Product Development | Technology
New Process Model for Developing Future Generations of Digital Cars at a Leading Automotive Software Company
A leading automotive software company was struggling with a noticeable performance gap in its E/E offerings compared to the competition, coupled with significant volume and profit risks for the entire group. KBC assisted in the development of a new process model, including an operating model, PMT, and an effective performance management system for the development of future generations of digital cars. Together with the client, KBC developed a comprehensive and unified vision for the future product development process model. This vision was focused on the strategic goals regarding resource efficiency and product development performance.
The Customer
A leading automotive software company
The client is a leading automotive software company responsible for developing future generations of digital cars. The company was facing a significant performance gap in its E/E offerings compared to the competition, with pronounced volume and profit risks across the entire group. The situation was exacerbated by inefficient processes and organizational structures characterized by unclear responsibilities, undefined interfaces, and a lack of measurable progress in development. Particularly in an environment where multiple departments and corporate levels are involved in digital car development, such ambiguity quickly leads to decisions being delayed or made at the wrong level. To ensure its future viability in terms of on-time delivery, innovation, and efficiency, the company needed a fundamental realignment of its organization, relevant processes, and management model. Without such a realignment, the performance gap threatened to widen further in the highly competitive environment of digital car development.
The Project
Develop a New Process Model Together
KBC supported the client in developing a new process model that consistently aligns the organization, processes, and management model. To this end, the project team first developed a state-of-the-art approach to financial and corporate planning and, building on that, defined KPIs based on benchmarks and best practices, with a particular focus on measurability, strategic relevance, transparency, and practicality. Only KPIs that meet these criteria actually provide guidance in day-to-day operations, rather than introducing additional complexity into the management process. Precisely because the ability to measure progress had previously been lacking, this step was an essential prerequisite for any further management decisions within the framework of the new process model.Â
In addition, KBC supported the client in developing a new organizational structure as part of the new process model and assessed the expected efficiency gains so that decisions could be made on a sound basis. Furthermore, the project team designed a target vision for an efficient PMT setup and developed a concrete set of measures, including a high-level roadmap for implementation. Such a PMT vision provides the necessary clarityâespecially in complex, division-of-labor-based development structuresâregarding who makes which decisions and how progress along the roadmap is tracked.Â
During collaboration in the workstreams focused on financial and corporate planning as well as PMT setup, there was a high level of management attention with short decision-making paths, a clearly articulated commitment to changing the operating model, and an increasingly effective integration of planning efforts across the participating workstreams. Despite a tight timeline and high complexity, the first concepts for the new process modelâready for implementationâemerged early in the project, driven by a high level of motivation within the individual project teams.
The result
A Process Model for Organization and a Control Model That Can Be Implemented
The project culminated in a ready-to-implement process model for the organization and the PMT landscape, offering significant efficiency potentialâthe implementation of which was left to the clientâs discretion. For the first time, this process model established a robust, company-wide, coordinated foundation for how the organization, processes, and management should interact more efficiently in the future. Building on this, KBC coordinated an implementation plan at the executive board level and brought it to a decision, thereby ensuring that the developed process model served as a binding basis for further implementation.Â
In addition, the project team agreed on a detailed concept for a future management model based on continuous and transparent progress tracking using data-driven performance and cost KPIs. This provided the client with a process model that, for the first time, consistently aligned the organization, processes, and management, laying the foundation for systematically closing the performance gap in the E/E offering.
