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Technology has come a long way, and it has resulted in the automotive industry getting bigger and better. However, as the automotive industry gets bigger, it is also getting increasingly complex. When it comes to revenue, the automotive industry is a true economic powerhouse.
Although most of the automobile parts are hardware, modern software is used to manufacture these parts. The advancements in software and technology have changed many areas of customer experience through the introduction of smart driver assistance, infotainment, and car connectivity features.
To compete in the automotive industry, companies need to focus on innovation and produce products rather quickly. With software development, the sky is the limit. To help you with software development in the automotive industry, we share the top 5 principles that will help you achieve higher customer satisfaction.
1. Lean Software Development
The lean principles focus on continuous improvement of different processes and the elimination of waste. These principles help eliminate all non-value-added activities. This leads to a reduction in operating costs and an improvement in productivity.
Lean software development is based on five basic principles, as mentioned below.
- Identification of values from the perspective of a customer.
- Specification of each step and process as well as how it contributes to meeting the end goal.
- Conducting a careful analysis of every step in each process to create flow and introduce new ways to reduce waste and maximize efficiency.
- Optimization of the processes to produce the exact product that the customer needs and when the customer needs it.
- Continuous improvement to achieve perfection.
In essence, the lean principles focus on eliminating waste and adding value to production. This is why it is crucial to understand what is considered waste. Once the wastes have been found, a strategy has to be developed to reduce its effects to improve overall performance.
Some of the categories of waste include defects, unnecessary inventory, waiting, overproduction, and the like. Lean places emphasis on continuous improvement instead of irregular, abrupt, and rapid changes as such changes would prove disruptive, which would result in materials and lead to time waste.
Layered Process Audits (LPAs) are used to conduct simple verifications for ensuring that each defined process is carried out correctly. Through LPAs, costs are reduced, and quality is improved every time. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is another amazing lean tool that helps align processes.
2. Agile Development Principles
As the automotive industry does not wait for anyone, an agile software development model is integral. It focuses on the separation of development processes into subtasks. This means that the software does not need to be fully developed and tested.
Instead, the subtasks are evaluated and referred to the engineers for further updates. The agile method helps easily identify, correct, and validate entire products on time. Thus, the agile method allows companies operating in the automotive sector to react to market demands without wasting time quickly.
Steering, effectiveness, and efficiency are the three drivers of agile development. The focus of agile software development is on creating cross-functional and self-organized teams and receiving customer feedback during development for revision of processes.
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Agile development helps shorten the feedback cycle as frequent communication between vendor teams and customers are at heart. An advantage of agile in the automotive sector is CI/CD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment). It helps reduce the time it takes for a product to be available.
Through an agile approach to software development, companies can benefit from the following.
- Increased cost-efficiency
- Ability to handle the complexity
- Improved product quality
- Develop products based on the needs of customers
- Decrease the time it takes to market a product
3. Waterfall Principle
According to waterfall software development, each phase – conception, development, design, analysis, and initiation is executed based on a specific schedule. This software development model has been used in various industries, including the development of apps such as Islamic finder.
Industries that have simple and direct processes can truly benefit from this sequential software development model. The waterfall model emphasizes breaking down project activities to create linear sequential phases. Each phase has set deliverables that correspond with the previous one.
4. V-Model Principle
Also referred to as the verification and validation model, the V-Model is based on connecting each testing phase for its corresponding development. There is a testing activity in this model that corresponds to it. Thus, each phase begins once the previous one has been completed.
The V-Model offers a hierarchical perspective to testing. This model is used by many companies for easily managing all types of tasks due to its rigidity, which allows for proactive defect tracking. The V-model offers amazing flexibility, which allows you to accommodate all types of products.
5. Iterative and Incremental Principle
The iterative and incremental principle focuses on a gradual increase in features. The model moves towards a cyclical release and an eventual upgrade pattern. Different aspects of the software are created at various deadlines in incremental development.
Once each part of the software has been developed, everything is integrated for its completion. Parts of the system are revisited by the development teams in iterative development for revision and improvement based on customer feedback or the identification of any issues.
Changes are easy to incorporate into this principle throughout the development cycle. Moreover, it is a lot easier to manage since bugs are identified early on and handled accordingly.
Software Development in the Automotive Industry – The Takeaway
Similar to any other industry, the automotive industry focuses on providing value to customers who are willing to pay for it as long as those products meet their needs. It is because of this reason that automotive companies have to discuss which principle to follow for software development.
The 5 principles mentioned above have their own place. It is up to you to decide which software development model will help you meet your objectives. When you use a new approach to software development, not only will you benefit from it, but the entire economy.
Let us know which software development principle you prefer and why.
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