This article describes how to choose Board Management Software as an automotive manufacturer and what to look at when designing a Board Management Software system for car manufacturing needs.
Introduction
When talking about the automotive market, it is important to mention that it is not limited to only car manufacturers but also includes aftermarket equipment manufacturers, parts manufacturers, and other suppliers of items you can install in a vehicle.
The car manufacturing market is subject to many regulatory laws within different countries. Since actions have an immense potential liability due to risk to the health and lives of customers, the car manufacturing market has some unique requirements in the traceability area. Every delay in implementing improvements can cause huge losses. It is also essential to be flexible and react to new findings fast.
In this article, we will touch upon many different viewpoints when discussing various Board Management Software system features. When applicable, we will give you some hints about customized solutions.
Department over a person in decision-making
When considering who is making decisions in the automotive industry, it is vital to understand that a person participating in the meeting does not speak for themselves. The actual structure of decision-making is usually more complicated than that. Let’s take an example:
The department responsible for the chassis suggests changing one of the components. The change is evaluated. Risks and costs get counted, and suggestions are made. Then, teams responsible for each car model that uses that particular chassis component must approve this change. All these individuals embody the decisions of their respective organizational structures.
The decision will be noted as a decision of a board, not individual persons. The organization’s actual structure is usually multi-dimensional. At the end of the day, it is important to check if all required stakeholders approve the change. While there are some standards on how identity provider systems are constructed, change is common, and it can be expected that complex multi-dimensional dependencies and structures are to be collected from different sources. AD support is usually an excellent place to start but in many cases, not enough to provide automated updates of the complete structure.
| Basic feature | Custom-built software ideas |
| – Showing username | – Showing your specific department and place in organizational structure in all data layers to show necessary representation was in place – Ability to create dynamic user groups based on the company structure – Ability to track organizational structure assignment of users at the moment the decision was taken – in case they change jobs internally or reorganization is done |
Detailed roles management
When thinking about the roles that need to be implemented to conduct a meeting, one can come up with at least three. The three roles would include:
- Someone who presents the topic to be discussed.
- Someone who makes decisions.
- Someone who writes it all down.
But, when you are in the automotive business, it is a little more complicated than that.
If you want the decisions to be communicated fast, you need someone who can see decisions taken, but not necessarily technical documents that led to that decision.
Presenters should be entitled to see and contribute only to the portion of the agenda that they are showing.
In some high management boards where strategy is discussed, your process might be only to give access to individual documents. Hence, no one sees the big picture apart from the CEO and his closest cooperators.
There has to be an option for secretaries to support their bosses and access the same data the bosses would. Secretaries are the backbone of most well-functioning businesses, after all.
Need-to-know principles will require quite a bit of refinement to ensure that everyone sees just the amount of information they need and nothing else.
| Basic feature | Custom-built software ideas |
| – Invite people to the meeting and define read/write/admin permissions on the meeting level | – Tree-like role definition up to the smallest piece of valuable information to ensure clarity, ease of management, and precision when needed – Support for secretaries and other deputies – Custom roles for positions like audit, quality, technical leader, task manager, Decision integrator, etc. – Special protection for information like design documents, pending patterns, engineering documentation, or strategic decisions |
Shortening decision path
One of the most significant benefits of Board Management Software is the ability to set up a clear, custom-fit decision path. A decision request must no longer be passed through all individual focus teams. Usually, you have just the right Board that can either decide or, in cases with more economic impact, pre-approve and pass up the ladder for evaluation. This saves a lot of time for critical stakeholders, who are usually rather busy, and leaves a clear path for whoever will carry out the decision to ensure everyone has been notified and agrees. Missing a deadline for change implementation can lead to loss of money, opportunity, or even lives. So, a clear decision path is critical.
A wide variety of custom systems where the output could be synchronized, from ERP to parts and materials acquisition software, should also be taken into account.
| Basic feature | Custom-built software ideas |
| – Basic decision workflow – Decision request import interface – Decision export interface to popular other systems like SAP or Jira | – Fully customized workflow(s) for decision-making depending on actual business and development processes – Detailed, well-defined approval path incorporating immediate import/export to get rid of any delays |
Product operations guidelines
While in most industries, it would be perfectly safe to completely entrust the safety of the product operations to the supplier team, automotive knows better. There is usually a whole set of guidelines and requirements regarding how different software aspects must be operated and documented. These guidelines include, for example, disaster recovery scenario testing, test plans, backups handling, dependency tracking and clearance processes, security and penetration testing, monitoring, and many more.
| Basic feature | Custom-built software ideas |
| – Most of the available software will handle basic license information, component support, and guidelines for ops teams – For applications hosted at the supplier site, you can also expect GDPR compliance statements | – While it is possible for most suppliers to comply with specific reporting and requirements, it might be quite expensive. In fact, it just might be more cost-effective to build a custom product that already follows all the rules and use the same building components as other software at the company |
DRP and document classification
The automotive industry has a legal obligation to ensure Data Retention according to local regulations and the information class. Due to the nature of the business, most companies operate globally and have to deal with all special requirements. Correct classification of processed information and appropriately handling it is essential for keeping information secure and preventing potential damage.
| Basic feature | Custom-built software ideas |
| – Usually data governance and removal is strictly manual | – Recognition of document classification based on company solutions – Implementation of company internal classification, including geographic source location of data |
Build Powerful Board Management Software with Astec
Astec provides world-class software development teams on demand. We have years-long experience in delivering digital innovation in the automotive sector and have been building and maintaining Board Management Systems for multiple clients, including one of the biggest car manufacturers in Germany. Astec’s expert developers and programmers can help you design, build, and maintain Board Management Software specifically shaped to your unique requirements as an automotive manufacturer.