Andreas Riel

Automotive Knowledge Alliance AQUA – Integrating Automotive SPICE, Six Sigma, and Functional Safety

This paper discusses (based on the EU project AQUA) how the core elements of three complementary approaches and standards can be integrated into one compact skill set with training and best practices to be applied. In this project experts from Automotive SPICE (ISO 15504), Functional Safety (ISO 26262) and Lean Six Sigma collaborate. In a first analysis the experts identified an architecture of core elements where all three approaches fit together and where a holistic view about improvement is needed. The Automotive Clusters from Austria and Slovenia are trial partners and will roll out this knowledge in pilot courses to the industry. Other Automotive Clusters showed interest and will join the trial phase.

EU Project SafEUr - Competence Requirements for Functional Safety Managers

Functional Safety has become a vital property of many products and systems. There is a clear trend to move safety functions from pure mechanics into electronic control units. Therefore over the recent years, various standards have evolved describing the properties and certification criteria of safety-critical electronically controlled products and systems. In order for a particular product to be adapted to the requirements of different target markets, the integration of functional safety considerations according to the relevant standards into the complete product creation processes and organisations is essential. This integration requires special competencies that define the new job role of a Functional Safety Manager. This article gives an overview of these competency requirements in the context of the documentation of the first results, the targets, and the scope of the EU project SafEUr, which aims at putting in place a Europe-wide on-line training and certification program for functional safety managers according to the requirements of several industry sectors, as well as the experiences from research and practical safety engineering projects.

IT-supported innovation management in the automotive supplier industry to drive idea generation and leverage innovation

Innovative product development is highly dependent on new product ideas and product information. This especially applies to companies that obtain their competitive advantages by technological lead like the automotive supplier industry. Innovation management in these industries has to focus on an efficient idea generation, implementation and capitalisation, and on technology tracking. This paper gives an insight into the industry‐sector‐specific characteristics of innovation management within the automotive supplier industry, and outlines a basic scheme of an innovation management system that aims at improving the existing innovation management at the automotive supplier Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG. Copyright

Integrating Functional Safety, Automotive SPICE and Six Sigma - The AQUA Knowledge Base and Integration Examples

AQUA stands for Knowledge Alliance for Training Quality and Excellence in Automotive. The AQUA project is financially supported by the European Commission in the Leonardo da Vinci part of the Lifelong Learning Programme under the project number EAC-2012-0635. This paper extends the EuroSPI 2013 publication [4] which discussed (based on the EU project AQUA) how the core elements of three complementary approaches (Automotive SPICE, Functional safety, Six Sigma) and standards can be integrated into one compact skill set with training and best practices to be applied. In this paper we describe the modular knowledge base which was elaborated and highlight some aspects where the integrated use of all three methods can be demonstrated. The results of the project are disseminated to Automotive industry in partnership with a set of European Automotive associations.

Implementing Functional Safety Standards - Experiences from the Trials about Required Knowledge and Competencies (SafEUr)

In the EU project SafEUr (518632-LLP-1-2011-1-AT-LEONARDO-LMP) the partnership developed a skill set with learning objectives, training materials, and tools to teach and coach the implementation of IEC 61508 and ISO 26262. Automotive, Medical, and Nuclear industry gave inputs to the project. A group of above 20 multinational companies (SOQRATES www.soqrates.de) which also are active in automotive industry (some of them represent the largest suppliers in Automotive industry) organised reviews and trial courses with safety managers. This led to a defined set of skills and tools we expect from functional safety managers and functional safety engineers. In this paper we describe the results of SafEUr, the feedback we received from the collaboration with leading automotive industry and the next steps in 2013 to launch this schema with official certificates from end of 2013 onwards.

Process and product innovation needs integrated engineering collaboration skills

Collaboration skills have become an incontestable necessity for professionals in engineering teams. Engineering teams are becoming more and more interdisciplinary and distributed, products and the environments they are created, used and recycled in are increasingly complex. Design engineers, system architects as well as requirements engineers and managers have to be able to understand the product and its whole lifecycle in order to be able to respect the constraints and requirements that are imposed on the product by different actors. Many of these skills have to be developed and improved in the course of a professional career rather than in initial education. This paper gives insight into the development of one component of a consistent qualification and certification scheme, which is in its entirety particularly targeted at Integrated Design Engineers in various industrial sectors. Copyright

Improvement of Innovation Management through the Enlargement of Idea Sources

The capacity of innovation and creative performance have become a major stake for the success of companies. Today companies act in an environment which is more competitive and complex than ever before. Thus, to succeed in the global market, it is necessary to combine customer needs, productivity and competitiveness in the development of new product innovations. To this aim, innovation management has to leverage idea generation and capitalization. This paper investigates the importance of idea generation and idea sources in innovation management. A case study which links these theoretical principles with industry experiences shows that the enlargement of idea sources can boost innovation power.

Integrated Design – A Set of Competences and Skills Required by Systems and Product Architects

The role of Systems and Product Architects is increasingly important for the development of modern products and services that are sustainable, innovative, and successful. This paper shows that competences in integration in product and systems design have to be a key part of these architect’s competence profiles. Capitalizing on results from extensive research in the optimization of product development, it points out that the integration of all stakeholders from the earliest development phases is a fundamental need to be able to take into account all requirements and constraints imposed on both hardware and software products and systems. It draws the conclusion that the key stakeholders in product and system development processes need to have skills that enable this way of doing integrated development.

Automotive Quality Universities - AQUA Alliance Extension to Higher Education

This paper discusses the extension of AQUA (Automotive Knowledge Alliance AQUA – Integrating Automotive SPICE, Six Sigma, and Functional Safety) into the higher education studies. Follow-up project Automotive quality universities (AQU) aims to the adaptation of the AQUA integrated concept to the universities ECTS granted courses. The goal is to bridge the knowledge gap between the automotive industry needs and graduates capabilities in the area of Automotive SPICE, Functional Safety and Six Sigma. The integrated concept of AQU and AQUA complex approach to the education of graduates and engineers to enhance the knowledge in this area is described.

Empowering Entrepreneurship in Europe: Going from the Idea to Enterprise in 4 EU Countries

Innovation and entrepreneurship are among the top priority areas of the European Union in order to exit the economical crisis and assure sustainable and profitable growth and competitiveness on a global level. Although more and more entrepreneurship training and education programs exist in different EU countries, there is little cross-country cooperation and complementary among these activities. This paper introduces a European approach to a certified entrepreneurship training program that has been established in a consortium of several European training and education organisations. This program has been implemented around the long-term mission of empowering people to make ideas become real in the European context.