Automotive E-ssentials

Now, there are some huge changes taking place in the automotive industry, especially with some exciting new directions digitisation and autonomous driving are carrying us. Shared mobility for example becomes more easy and usable for everyone through digitalisation and also the retail market now needs one-stop services across borders. But what do the changes in the automotive industry mean, and why should we all be paying attention?

By now, we’re all very much aware that the biggest agent of change, both in the automotive industry and across the whole of the transportation sector in general, is digitisation.

No doubt, when thinking of digitisation, innovating, cutting-edge technologies such as highly automated driving spring to mind. We already work together with different industry partners and OEM’s to develop new innovative test and inspection methods that prioritise simulations to ensure the safety of these new automation technologies. Therefore, we are already involved in several international projects like PEGASUS in Germany and CETRAN in Singapore. While it’s true that these new automation technologies comprise a huge part of the industry’s surge towards digitisation, there’s far more to it than that.

Indeed, digitisation is even transforming some of the most time-worn and familiar aspects of the automotive industry. The hitherto relatively straightforward process of selling a car from a dealership is being transformed by the development of new procedures, software and standards in vehicle management. Accordingly, we have been forced to stay abreast by expanding our services considerably, offering PDAs for the creation of digital vehicle files; using TIM software for preparing expert reports and valuations in real time across multiple languages; and creating Blue Button, an online platform for providing near instantaneous damage reports.

Also, we have rolled out our newly developed Blue Box modular testing station. The station can be quickly and easily installed at car dealerships to offer functions such as periodic technical inspections, expert damage reports, lease returns and used car valuations. Such technologies hold huge potential to simplify and consolidate the testing process, and can be installed on-site in as little as two days.

Clearly digitisation’s ability to streamline and accelerate once-lengthy and complex processes confers huge benefits on businesses who can therefore bring their products to market more swiftly.

The other area – perhaps even the most profoundly exciting given its potential impacts – that we must discuss is that of e-mobility. We’re building on our truly global battery testing network (we have laboratories in Germany, the USA, Canada, China, Korea, Singapore and Japan) in order to expand our homologation processes for the battery and automotive industries alike. We’re already one of the leading certification bodies for electric vehicle charging in Europe, and have been actively supporting OEMs in vehicle design and development.

This work is helping to create a future when electric vehicles can take the place of those powered by internal combustion engines, and the implications of that for the environment and for public health are almost immeasurable.

The last innovation which should me mentioned here is our Dynamic Component Testing (DYCOT) laboratory. Design and development cycles of new vehicle models are growing shorter, and naturally that means that manufacturers are striving to cut costs wherever they can. DYCOT provides simulation and non-destructive testing that can hugely reduce the expense incurred in testing new vehicle models.

To follow the trends, especially those which come along with digitisation, we continuously working in optimising services and creating new testing procedures to support new technologies and ease their global market entry.