THE AUTOMOTIVE PARADIGM SHIFT & THE RISE OF CYBERTECH SUPPLIERS

It’s no secret that the automotive industry, like many others before it, is going through a paradigm shift driven by advances in technology and the changing demands of consumers who are pushing suppliers and OEMs to shift from a vehicle-centric approach to a driver-centric one. Now is the time for OEMs, Tier 1 and aftermarket suppliers to rise to the challenge and find new ways to provide drivers with the full mobility experience they seek.

The constantly connected world we live in today has brought a number of paradigm shifts – or profound changes in the entire way that an industry works – and has created a consumer that expects instant gratification and extreme personalization across industries. Remember the first mobile flip-phones? Those early digital mobile phones had consumers enthralled by the novelty of being able to make a call or reach anyone from anywhere. Little did they know that this was just the beginning of a paradigm shift from the mobile phone to the smartphone – a super-device that is today the hub of our everyday lives performing the role of camera, mobile office, calendar, GPS-device, information repository and much more.

Evidence of new consumer demands is creeping into the automotive industry as car owners are changing from mere “drivers” to “subscribers”. They are beginning to view their cars the same way as they view their smartphones – no longer just a means to an end (i.e. a way to get from point A to point B), but rather a full user experience that must be customized to their unique needs. The driver is now the focal point, rather than the vehicle itself

According to a highly regarded McKinsey study, 36% of drivers would change their brand of car in an instant if they were offered better digital services. Car manufacturers have begun addressing these needs in different ways, one of which is with software upgrades for advanced infotainment systems that allow drivers to personalize their in-car experience.

While today’s cars are smarter and more connected than their predecessors, manufacturers have not yet taken full advantage of advances in technology when it comes to E/E Architecture. Cars are expected to run smoothly and seamlessly, yet they are still built with layers of complexity. If you were to look inside the sleek interior of a car today, you would actually find a giant mess of wires. This is because vehicles are currently built with between 100 to 150 separate electronic control units (ECUs) that control everything from door locks to brakes to power steering and everything in between. As each function relies on its own ECU, when the need arises to add additional connectivity, more advanced systems or a new feature, more ECUs must be commissioned with all their associated wiring and components. This increases both costs and complexity, not to mention yet more tangled masses of wires.

For each new feature that is added to a car, a new ECU must be developed, configured, tested and integrated. This is a costly, cumbersome and unreliable approach which involves multiple suppliers. If just one part is missing (pandemic, labor strike, things happen) production lines can be completely shut down as we saw in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, costing OEMs millions and leaving drivers out of luck.

The current process is unsustainable due to prohibitive costs of change, security risks, and technical difficulties in scaling any further. There is simply no additional physical space or bandwidth for a car to continue adding more and more ECUs and wiring. Instead of commissioning a brand new component every time a new feature is introduced, suppliers need a flexible and scalable platform that will allow changes to be implemented at lower cost, over-the-air and much faster, without recalling cars, and without having to re-engineer the entire architecture each time.

The need to reconfigure the current automotive supply chain is driven by three main challenges:

• Consumer Demand – No one supplier will have the capacity to provide a complete “best of breed” package that addresses all of the consumers’ demands and utilizes all of the newest technologies and features.
• Software Capabilities – OEMs are seasoned experts when it comes to building cars, but some of them do not necessarily have decades of experience in mass software development. Although this is starting to change with many OEMs building their own software divisions (such as Volkswagen’s Car Software Organization and Daimler’s MBition), new automotive systems are primarily based on software and that knowledge cannot be built in a day, a month or even a year. There is now a need for software and technology companies as an integral part of the automotive supply chain.
• Collaboration – Electric vehicles are becoming increasingly prevalent, and they are fundamentally built differently than traditional cars, requiring a new level of collaboration among OEMs and technology suppliers. This collaboration must begin right from the design phase to ensure the seamless integration of hardware and software in a secure manner.

No question, the existing supply chain is ripe for a major revolution, and OEMs, Tier 1 and aftermarket suppliers have a great opportunity now to transform the way they conduct their business. The question is, how can they do this in the most efficient way?

Industries evolve with the changing demands and expectations of their customers, and the same holds true for the automotive sector. OEMs are not oblivious to the tides of change, and they are doing their best to respond. The new generation of car-buyers have made it clear that they want to be the center of attention in their vehicles and OEMs are using their pre-development labs to learn how to integrate new technologies that will make this possible.

New Players Entering the Market

While traditional OEMs are taking their time and researching ways to upgrade their technological offerings, disrupters like Tesla and Nio have entered the market with a bang. These new players challenge the more established OEMs by providing new, software-oriented designs that the new-age consumer can’t resist, but are not necessarily compatible with legacy systems and older components. Coming from software or technology backgrounds, these companies bring a fresh new perspective built on the premise that software is the key component of the new generation of cars.

Contrary to the traditional OEM, Tesla and its counterparts are shaking up the industry by outsourcing the hardware side of car-manufacturing and focusing on the more alluring tech, leading to a shift in the supply chain. The new type of software-driven vehicle – which must incorporate next-gen Zonal Gateways, Vehicle Servers, Domain Controllers, and multipurpose ECU platforms – requires different hardware with fewer parts and a simplified supply chain focused on the software-defined vehicle.

New Software Entering the Market

The first response to changing customer demands in the automotive sector was adding more ECUs. Integrating new components with existing and legacy components required thousands of lines of code, and hundreds of specialized parts suppliers, but those days may soon be coming to an end. The current E/E Architecture has reached its scalability limit and can no longer add new components, technologically or financially.

Turbo Speed Of Computing

• Current State: ECUs are very specific task-oriented devices with only limited processing capacity, which means that many ECUs are needed.
• Improvement: Combine and consolidate functionality from different single purpose ECU’s into a flexible platform. Such a platform can be optimized to use cases and enable custom hardware accelerators (FPGA) and dedicated hardware resources.
• Use Case: With each new turbo-speed ECU, capable of so much more, the number of ECUs in a car will be significantly reduced.

Ethernet Expertise And Available Solutions

• Current State: Limited bandwidth and huge amounts of wiring needed for the different car components to communicate with each other.
• Improvement: An ethernet backbone means higher bandwidth, wiring consolidation, a richer and seamless user experience with upgraded features and customization.
• Use Case: Cars will be able to efficiently run existing advanced cameras, sensors, and other components that increase driving functionality.

Resilience And Safety-Enhanced By Next-Gen Hardware And
Software Architecture

• Current State: No redundancies. There are too many ECUs in a car to create backups for each. One malfunctioning ECU can impact the entire car.
• Improvement: Stronger ECU functionality provides redundancy options as needed. Less components create less possibilities for malfunction. If there is a complication, only that one software unit is impacted.
• Use Case: Realtime redundancy – functionality will migrate from one ECU to another if there is a malfunction (i.e. a power spike), the core functionality remains intact.

With the help of Cybertech suppliers, the future is brighter and less complex for traditional OEMs, Tier 1 and aftermarket suppliers. The methods they have relied on for decades are quickly becoming obsolete, leaving them with fewer options. While they could revamp themselves and learn the necessary expertise and innovation internally, this would be a costly endeavor resulting in a long time to market. And, by the time re-training is complete, chances are that technologies will have evolved again leaving them forever behind the curve.

The obvious answer is to partner with Cybertech suppliers and leverage the expertise of vendors whose reason for being is to create and implement the latest technologies, safely and securely. Cybertech suppliers companies are the perfect complement to traditional OEMs, Tier 1 and aftermarket suppliers because they have the expertise to consolidate components and applications into integrated products (or platforms) without trying to become car manufacturers themselves. Rather, they exist to bridge the knowledge gaps for integrating cutting-edge electronic subsystems into next-generation vehicles and architectures. They can and will provide the technology necessary for the manufacturers to build the right hardware to house the new generation of software. And, they can and will provide the know-how in advanced software development to build secure, efficient, and cost-effective solutions.

Where OEMs are used to providing new vehicle designs and specifications that Tier 1 suppliers fulfill, both can rely on Cybertech suppliers to provide the know-how and solutions for fast computing, Ethernet, Zonal Architecture, cybersecurity and more.

Where in the past, it was acceptable for OEMs to take up to five years to develop new technologies and bring them to market, today’s fast-paced technological development makes speed crucial. Customers don’t want to wait – they expect instant access to the newest and most upgraded features.

What’s In It For Me? – OEMs

OEMs are already looking towards consolidation, but the path remains clouded. In order to succeed in the new paradigm, they must focus on the following 4 key areas that will lead to a full Zonal E/E Architecture which can aggregate all parts at the relevant control points:

• Pre-Development Staging Projects: The ability to have pre-development projects where OEMs can have a firsthand view of different solutions and then refer Cybertech suppliers to their preferred Tier 1 suppliers to implement their preferred solution.
• Access to Cutting Edge Technology: The need to access the latest technologies and capabilities to define the next-gen architecture and set the requirements from the hardware and software perspectives which will eventually use the relevant OTA mechanisms and other features provided by the Cybertech vendor.
• Work Cross-Functionally: OEMs are able to work directly with Cybertech vendors to help guide their unique vision. They are also able to cooperatively build customized and optimal solutions which can serve their end goals and long-term strategy.
• Holistic Approach: The ability to integrate different approaches resulting in a best-of-breed system, secure by design from the very beginning of the process.

Of course this evolution cannot happen from one day to the next, so by partnering with the right vendor, OEMs have the FREEDOM TO EVOLVE by choosing on which areas to focus as they prepare their cars for the future.

What’s In It For Me? – Tier 1 Suppliers

When new demands filter down from the OEMs to the Tier 1 suppliers, confusion may ensue as they scramble to learn how to build to new specifications, increasing the time to market and therefore potentially losing customers. There are three specific areas where the Cybertech suppliers can provide crucial assistance to the Tier 1s in order to reduce this time to market:

• Involvement in Defining E/E Architecture: By partnering with Cybertech Tier vendors, Tier 1 suppliers can enter the discussion with the OEMs at an earlier stage. Being involved in the process of defining the E/E Architecture while bringing already working solutions to the next-gen requirements. This will make Tier 1 suppliers a full partner in creating a vision for the future.
• Adopting Innovative Software Technologies: Tier 1s will be able to significantly grow their market share with more robust software and integration capabilities if they look beyond automotive to other industries such as aviation and adapt their advancements to automotive. For example, the right supplier can help implement Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) from the aviation industry.
• Time to Market: Tier 1s can partner with the supplier to gain access to the technology needed to respond to RFQs for which they otherwise would not be qualified.

For OEMs and Tier 1s, the Cybertech supplier is their ticket to a sustainable and more profitable future in which they will have the FREEDOM TO EVOLVE to meet the new needs and demands of consumers.

To succeed, OEMs require the FREEDOM TO EVOLVE to meet new customer demands, and a major part of this role involves providing Tier 1 suppliers with the necessary specifications to supply new components and technologies. Tier 1 suppliers in turn, must have the technical know-how to provide that hardware and software to answer the OEMs’ specifications. In the rapidly-evolving automotive industry of today, OEMs lack the knowledge to build the specs for Tier 1 suppliers, and Tier 1 suppliers, while experts at mass production, lack the capabilities to mass produce next generation equipment.

The tech-native Cybertech Tier vendor can guide OEMs to create specifications and schematics in the pre-development stage, provide the Tier 1 supplier with the necessary skills to answer OEM specifications and give the aftermarket vendors the competitive edge they need to succeed as well.

Far from being just another layer in an already complex supply chain, the Cybertech Tier is smoothing the path forwards to the automotive revolution by consolidating components and applications into integrated products that are high-performance, cost-effective, and secure by design. Partnering with Cybertech Tier companies is a unique opportunity that will enable OEMs, Tier 1 and aftermarket suppliers to swiftly respond to the automotive paradigm shift, answering the new needs of consumers by bringing new solutions to market quickly and generating new revenue streams. To ignore this shift in working style is to risk long-term survival.

GuardKnox is a technology and engineering company specializing in E/E products and solutions for the automotive market. The automotive industry’s first Cybertech Tier vendor, GuardKnox empowers OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and the aftermarket to deliver the next generation of secure, software-defined and service-oriented vehicles. GuardKnox’s secure, flexible and scalable solutions enable added connectivity, Zonal E/E Architecture, hosted applications, high-speed routing (including network recovery and service discovery functionalities) and vehicle personalization.

By partnering with GuardKnox, OEMs, Tier 1s and aftermarket suppliers can quickly provide the next generation of drivers with the high-performing vehicles that they expect powered by the latest technologies and advanced app capabilities.

The company’s pioneering approach to automotive innovation is inspired by the founders’ experience in missile defense systems and the aviation industry and has led to multiple technology patents for automotive architecture. The GuardKnox leadership team’s vast experience in developing and testing cybersecurity for military systems places them in the unique position to apply these solutions to similar civilian challenges in vehicles.

The challenges of today’s automotive E/E Architecture are similar to those the team faced with fighter jets and solved by decoupling functionalities from the hardware and implementing a Zonal Architecture. This patented approach uses SOA methodology to enable any ECU, domain controller or gateway to serve as a vehicle-wide computing platform.

GuardKnox is based in Israel, with subsidiaries in Stuttgart, Germany and Detroit, Michigan.