AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEER - IMI · 2015-10-19 · building early versions of the Lancer with cylinder...

AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERTECHNICAL UPDATE 10

Welcome to the October 2015 issue of the Automotive Engineer Technical update for IMI Certificated Automotive Engineers (CAE) and Advanced Automotive Engineers (AAE)

OCTOBER 2015

HOW DO VEHICLE MANUFACTURERSINTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY?

In this issue we will look into the multi-strand approach OEMs take to bring competitive vehicles to market.

The Institute of the Motor Industry www.theimi.org.uk I 02

AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEER TECHNICAL UPDATE 10 OCTOBER 2015

HOW DO VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY?

The creation of a vehicle is a very complex and multi-faceted process, built on one premise – to be better than its predecessor and better than the competition. The vehicle manufacturer has not been immune from huge changes in business structure, especially over the past three decades. Once upon a time, almost all the parts to build a vehicle were either manufactured on site, or at least by another plant owned by the same manufacturer. Some specialist components and services have almost always been outsourced over the past century, but as those specialists sought to gain

market advantage and the investments required to remain competitive at whole vehicle level increased, so vehicle manufacturers (original equipment manufacturers – OEM) moved towards the custodians of whole vehicle performance and system integrators.

In this paper we will look into the multi-strand approach OEMs take to bring competitive vehicles to market.



Every single business has to have some sort of objective – most OEMs seek to have market dominance and in some cases global market dominance. To achieve either requires bringing together a huge array of skills and investments and so deliver the resulting product to paying customers in the shortest possible time. This is frequently driven by legislation or to have similar / better features than the competitor vehicles in the same segment. This requires planning…

BUSINESS STRATEGY The Mercedes-Benz A class W176 was new from bumper to

bumper – and shared major assemblies with the B Class (W246), CLA (C117) and GLA (X156). Most OEMs do not do this very often, due to the high associated risks – something that virtual

reality has done much to reduce. © Daimler AG



A typical vehicle programme will fall into one

of the following categories:

ALL NEW:This occurs rarely – where everything on the vehicle has never been seen before.

• Forfreshenginedevelopmentfromscratcharound five years is required. This includes future proofing the design to allow for as many possible applications as possible to boost production volumes. Production tooling, which takes place within this time frame, takes around 18 months for an existing plant, to around three years for a new production plant.

• Foranewtransmissiontheleadtimeisstillaround four years from scratch.

• Anewsuspensionsystemwilltakearoundtwoyearstodevelop from scratch. Tooling will take around one year, contained within the overall time scale.

• Interiorsystemstakearoundsixmonthstodevelopbuta further nine months to tool.

• Thebodywilltakearoundsixmonthsto‘designfreeze’,another nine months of engineering / analysis and a further 18 months to tool.

• Risks – without a library of empirical data from previous system development, the process of development (and thus modification) during the latter part of the programme is extended into the time when tooling isbeingmade…Further,ifthetechnologyorsystemis new to the segment there may be some customer resistance to overcome.

• Benefits – if played right it can really take the wind out of the competition by introducing technology step changes.

MAJOR FACELIFT: Thisisusedtoeitherextendanexistingmodel’slifeor to introduce major investment programmes ahead of the intended application. This is typically used to introduce new powertrains or to attempt to recover from poor sales on an existing vehicle. The model-specific programme will last between 18 months and three years, but draws on individual assembly development that may well go on for considerably longer. The major facelift will include relatively low investment items such as new external body pressings, new bumper tooling, new head / tail lights and a fresh interior.

• Risks – if the investment is high but the outward changes / benefits for the consumer are modest, it will be written off as a minor facelift. Case in point – introduction of brand new engines and transmissions on the run-out of the Vauxhall Corsa D.

• Benefits – Major assemblies can be exposed to the general public as a final validation of the development programme to gather valuable warranty-related data. The approach is frequently used as a low risk approach to new technology introduction ahead of the intended new model programme – just as GM did by introducing the Corsa E powertrains on the run-out of Corsa D.

MINOR FACELIFT: Abroadbrushedtermforarangeofminortweakstoextend the production life of an existing model range. The drivers for altering skin or interior details range from compliance with pedestrian safety legislation, bringing the appearance in line with the latest corporate design theme, or simply to address perceived shortcomings.

• Risks – If this is not done convincingly the model range might be seen as on its last legs, which will usually drive potential customers to newer competitor model ranges. In addition, if this is done repeatedly without conviction, the result will be unsaleable.

• Benefits – By taking advantage of replacing press tools, for example, minor skin form changes can be included at relatively modest cost. The Holy Grail is to take existing dull products and give them a new lease of life –muchasFCAdidwiththeentireChrysler/Dodge/Jeep range in the past eight years or so.

WE CAN SEE TWO DISTINCT PLANS THAT EMERGE FROM THIS:1 The timing of a replacement or facelifted

model range.2 The timing of the major investments to

support the long-term goals of the OEM.

Fiat 500 for MY16 – an example of a minor facelift… © FCA GB



Every OEM has a collection of unique experimental assemblies and vehicles – like the Porsche 911 turbo (type 930) built by Renault Sport with a central driving position, or use of a completely unrelated vehicle to hide the core structure of a new version:

The purpose of this research is to develop ideas for future use in mainstream production pro-grammes–andnotallideasseethelightofday.Forinstance,JLRshowedFreelanderII(L359) with an electric drive system for the rear wheels, stop start and electric motor assistance for the frontdrivepowertrain–allasproduction‘intent’waybackin2007.Ithastakenuntilnowformarket conditions(CO2relatedlegislation,risingcostoffuel)tobringmorethanStop-Starttoproduction.Inthesamevein,ahybriddriveRangeRoverSport(L320)wasbuiltwithHMGovernment assistancein2005,butagainthishasbeenside-lineduntilnowasmarketconditionscombinedwith legislation bring the business case forward.

THE TOY STORE Rolls-Royce Project Cullinan is based around a shortened

Phantom II body – with a brand new four wheel drive system and suspension for the future SUV. These ‘mules’ are

expensive to build and have a short life but are still used to validate virtual reality models. ©BMW AG



Waybackin1972BMWreleasedimagesofaprototypesixcylinder engine with the capability to run on six or three cylinders. The idea was to find ways to reduce fuel consumption, in this case by tackling the waste at source. The reality of engine performance is:

• Peaktorqueismoreusefulforgettingavehicletopullaway from rest than peak power.

• Avehicletypicallywillneedlessthan30bhptotravelat70mphonalevelroad–moreaerodynamically efficient shapes will require even less power.

• Powerisdeployedtoperformacceleration–typicallywhilst overtaking other traffic.

So an engine configured to develop a huge amount of power will spend most of its life on the road delivering rather less. The interesting questions included:

• Howmanycylinderscouldbeswitchedoffbeforethevehicle no longer functioned effectively?

• Whatwouldbetheeffectoncrankshaftfatiguelife?

• Whathappenstothelubricationofthevalvesand pistons of the deactivated cylinders, if used for extended periods in this way?

• Howcanthepowertrainswitchbetweenmodeswithoutthe driver noticing?

Research was undertaken by almost every OEM and their suppliers for several decades to find answers to these questions. In the process, hardware and software were developed which were robust enough for mass production.

However, whilst the technology development was clear, the price of fuel needed to rise to a point where the fuel economy gain would be paid for by the system.

There were hastily engineered kneejerk systems introducedinthewakeoftheUSAemissioncrisisin 1975,inwhichmostoftheoutstandingquestionswere not answered and consumers remember the experience to this day. Honda pushed the agenda along with the introductionofcamshaftprofileswitching‘V-Tech’system(1989), which was rapidly followed up by Mitsubishi buildingearlyversionsoftheLancerwithcylinder deactivation – for the Japanese market only (1993). Essentially the idea of either decoupling the valve gear from the camshaft, or which cam profile would interact with a valve, or rotating the camshaft relative to the crankshaft timing, all lead from this technology.

The introduction of cylinder deactivation, cam profile switching and variable camshaft phasing, relative to the crankshaft, was all linked to the reduction of tail pipe emissions (driven by legislation) along with fuel costs. Thus, the initial applications were on high performance engines where the overall profit margin could more than offsettheadditionalsystemon-cost.Asproduction volumes for the technology increased, the system price reduced, allowing it to be fitted to more and more engines – all driven by ever more restrictive emission regulations.

We can see the idea was simple, but the application required a lot of pure research / testing, and the overall time from first concepts to mass market adoption was more than 40 years.

CASE STUDY 1 CYLINDER DEACTIVATION



ARADAR-basedrangefindercapableofworkinginthevery toughest environments and at minimal cost, required ingenuity and patience to reach the automotive market. TherevolutionwasthedevelopmentofsolidstateRADAR‘optic’modules,whichwerecreatedformilitary applications during the 1990s. Towards the end of that decade the research started into significant cost reduction of such detection systems, and combining it with other, then prototype, sensors to provide a virtual safety defence alert system for a vehicle. The systems which would execute the alert / avoidance of danger were electronicstabilitycontrol(anevolutionofABS),and electronically-controlled steering system.

TheRADARmodulewastobebuiltforapricefarlowerthan possible before, and the other two systems which would undergo the same miniaturisation / cost reduction were:

• Lasertechnologyforshortrangeobstacledetection–dubbed‘LightRADAR’orLIDAR.ThiswasrecognitionthatthedetectionaccuracyforaRADARsystemwith a maximum range (then) of 100m was poor in the sub-10m range.

• CMOScameratohelpidentifyanobjectandtotrackthat object relative to the vehicle. This was also technology originally developed for the military.

The development of new manufacturing technologies, along with refinement of the software, produced the world’sfirstautonomousbrakingsystemontheVolvoXCV60in2008.

Effectively this was a brilliant idea, for which there was no legislative demand or much consumer demand.

However the process to reduce system cost and increase performancehascarriedontodeliverRADARmoduleswitharangeof250mandthemassmarketfitmentofLIDAR/CMOSsystems.Legislationhascaughtupwiththerequirement to fit autonomous braking systems to heavy goods vehicles (HGV) and passenger service vehicles (PSV)fromAutumn2015onwards.

Once again the idea was simple, the execution relied on revolutions in manufacturing technology driven primarily by the advent of smartphones and also a grand total of 25yearstogainproductionviabilityfollowedby mass-market acceptance.

CASE STUDY 2 AUTONOMOUS BRAKING SYSTEMS



The relatively recent mass-market availability of vehicle accident avoidance technology has allowed people to consider the ultimate – a car which could be driven, or it can drive itself without any input from a driver. This relies on the ability of the vehicle to use services supplied externally, and so requires telematics to become reality.

Whilst the technology can work – as shown by the ‘driverless’testvehicleslicensedtorunonpublicroadsaround the world – there is a huge gulf between small scale experiments and massmarket adoption. Consider:

• Thetelematicscarrierofchoiceisthevoiceover data protocol (VoP) mobile phone network. Widely available, already paid for via mobile phone subscriptions, this would seem to be a good idea. However it was not intended for pure data transmission or reception, has blind spots and can get overloaded if there is too much activity in the immediate area.

• Thereisnodrivertrainingprogrammeunder development to take into account autonomous driving. Consider an airline pilot undergoes considerable training in order to monitor an automated aircraft and bepreparedtoresumecontrol–simplyputtingone’sfeet up is not an option.

• Thebiggerquestion–ifwehavedriverswhoaretrained to drive 100 per cent of the time, what happens totheirskillsandreactionsifthe‘handson’timeislessthan 100 per cent? The answer from the airline business is there is a net degradation of skill, which leads to greater risk in resuming manual control in the

eventofanemergency.ThishascausedtheCAA (CivilAviationAuthority)toadviseairlinepilotsto occasionally perform otherwise automated flight control manually, to help reduce skill erosion.

• Thenextquestion–whathappenstonewdriverswhoknowlittleabout‘handson’driving?Theanswerisasignificant skills gap in the event of an emergency.

• Considerthetransitionfromallroadvehicleswith human control through to a mix of autonomous and human controlled vehicles.

No government or insurance company will accept these impliedrisks.Forthevehiclemanufacturertheofferofautonomousdrivingwillcometothemarketbefore2020,but it is a long, long way from mass market adoption. Even if we accept that this is the next generation of personal mobility, the time taken to develop failsafe systems and the legislation to support that will take at least another decade.

Here we can see a system which is close to being technically feasible, but which could fall foul of individual governments as they catch up with the implications. The bottomlineisthistechnologyislikelytotake15yearsfromfirstconcept(nottheoriginalGooglePrius2car....)tofirstproduction systems for sale to the public. What could be the first commercial application? Professional drivers working with HGVs and PSVs, where the net improvement in workplace safety will be most welcome by national governments in Europe.

CASE STUDY 3 AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

Living room, board room or a driving environment? This vision of the future features interaction with everyone and everything except the vehicle. Assuming control in the event of an emergeny is rather unlikely…© Daimler AG.



Fromthesecasestudieswecanseethatcreationofanewmodel is quite different to developing new technologies. AllOEMsadoptamedium-termandlong-termplanningstrategy, so that only technologies that are at the right system price with the correct level of reliability / functionality end up on the production vehicle for sale. The long term strategy is about future-proofing the development process to deliver potential models several generations beyond the current production ranges.

Forafirstapplicationoftechnologyitcanbethenew model programme is on the tail end of the idea development process, with the problem that it can lead to introduction delays. To minimise the overall risk, planners categorise each new system development – it shows the rapid scoping process on the left in the diagram

below, through to the data / investment intensive execution on the right:

We can see the lead time from idea to production-ready, proves technology can take decades, whereas most new model engineering programmes last between 18 months through to seven years. So the team on a new vehicle programme is not always the team involved in medium or long-term research. This is why OEMs have ended up outsourcing much of the technology research to external specialists, who are frequently part of the supplier network. The purpose of the vehicle-specific engineering team is to keep in close contact with the overall market place, aware of the latest research and how that relates to the core OEM brand.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

OBSERVING TRENDS & DRIVERS

IDENTIFICATION CONSOLIDATION PREPARATION

STRATEGIC ANALYSIS & COMMITMENT

IDEA GENERATION

ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT

SERIES DEVELOPMENT

SYSTEMATICDYNAMIC

CONTINUOUS CONTINUOUSYEARLY PROCESS

SOCIETY

CONSUMERS

BUSINESS

GLOBALISATION

TECHNOLOGY

ENVIRONMENT

TREND COLLECTION

TREND QUERY

CONSOLIDATION

PREPARATION

MARKET PULL

TECHNOLOGY PULL

STRATEGY

• Innovation-strategy

• Roadmaps

• Definition search areas

IDEA PHASE

PRE STUDY

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

SPECIFICATIONPRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PLAN



This is a very powerful tool but can be abused. The idea is to quantify every single aspect of the most successful competitor vehicles and relate that data to the current OEM model range. The difficulty is corporate blindness can creep in, and skew the results. Benchmarking usually informs the OEM what their competition was thinking about anything up to 10 years ago, and not what they are thinking about now.

The benchmarking process is used to develop the type of features a vehicle must have to be immediately competitive with current or immediate future competitor OEM vehicles. So far, this is a rather dry list of statistics from which the team then look towards research to give them an edge over the competition. That study quickly reveals what systems might be included without destroying profitability, or those whichmightbeusefultointroducelaterinthemodel’slife.

Once the business case for the whole vehicle is developed – an intensive nine months or so – and the first designs

have been approved, they are tested with the general publictoconfirmtheideasaresound.Acollectionof vehicles all painted the same colour and with all badges removed are presented, and selected people are then askedtorateeachvehicle.Thisiscalleda‘customerclinic’.

FamouslytheFordSierrawasseeninternallyasabravesteptomovethe‘Cortina’markettowardsthethen emerging‘BMW3series’market–alltoppedoffwith adventurousexternaldesign.Fordisessentiallya conservative company and they were nervous – so they took extra care with the clinic data. Each of the attendees was shown a range of goods and only those who chose the right items were then allowed to see the vehicle. Unsurprisingly the clinic results were very positive – whereas the public reaction when the Sierra went on sale was not quite as enthusiastic.

BENCHMARKING AND CLINICS



AnOEMandit’ssupplierpartnerstryveryhardtodelivernew models which are reliable, robust and fully developed. The revolution in using virtual reality has put many new model introduction nightmares into the past.

The difficulty is the OEMs are having to move so fast, to juggle so many new or about to emerge technologies that there is a real difficulty – informing their own network and the greater automotive aftermarket beyond. The days of relying only on what the OEM tells us about a vehicle is being challenged, since most of the innovation is around

theuseofelectronics.Fewelectronicsystemsareuniqueto a single OEM, but are effectively applications of systems developed by Tier 1 suppliers.

Recognition of this means we can use all the information an OEM publishes together with specialist knowledge from system manufacturers to fully develop our knowledge of any given system. That information is not easy to find, but it does exist. That in turn enhances the reputation of the aftermarket as being able to sort out system malfunctions with confidence.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THE AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET?

01 What is a business strategy?02 Whatarethethreedifferent‘newmodel’categories?03 What is the risk of facelifting a vehicle too often?04 How long did it take cylinder deactivation to reach mass-market acceptance?05 What are the three sensor types used in a typical autonomous braking system?06 What type of vehicle will have autonomous braking fitted as standard in

EuropefromAutumn2015?07 What is an autonomous vehicle?08 Is there any risk for driver skills when using an autonomous vehicle?09 What are the issues around using the mobile phone network for telematics?10 What is a customer clinic?

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QUESTIONS

Don’tforgetthatthesetechnicalupdatescounttowardsyourCPDtarget. Simply log in at www.theimi.org.uk and click on the CPD icon. You can claim one CPD credit by reading this update, considering the questions above and updating your CPD record. In order to gain additional CPD points, you’llneedtodemonstratehowthispieceoflearninghashadanimpacton your behaviour and/or your working practices.

LOGGING CPD

Writtenby:AndrewMarsh

AutoIndustryConsultingLtd

www.autoindustryinsider.com

Click here to view an excellent suite of online courses available from the IMI which go into all kinds of managerial techniques in great depth.

FURTHER READING

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AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEER - IMI · 2015-10-19 · building early versions of the Lancer with cylinder...

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