Case Study
UST's digital twin solution transformed fleet management with real-time visibility at a global automotive manufacturer
CLIENT
This global automotive manufacturer produces a diverse range of vehicles, including cars, trucks, buses, and military vehicles. It operates in 26 countries across four continents with a vast network of over 250 dealerships. The company is dedicated to sustainability and is at the forefront of electric and hybrid vehicle development.
CHALLENGE
Limited visibility impeded fleet management efficiency and regulatory compliance
The company struggled with vehicle fleet visibility because of its extensive range of product models and variants. Each vehicle featured different telematics control units (TCUs) and electronic control units (ECUs) from various manufacturers. These components varied widely in terms of generations, software versions, and capabilities, creating a fragmented ecosystem. This complexity created difficulties to identify outdated software, track performance issues, and ensure vehicle safety. To compound the situation, the auto manufacturer was required to comply with UN R156 and AIS 190 connected vehicle safety and security regulations by maintaining a software update management system (SUMS) detailing each vehicle’s software, TCUs, and ECUs that included versions and update history as well as update failures and pending updates. Without a single, unified view of vehicle architecture, the company couldn’t accurately understand the hierarchy of TCU and ECU interdependencies across models to pinpoint out-of-date versions, detect real-time error codes, and address firmware issues promptly. Additionally, the manufacturer lacked a comprehensive blueprint reference for its vehicle platform architecture, further complicating product management across different automotive models and variants.
The manufacturer needed a solution that could provide a consolidated view of all systems and components across it fleet of vehicles to ensure consistent performance and safety, enhance operational efficiency, and comply with industry regulations.
TRANSFORMATION
Scalable digital twin solution transformed fleet management and improved vehicle performance
UST delivered a scalable cloud-based digital twin solution of the company’s vehicle fleet, capturing platform architecture and interdependency data from multiple sources to provide an accurate, comprehensive, real-time representation of each vehicle system. The solution transformed how the manufacturer managed its complex vehicle ecosystem, ensuring UN R156 and AIS 190 connected vehicle regulatory compliance, better performance, reliability, and safety.
The solution provided a visualization of the relationships, hierarchy, and interdependencies of the TCUs and ECUs, allowing users to see how these components interacted within the broader vehicle architecture. By integrating TCU and ECU firmware restrictions, users can understand the limitations and capabilities of each component, facilitating better decision-making and issue resolution. The digital twin solution also cross-references product lifecycle management (PLM) information to identify variations or anomalies in field vehicles to ensure the company’s SUMS is accurate and up to date.
The manufacturer can now proactively identify and address firmware issues, manage updates efficiently, and resolve potential anomalies before they impact vehicle performance or safety.
IMPACT
Enhanced visibility to efficiently manage over a million ECUs across 10+ vehicle models
The implementation of UST's cloud-based digital twin solution achieved these significant operational enhancements:
- Enhanced visibility and control over the fleet—The company can manage 10+ vehicle models and 30+ variants in a single dashboard, offering unprecedented insights for more than one million ECUs.
- Improved efficiency—By integrating component-level visibility, the company can make more informed decisions, streamlining maintenance processes and improving vehicle performance.
- Increased compliance with automotive standards—The solution established a durable foundation for adhering to UN R156 and AIS 190 statutory regulations for vehicle software management.
- Enabled customization capabilities—Mapping interdependencies among components allowed the manufacturer to offer customers customizable options that can be fulfilled with flexibility and speed.
- Scalability and real-time data access—The cloud-based nature of the automotive digital twin solution provides flexibility to keep pace with the company’s evolving business needs and monitor its fleet from anywhere.
- Accurate tracking of ECU software versions—Version history tracking provides a clear view of updates and changes to seamlessly maintain software compatibility across different vehicle models and variants.
Explore how UST's connected services and digital twin platform can transform your vehicle fleet management, improve operational efficiency, and ensure adherence to industry standards. Contact us today.