personas, product narratives, design directions, and mood boards to generating production-ready prototype designs aligned with their brand and vision. Acting as a virtual designer, the solution should leverage NOK's proprietary library of design materials and embody their design expertise, enabling SMEs to move independently from conceptualisation to generating a production ready design. The prototype will focus on the conceptualisation stage and consumer electronics as a product category, serving as proof-of-concept for broader implementation. 

How might we create an integrated solution that automates career placement programme processes from enrolment to employment tracking, enabling data-driven decisions and real-time visibility across the entire trainee journey?

What are we looking for?

NTUC LHub is seeking a comprehensive end-to-end solution to streamline and enhance the management of these career placement programmes and enable better capturing and tracking of all trainee data and drive good quality placement matches between employers and trainees resulting in better placement outcomes. This solution should streamline the entire career placement workflow, from initial trainee application through to post-training employment verification, while maintaining clear audit trails and supporting both assisted and self-sourced job placements.

How might we streamline and standardise fragmented clinical education workflows through a single, unified system that improves operational efficiency and reduces manual effort across disciplines?

What are we looking for?

Manual consolidation remains common across the various NUH disciplines, increasing administrative workload and slowing decision-making for appraisal, tutor billing, awards and programme quality improvement. As clinical education volume grow and stakeholder expectations increase, there is a pressing need to move towards a consolidated, scalable system that can harmonise workflows, standardise data collection and provide a single source of truth across Medicine, Allied Health, Nursing and Training programmes.

How might we develop a portable, proactive monitoring system to help site supervisors and QAQC engineers capture site conditions and safety compliance in real time, reducing on-site manual supervision and enabling more efficient inspections?

What are we looking for?

The solution should be an installation monitoring and tracking system that integrates seamlessly with the existing Google AppSheet environment, with the following features:

• Portable/wearable devices. Lightweight, easy-to-manage devices for workers to capture live site conditions during installation.

• Real-time monitoring and alerts. A proactive detection solution that allows remote visibility and identification of safety lapses and installation accuracy in real-time, with timely notifications to the relevant supervisor. The solution should be able to compare against approved shop/conceptual drawings.

• Human-in-loop feedback. Include a feedback loop that enables supervisors to point out discrepancies, inconsistencies or additional lapses, thereby allowing the system to learn over time and improve future detections.

 • Centralised dashboard. Provide a web-based dashboard that serves as a single source of truth and provides an overview for all sites and locations, enabling real-time tracking of installation and inspection progress.