How TRATON is boosting innovation and efficiency

Where should you begin if you are creating a completely new department within the TRATON GROUP? A business unit that will bring together 9,000 employees from the Scania, MAN, International, and Volkswagen Truck & Bus brands under one umbrella? For Rawan Hasan, this was a unique moment that offered the opportunity to leverage the joint potential of the various research and development departments. “The first step was to ensure transparency,” says Hasan, who has a degree in engineering. 

“First, we defined the responsibilities of the central functions of the TRATON GROUP and of the individual brands. The next stage involved establishing a new R&D governance team and an organizational structure. Then we drew up a transition plan for transferring all the employees into the new Group R&D department,” she explains. “Alongside operational precision, the most important factor was to translate strategic decisions into real-life actions.” 

Every decision and every move had direct consequences for individual people within the organization. This was a considerable responsibility that Hasan was constantly aware of. “During this transition, the employees were and still are our main priority,” she says. “Throughout the entire restructuring process, they were always at the top of the list.” 

The extensive experience that Rawan Hasan has gained in previous roles stood her in good stead for her current position. Among other things, she was an object test manager, development engineer, a strategic project manager, and a member of the Cross Talent Network at Scania. As a result, she has an in-depth understanding of the strength of attachment between employees and their brands. She knows that the decisive factor in a successful transformation is explaining why certain decisions have been made and communicating this to employees on every level. 

“Part of the reason why this step is so complex is because we all come from different brands and sites and bring different backgrounds and experiences with us,” she says. “The most important thing is to understand that we are working together in the face of current and future competition within the industry.”

The passionate engineer is deeply grateful that the process was a success and that the new TRATON R&D organization could begin its work in July 2025.  
This was also made possible by the excellent collaboration with the project management team, whose dedicated and knowledgeable colleagues helped to put the carve-out into practice. 

Even more innovative and efficient 

Rawan Hasan’s career in the TRATON GROUP began in 2019 in the autonomous systems department at Scania. She helped to develop a speed assistant for autonomous driving systems. “It was very exciting to be able to work with such highly qualified people and to be part of one of the most technologically advanced departments during my master thesis work ,” she recalls. 

Today, she is a member of the TRATON Modular Solutions area team. This team ensures, among other things, that the components solutions developed across the various value creation flows areas consistently meet both brand identity requirements and customer expectations over time. 
In the future, the new Group R&D organization will ensure that the entire TRATON GROUP can exploit the full potential of this modular system. 

Within this field of modular solutions, Rawan Hasan and her colleagues are responsible for developing and adhering to the principles of modularization and for ensuring that the TMS has a long-term future. “To achieve this, we have created a joint innovation roadmap that will allow us to test the very latest vehicle technologies across the different brands. Planning projects together also enables us to become much more efficient,” she explains. 

“By identifying synergies and making use of the best working methods, we can not only reduce costs but also improve our overall performance.” This is a challenging task that she takes very seriously: “Every day when I come into the office I try to create an environment where innovation can thrive,” she says. 

Global unit with world-class research and development 

Rawan Hasan is certain that the TRATON Modular Solutions team will play a central role in bringing the organization closer together and, over the next few years, in turning TRATON into a globally successful business that will set new standards for the industry. 

With the launch of Group R&D, TRATON has laid these foundations. “Now it is time to fill this framework with innovations and effective cooperation. These are the factors that will shape our future.”