From hardware-centric to software-driven

Consulting on Electrical and Electronic Development

Delayed maturity levels, high defect rates, sudden problems just before SOP: Electrical and electronic development often lacks control and transparency. KBC strategically structures your processes and supports you, particularly during the transition from a hardware-centric to a software-centric organization: We ensure you achieve your maturity level targets, develop a comprehensive test and validation cascade, and optimize your development environment for efficiency. This enables you to bring products to market on time, within budget, and with the required quality.

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Victor Gradl

Director

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Victor Gradl

Director at KBC and management consultant specializing in electrical and electronic development, with over 8 years of experience in E/E development

Challenges in the Development of Electrical Engineering

The shift from hardware- to software-centric electrical and electronics development is posing an increasing challenge for companies. KBC supports you through this very transformation with an experienced team of consultants: Our roots lie in the automotive industry, which, as one of the most critical and high-performance markets, was affected early on and significantly by the transformation in electronics development. As a result, for two decades we have had a deep understanding of the challenges that are now increasingly affecting industries such as medical technology, aviation, and mechanical and plant engineering.

Our focus is on operational implementation rather than strategy alone: We align your organization and processes to ensure that a functional product is delivered.

Market readiness comes too late

Products and features do not reach the required level of maturity on time, causing delays in the start of production and market entry.

High defect volume

The volume of incoming errors exceeds what your organization can reasonably prioritize, assign, and resolve.

The software and hardware aren't compatible

If the maturity levels do not align in terms of timing and content, the integration of your software into the product will fail.

Lack of transparency regarding project progress

Projects often seem to be on track until problems arise just before production begins—by which time it is too late.

Legacy systems are holding us back, while new players are starting out without the baggage of the past

Established OEMs are struggling with legacy systems, while new competitors have a head start—and the pressure to transform is mounting.

Approaches to Software-Centric Electrical and Electronic Development

In addition to helping you achieve your maturity goals, KBC supports you in electrical and electronic development—including your test and validation cascade—as well as in restructuring your development environment.

Achievement of maturity targets

Unclear priorities, a lack of control mechanisms, and a lack of transparency regarding development progress often cause maturity levels to lag behind. KBC addresses this with structured planning: We create a clear ranking of your development scope and manage it using tailored mechanisms. We systematically identify and address deviations—ensuring that you achieve your maturity level goal as planned.

Test and validation cascade

Without a clear testing strategy, electrical and electronic development at every level tends to involve either redundant testing or insufficient testing. KBC develops a comprehensive testing and validation cascade across all levels: from components through subsystems and software integration to the overall system. We quickly feed back test findings to keep control loops short. This way, we reduce “slip-through” and, in the event of errors, specifically address areas where test coverage is lacking.

Development environment

E/E development is often hindered by a sprawling toolset and a lack of transparency regarding activities. KBC begins by assessing your organization: Which functions are missing, and which ones overlap? How do requirements, implementation, and independent goal-setting interact within the V-model? Building on this foundation, we standardize your toolchain, methodologies, and planning processes—to create a development environment that runs efficiently.

Electrical and Electronic Development by the Numbers

Costs in the E/E modular system

Loophole in the testing cascade

Transparency regarding development progress and maturity levels

Portrait photo of Victor Gradl, Director at Kemény Boehme Consultants (KBC). A man with short dark brown hair, smiling broadly and warmly at the camera. He is wearing a dark suit with a light blue shirt and black tie, with both hands in his pants pockets.

This is how we view electrical and electronic development

We are not software developers. Our focus is on reorganizing, transforming—and providing companies with the tools they need to bring about change.

Victor Gradl, Director at KBC

Industries we advise on electronics development

Automotive

Industrials

Technology

Topics that strengthen your business

Product Development

Quality

Innovation

Solutions that advance E/E development goals

Quality and maturity don't fit with the SOP, and task forces are expensive. How can we address this?

Task forces set up just before the SOP are not only expensive but also usually avoidable. The key lies in the early stages: aligning processes and organizational structures properly before the pressure builds. This must be followed by rigorous goal-oriented management that addresses deviations with a high degree of consistency.
As a boutique consulting firm specializing in electrical and electronics development, KBC supports you precisely in this area. At the same time, we examine which non-value-adding activities can be automated: Tasks that AI and structured processes can handle should no longer be performed manually by humans.

Is our product still competitive?

To develop a product that can hold its own in the market, it helps to take a structured, outside perspective: Where do you stand in relation to market and customer requirements? KBC methodically evaluates benchmarks and also involves suppliers—who work with multiple customers and can determine what is standard and what is not.
In addition, we examine the value contribution of your features: Which ones are truly necessary? And which ones cost more than they deliver? This allows you to measure and manage your competitiveness in a targeted manner.

Our defect management system is overloaded. How can we get the defect load back under control?

If defects are surfacing faster than they can be addressed, this is rarely a capacity issue. More often than not, the root causes lie within the process itself.
KBC first brings clarity to this: Where do duplicates arise that can be filtered out early with AI support? How strict is the prioritization? Are defects assigned to the correct software builds? Here, it’s worth looking at the root causes: Catching errors earlier in the development process reduces the volume permanently—not just the current workload.

Victor Gradl

Director

Let's start with a conversation

Whether it’s achieving maturity targets, establishing a testing and validation pipeline, or setting up a development environment: In a brief discussion, we’ll determine which steps make sense and how KBC—an international boutique consulting firm based in Munich—can help you move forward. We’ll be in touch shortly.

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