State-of-the-art software is further increasing the system complexity of vehicles. But how can this challenge be mastered safely and efficiently? Automotive Spice helps to ensure the quality of software-based systems.
Quality assurance of software and electronics throughout the entire product life cycle: The Automotive Spice standard was developed for this purpose.
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Automotive Spice (ASPICE) "is a vehicle-specific variant of the international standard ISO/IEC 15504 (processes in the life cycle of software)", as Bosch explains in the automotive electronics chapter of the German Kraftfahrtechnisches Taschenbauch. The name "Spice" stands for "Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination". It is a maturity model for the project-related evaluation of software development processes and, according to Bosch, focuses on the requirements for systematic development. The standard was developed by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). Automotive Spice was first published in 2005 by the Automotive Special Interest Group, which includes various car manufacturers. "[T]he current version 4.0 of this standard has been established worldwide and is used by leading OEMs and suppliers to evaluate the development processes of software-based systems in and around the vehicle", explains the VDA.
Automotive Spice "focuses (currently) only on software and only on individual projects", according to Bosch. It is used by vehicle manufacturers as an assessment model for software projects at suppliers. "The process assessments are carried out using the two-dimensional reference and assessment model", as the supplier explains. The "process dimension" is used to identify and select the processes to be examined in the assessment, while the "capability dimension" is used to determine and evaluate their respective performance. The capability dimension consists of the six maturity levels "incomplete", "implemented", "controlled", "established", "predictable" and "optimizing".
Automotive Spice is also Change Management
In concrete terms, this means that suppliers "have to prove to the OEMs that they are developing their products in accordance with ASPICE and that they have reached a certain level within the prescribed time", says Dr. Stephanie Aymans from Method Park in the guest commentary No Automotive SPICE Projects without Change Management Approaches from ATZelectronics worldwide 1-2/2023. "In order to attain level 2 of ASPICE, the work products and processes have to be controlled and it must be ensured that responsibilities are allocated. Level 3 requires standard processes that have been adapted and applied to individual projects", continues Aymans. Analyses of OEMs show that there is a correlation between a higher ASPICE level and higher product maturity and quality. "However, levels 2 and 3 only reach those suppliers who have anchored ASPICE in their company culture", says Aymans.
And companies still have some catching up to do here. According to Aymans, individual projects are often assessed in isolation, meaning that there is a lack of focus on defining and changing the process landscape. In order to establish ASPICE in the corporate culture, Aymans argues that the introduction of the standard should not be viewed as process consulting for a project, but rather as a change management project for the people involved and the entire process landscape. This means that management in particular must support and drive the change and the company should learn the appropriate methods. Ultimately, Automotive Spice can therefore "help establish development processes that lead to stable results", summarizes Aymans.
Current Focus: Software Updates after Vehicle Delivery
The current version 4.0, including the associated guideline, was developed by working group 13 of the VDA QMC. As Springer authors Noha Moselhy, Ahmed Adel and Ahmed Seddik explain in the book chapter Automotive SPICE Draft PAM V4.0 in Action: BETA Assessment, the current and future challenges for Automotive Spice lie primarily in the areas of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, deep learning and functional safety.
As the VDA explains, the standard is constantly being further developed by the responsible VDA expert committee and adapted to the needs of the automotive industry. Priority is currently being given to topics relating to the continuous maintenance and updating of software after the vehicle has been delivered to the customer.
This is a partly automated translation of this German article.
