Accelerate your Product Development through Digital Transformation
The automotive landscape has undergone a revolution in technology demands in the last two decades. Today, automakers are able to integrate cutting edge silicon chips, space and energy efficient electronics, and powerful software into their vehicles. As a result, differentiation in the modern automotive industry is no longer derived from mechanical and physical design, but by the vehicle features and functionality that embedded chips, electronics, and software deliver. Indeed, analogizing today’s vehicles to ‘smartphones on wheels’ has never been closer to reality.
This fundamental shift in the automotive market, in concert with other megatrends such as vehicle electrification, is creating a new competitive landscape for automotive OEMs. Automakers must launch innovative and feature-rich products faster to capture market share earlier, or fall behind. To keep up with these aggressive demands, they must also develop new technologies faster, more cost effectively and with less budget and fewer resources. In other words, the mandate for automakers today is to “do more with less – faster”. Without the ability to embrace this new level of complexity, carmakers will jeopardize their position in the automotive landscape of tomorrow.
In sum, by beginning a digital transformation, automotive companies can accelerate their product development processes to deliver more exciting and innovative products on aggressive schedules, all while consuming fewer resources and less budget. To learn more about the details of such an approach, you can listen to our new episode of the Future Car podcast below:
The Relationship Between Accelerated Digital Transformation and Accelerated Product Development with Nand Kochhar
Automotive companies have to do more, with less, at a higher speed!
The demands from the statement above would have been received with suspicion just a few years back. But not today. It describes exactly what is expected for companies in the automotive industry, just to remain competitive. With the help of digitalization, some of them are successfully meeting all the expectations set out above.
In this episode, Conor Peick is joined by Nand Kochhar, the VP of Automotive and Transportation at Siemens Digital Industries Software. Today you’ll learn why companies need accelerated product development and the challenges they face in their quest to achieve it. You’ll also understand the need for an increased pace of innovation and the impact it has on the market share. We’ll also look at how companies can approach their journey to digital transformation.
Some Questions Asked:
- Why is the speed of innovation critical to automotive companies? (05:35)
- What are the challenges faced by companies looking to accelerate their pace of innovation? (08:18)
- What are the challenges that OEMs can expect to face as they move towards the future of transportation? (15:38)
- What is the relationship between reduced wastage and accelerated product development? (24:02)
- What are the things that automotive companies should start doing? (27:24)
In This Episode You Will Learn:
- How companies can harness digitalization to do more with less (01:48)
- Key elements for accelerating the pace of innovation (09:52)
- How cross-attribute optimization helps in accelerated product development (13:41)
- How to resolve the challenge of complexity (18:06)
- Strategies to accelerate product development (19:27)
- Barriers to achieving digital transformation in the automotive industry (26:01)
Connect with Nand Kochhar:
Connect with Conor Peick:
Nand Kochhar – VP, Automotive & Transportation Industry
Nand Kochhar is the vice president of Automotive and Transportation Industry Strategy for Siemens Digital Industries Software. He joined Siemens in 2020 after nearly 30 years with Ford Motor Company, where he most recently served as Global Safety Systems Chief Engineer. In this capacity, Kochhar was responsible for vehicle safety performance of all Ford and Lincoln brand products globally. He also served as Executive Technical Leader, CAE, and as a member of Ford’s Technology Advisory Board. Kochhar’s tenure at Ford also included executive engineering leadership across a range of disciplines including in product development, manufacturing, digitalization, simulation technology development and implementation.
Kochhar has additionally been active in SAE International, where he has served as Chairman of the Executive standards committee, leader of a cross-industry group focused on driving standards for mobility, autonomous vehicle development, electrification and connectivity. Kochhar also served as Chairman of SAE’s Motor Vehicle Council for 2015-16 terms, after which he was named the Vice Chair of Technical Standards Board (TSB) in 2017 and then TSB Chair in 2018 and 2019.
Kochhar graduated from Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) with a master’s degree in Engineering Mechanics. He was inducted as a member of the Academy of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineers at Missouri S&T in 2005. He lives in Northville, Michigan with his wife and two kids.
Conor Peick – Thought Leadership Writer
Conor works as a writer covering Automotive and Transportation topics for Siemens Digital Industries Software. In this role, he has helped produce a variety of materials including blogs, articles and whitepapers on automotive topics ranging from wire harness design and manufacturing to embedded software development and overall industry trends.
The Future Car Podcast
Transportation plays a big part in our everyday life and with autonomous and electric cars, micro-mobility and air taxis to name a few, mobility is changing at a rate never before seen. On the Siemens Future Car Podcast we interview industry leaders creating our transportation future to inform our listeners in an entertaining way about the evolving mobility landscape and the people that are helping us realize it. Guests range from C-Level OEM executives, mobility startup founders/CEO’s, pioneers in AI law, Formula 1 drivers and engineers, Smart Cities architects, government regulators and many more. Tune in to learn what will be in your mobility future.
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