Stefan Endtner, ASC Head of Sensor Production

What made you decide to pursue a technical career?

I was born a “technician”, so to speak. My father was self-employed in the electronics industry. Naturally, this meant that relevant discussions were the order of the day at home in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. Of course, I began to take an interest in this field. Later, when I was a teenager finding out about different apprenticeship options, it quickly became clear to me: I didn’t want to work in a bank, wearing a suit …

How did your professional training continue?

I really come from a practical background. First, I completed an apprenticeship as an industrial electronics technician specializing in device technology at the German mobility group Continental AG. For over 150 years, experienced teams and professionals have been working there to create innovative solutions to improve sustainable, safe vehicles, traffic and transportation systems. Not only was I able to learn the basics of the trade, but I also gained an incredible amount of practical know-how from this training.

I then worked as a production documentation clerk, where I created parts lists and circuit diagrams, among other things. This experience further sharpened my technical eye for detail and taught me just how important precision and care are in production documentation – a foundation that still benefits me in my current position.

What other experiences are proving to be of value today?

After gaining the necessary professional experience, I completed further training as a technician and returned to Continental as a certified IT technician. I then worked there for a further 16 years in test engineering, in the development of electronic brake control units. In this role, I would typically design test specifications for in-line function analyses of the control units around our global plants. To be able to do this, I had to rigorously scrutinize the circuits, test software and evaluation systems used. My tasks also included error analysis and plant support.

In 2021, I switched to software development and started creating firmware for our in-house developed measuring equipment. This allowed me to further deepen my technical understanding and to gain invaluable insights to the development of efficient and reliable measurement systems.

You joined ASC Sensors in the end of 2024. How do you experience the corporate culture of a company of a completely different size to that of your long-standing employer?

The transition from a large corporation of almost 200,000 employees to a highly specialized, small company was considerable. I was welcomed with open arms and have since been able to contribute a lot of experience from the corporate environment in terms of workflows and processes. People at ASC are very open to new ideas. Another key difference is the short decision-making processes. When I used to have an idea for improvement, it often took more than a year to implement it – if this happened at all. At ASC, on the other hand, I literally walk through open doors: You get decisions quickly, usually immediately. As a result, you also get direct feedback from colleagues, who are happy when a process adjustment facilitates their work, for example. In short, you experience the impact of your contributions and enjoy making a difference. I didn’t know that before.

What is your role as a production manager – what are you responsible for?

I have overall responsibility for the quality of our sensor production at ASC. No matter where the cause of a problem: I take care of it. My “typical” working day is, therefore, different almost every day … Activities include procurement and inventory management as well as process improvements, so that our team has the appropriate tools, components and work instructions available for smooth production. For new products, it’s also about development tasks jointly with our engineers. For example, defining the right dimensions for new sensor housings, so that all technical components and cables fit inside. Supplier collaboration, support of any problems, error analyses, coordination of final assembly and much more are all part of the job.

How do you implement individual customer needs?

Special requirements first come to me via our key account engineers. We then typically spend good time together, understanding customer needs and problems and discussing how we can best meet these. ASC takes the time to implement customer requests precisely, to a high quality and promptly. You could also call it bespoke sensor solutions.

How do you tackle difficult problems?

First, I look at where exactly the problem lies: What are the possible causes and how can they be eliminated? Only then do I look at the details. Because if the actual core problem cannot be localized, there is little point in correcting the details. With complex problems, it can help to break them down into “packages” and work through them in order of importance.

What can ASC customers expect from you?

A great commitment to realizing your wishes, flexibility, creative thinking, striving for the highest quality. I meet people honestly and openly. And I think that I remain relatively calm in the face of difficult situations. Those who act calmly almost always see through things and solve them more quickly.

How do you spend your time outside work?

I’m a family man with two children. One of my passions is numismatics. I’m particularly fond of the historic Ingolstadt “four-stroke pennies”: simple squares cut from sheet silver from the 14th and 15th centuries, the corners of which were shaped into a coin-like form with four deliberate strokes and given a rather primitive embossing. I also enjoy riding my motorcycle and tinkering with my bikes and our vintage car. In the end, I remain a technician at heart …