Wiring system - development and production

Dr. Andreas Böhm, head of the Automotive Cluster at Bayern Innovativ, has a passion for wiring systems and cable harnesses. He has headed a working group for years and brings the right people together every year at the popular "Bordnetze" cooperation forum in Munich. In the run-up to the event, Dr. Andreas Böhm talked to Marlene Kuhn from the Chair of Manufacturing Automation and Production Systems at Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg about her opinion on the wiring system of the future. Read on now!

Impact of autonomous driving on wiring system development

Mrs. Kuhn, you recently wrote a study on "The future of wiring system development and manufacturing". What aspects do you illuminate there for a future wiring system?
Marlene Kuhn: In our study, we examined the effects of autonomous driving on the wiring system development and manufacturing processes. The aim was, on the one hand, to analyze the current weaknesses and potential for improvement, and on the other hand, to break down and evaluate the impact of autonomous driving and functional safety (FuSi) for the wiring system industry.

What needs to be considered anew in a wiring system in the context of "autonomous driving"? What is disruptive about it compared to the previous approach to development and process? How or in what way should the development process be looked at anew?
Marlene Kuhn: The wiring system industry has mostly developed in a linear and incremental way, so that product and process structures have become increasingly complex, but disruptive innovations have been rather rare. In the context of Functional Safety, a paradigm shift is now occurring to ensure the reliability of the entire system from initial requirement to scrapping. This results in a holistic system responsibility that lies with all participants in the value chain. The current development process, which is characterized by a multitude of interfaces, data exchange formats and protectionist expertism, is thus not the ideal prerequisite for meeting the holistic system perspective and implementing disruptive innovations. The basic prerequisite for developing and securing a holistic system is that organizations are willing to dissolve development practices in expert silos that can only lead to local product and cost optima. Necessary for this are holistic and model-based development approaches that produce global optimums and make them assessable. At the same time, from a technological point of view, new potentials (e.g., holistic data models and digital twins) are now emerging that make it possible to move away from linear, sequential and often isolated approaches to new development approaches. The goal must be to develop in a holistic, data-consistent, rule-based and traceable manner.

Change Management in the Wiring Systems Industry

Could development processes other than waterfall better reflect the high level of change management? What would that be and how would it look?
Marlene Kuhn: Development engineers spend up to 80% of their working time with changes. Change management is one of the core competencies and at the same time, unfortunately, also a time-eater in the wiring system industry. In the context of autonomous driving, the correct handling of changes becomes even more important, since changes must always be evaluated with reference to overall system safety. The basic prerequisite for this is a digital and data-continuous process, as this is the only way to transparently document release status and development activities. This is the prerequisite for the targeted analysis of cause-effect relationships. The topic of data quality and networking from the OEM to harness production is becoming extremely important for change management in the context of functional safety. When initiating a change, questions arise such as "Does a change affect the safety of the overall system or a subsystem?", "Are the fit rates still correct?", "Can I still manufacture with this change as I have specified for certain ASIL levels (e.g. automated, traceable)?". As change management becomes even more complex and time-consuming with autonomous driving, agile and time-saving development methods will be absolutely essential. Software development is becoming increasingly important for autonomous vehicles. Adapting to agile methods of software development is forward-looking.

Checking vehicle electrical system components

In the context of autonomous driving, there are terms from electrics/electronics such as ASIL, functional safety, ISO 26262. In this context, the Automotive Cluster at Bayern Innovativ manages a working group that focuses on the FIT rate determination of vehicle electrical system components. Here, it has emerged that wiring system components must be viewed in a completely new way from the perspective of fail-safety and testing, which ultimately has an impact on the entire development process. According to your study, the impact of autonomous driving on the vehicle electrical system is assessed differently by suppliers, and in some cases completely underestimated. In your opinion, what impact does autonomous driving have on the wiring harness and what must be paid particular attention to in the future?
Marlene Kuhn: At the product level wiring harness, there are already many approaches and ideas for dealing with FuSi, such as discussions on ASIL and fit rates or new E/E architectures. As far as we know, the analyses at product level are progressing well. However, very little is currently being implemented concretely at the process level, especially with regard to manufacturing processes. The topics of automation and also traceability are often mentioned and the necessity of these topics is emphasized, but the necessary budget with the right "drive" in concrete projects for series production does not yet seem to be there. In the context of autonomous driving, projects for the automation of development and production as well as cross-interface digitalization and traceability of processes with suitable technologies are necessary. In general, the production and logistics of the wiring system should receive significantly more attention from decision-makers and development departments. Safe, transparent and reproducible production should be mandatory for companies and receive attention at the highest management level. What is the use of optimizing and safeguarding the design if the wrong material is picked or installed in the factory? What good is a virtual simulation of all scenarios in the vehicle if parts have already been damaged in production due to incorrect handling? If you look at most of the contributions at the relevant conferences, you get the feeling that the vehicle electrical system is a product that is only developed and not produced.

Data consistency and automation

At the Cooperation Forum on Vehicle Electrical Systems on October 31, 2019 in Munich, the focal points will include "consistent data models from development to automated production" and "safeguarding the vehicle electrical system." The focus on processes is striking. Will these have a significant share in the "wiring system of the future"?
Marlene Kuhn: With these topics, it goes exactly in the right direction. Data consistency and automation are the disruptive process approaches that should now be implemented as quickly as possible. Ideally, these approaches will be pursued directly for a new E/E architecture and new technologies for signal and power networking. A reduction in product complexity, modularization of design, and digitally continuous and automated processes from development to production; these should be prioritized by companies and be the benchmark for the near future.

In your study, you talk about the "development to manufacturing interface." What problems arise at the interface between development and manufacturing?
Marlene Kuhn: Our study found that the biggest interface in the current manufacturing process is the interface between development and manufacturing. This interface manifests itself at the process level (little reference to manufacturing-relevant aspects in upstream processes), social level (organizational silos) as well as information level (discontinuous data). There is hardly an industry whose development has lost its connection to manufacturing to such an extent. We have described this phenomenon as "Lost in Customer Orientation". The high level of customer orientation and the linear process that starts all over again at the OEM with every change have led to the wiring system becoming a product that cannot be produced efficiently and profitably. In manufacturing, many measures have already been implemented to reduce costs (e.g. location optimization according to wage development, little investment in automation and traceability, etc.), so that the cost framework for Just in Sequence radii has been exhausted. The trend slogan for 2020 should be "Design for Manufacturing"; i.e., concrete projects on innovative design solutions (e.g., new E/E architecture, function integration, new technologies) that both meet customer needs and can be automated and profitably manufactured.

New Business Models for the Wiring System

The classic business model in the wiring system results, among other things, from the complexity of the (customer-specific) wire harness, logistics with a high degree of customer orientation, and efficient change management. What do new business models for the wiring system look like?
Marlene Kuhn: The big advantage is that wiring system manufacturers benefit from the new trends, such as autonomous driving and electrification, and new opportunities arise for design, development and manufacturing processes, and interorganizational collaboration. Especially with new players, such as mobility providers or large IT groups, wiring system manufacturers could position themselves on an equal footing with OEMs in the value network. A major risk here is that many wiring harness manufacturers and OEMs are unwilling to change things fundamentally, but continue to do so only incrementally. If German and European companies do not address the challenges, there is a risk of both consolidation and relegation to the "extended workbench." Because the study also showed: if we don't do it, someone else will. Some Asian companies, for example, are currently investing heavily in new technologies for development and, above all, manufacturing. Many study participants pointed out that Asian companies have a simplified design on the one hand and higher budgets for automation on the other ("we want to, but can't"). The design and manufacture of wire harnesses is a value-added process: if holistic thinking is applied, design and manufacturing innovations can be driven in this direction as well. It is doubtful whether today's value-added processes are cost-optimal, and whether automated and traceable manufacturing is not actually cheaper. It is certainly safer. Compared to many other industries, the wire harness industry is full of opportunities and is facing major changes that should be seized as an opportunity. It has great potential to reinvent itself with new products, processes and business models in light of emerging trends.

Thank you, Ms. Kuhn, and see you soon in Munich at the 22. Kooperationsforum Bordnetze !