S P E C I A L : S O F T W A R E lab and process management 5 7
N O . 1 2 0 2 3
TEST
EFFECTIVENESS
AS A GUIDING
PRINCIPLE
LAB AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT IS ESSENTIAL
TO GET THE BEST OUT OF THE TEST FIELD
Testing is critical in development.
Effective and efficient operation
of test fields, and their integration
into the development process,
is important for the success of our
customers. Making this possible is
not purely a technological issue.
Rather, the key is the intelligent
combination of proven methods
and technology.
“Lab Management is not just another
piece of software. It is a competence,”
explains Roland Strixner,
AVL Global Business Segment Lab
Management.
and data management. One relevant
KPI is Operational Equipment Effectiveness
(OEE), which delivers
information on testing productivity.
Software must be scalable and
responsive to the systems of different
hardware vendors.
In addition to the classical test environment
and solutions for propulsion
development, requirements are
changing rapidly in the electrified
automotive world. “It is important
to understand how effectively and
efficiently existing equipment is being
used and how it matches up to
current and future customer needs,”
says Michael Conrad, who works
with Strixner in the battery business
field. In battery development,
test engineers deal with a variety of
standards and test specifications, as
well as short innovation cycles. The
result: Up to 50,000 test channels
operating in parallel for cell, module
and pack development. Handling
the growing number effectively is
AVL’s guiding principle. “Process
digitalization and automation is
not an option but a must to handle
these challenges,” says Conrad.
At AVL, up to 250 experts work
in this area, including the Strategy
Engineers consulting unit. Typically,
companies with many global
locations, as well as those who are
extremely speed-driven, need organizational
units to collaborate
closely to remain competitive with
a shortened time-to-market. Therefore,
the primary concern is the efficiency
of the test environment. Ideally,
OEMs even want to keep these
companies running 24/7.
This is where our expertise comes
in, providing world-class workflow