About the Client:
The Client is a leading global automotive Tier 1 supplier. The Client came to PreScouter for help in further developing the capabilities to support OEM customers with different needs regarding electrical/electronic vehicle automotive system architectures and the interactions of hardware and software.
Challenge:
PreScouter’s challenge was to help the Client team define the technology landscape, OEM architecture preferences, key performance criteria, and the impact of these decisions on executives and engineers alike.
Approach:
PreScouter approached this project in three stages.
For Stage 1, PreScouter produced 3 Intelligence Briefs focused on defining the fundamentals of automotive electrical/electronic architectures, profiling key leaders in the space, and identifying performance criteria.
The PreScouter team defined relevant architectures, including software interactions, highlighted the state-of-the-art in industry and in academia, as well as commercial roadblocks to the technologies’ progression, and established projected commercialization timelines.
In profiling OEMs & key players developing automotive electrical/electronic systems, PreScouter:
- Assessed each player’s development strategy based on current products, existing IP, research outputs, and press releases
- Investigated digital service development from OEMs, defining and highlighting existing or developing service models from these players
- Highlighted existing partnerships and relationships from these players, focusing on partnerships that led to technological innovation
PreScouter also identified key performance criteria and defined how they are measured by looking at marketing and product data, company statements, and research proceedings. Market trends were also highlighted to determine how these criteria may evolve and to identify the drivers of this evolution.
For Stage 2, PreScouter developed 1 Intelligence Brief focused on trends in software development for this sector. PreScouter highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of a software-first approach for design and investigated development strategies to determine if the development approach was a software-first approach. The PreScouter team highlighted market reports and outward-looking white papers and recruited a relevant Subject Matter Expert to assess the evolution of architecture and software. This work was coordinated with other Client teams working on the topic to avoid duplication of efforts.
For Stage 3, PreScouter produced 2 Intelligence Briefs focused on opportunities for future vehicle electronic architecture and software. PreScouter’s SMEs provided a deep-dive analysis regarding the different architectures and approaches by further identifying and quantifying each approach and assessing the advantages and limitations of the technologies. This stage had an analysis focus, looking at the significance of the vehicle system architecture decisions made by the OEMs.
Outcome:
PreScouter provided the Client with a detailed investigation of the technology landscape of electrical/electronic automotive architectures, followed by a deep analysis of future trends and challenges. These results and analyses were used to create a roadmap for the development of novel architectures and to highlight areas of focus for the Client team to target over the next 3-5 years.
A downloadable version of this case study is available here.
