Automotive SPICE Basic Training

Michael Giebel | GEE Engineering Quality Assurance | Division A

ZF confidential
Agenda

1. Motivation / Importance
2. ASPICE 3.1
3. ASPICE ratings and assessments
4. Process examples

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential
Automotive SPICE Basic Training
1. Motivation / Importance

ZF confidential 3
What enabled that journey?
 Complex network of electronic systems inside and around your vehicle
 More lines of code than a fighter plane (SEI 2015):
 F35 fighter plane – 35M LoC
 Luxury car – 100M LoC
 Where is all this code?
 Powertrain – engine, gearbox, after-treatment
 Chassis – Steering, ABS, ESC
 Safety – airbag(s) and seat-belt systems
 Driver Assistance – radar and cameras
 Convenience - remote locking, keyless start, Smartphone integration 92 ECUs; 8Km wiring; 100M lines of code

 Complexity and dependability needs are growing ...

 Semi-autonomous driving on motorways and autobahns
 Vehicle to Vehicle and Infrastructure communication
 Completely autonomous driving.
 See ZF 2025 vision: http://www.zf-
world.com/en/themen/Strategy_ZF_2025/index.html

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential
Motivation - control complexity
Large international teams are needed for Product development

AME Housing suppliers

ECU app. Project leads

sales
Requirements
purchasing
Basis SW
Perf. SW Sensors Quality ECU core

… ZF confidential
© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
5
The challenge of quality ...
 Decisions we make today affect millions of vehicles in use for decades to come.

 Residual defects can lead to field failures and safety hazards:

 GM ignition switch recall – insufficient holding force for the key
Vehicle wide impact – no EPS, airbags etc.
 Takata airbag module recall – shrapnel emitted
Excess force in hot and humid conditions
 Ford recall – transmission shifts into first gear at speed
Soldering weakness reveals design error – intermittent speed pulse interpreted as low road speed.

 We need to prevent the creation and escape of defects.

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential
Motivation – Quality & product liability

 Property damage
 Environmental damage Warranty cost

Personal injuries criminal liability consequences*

*German law, other countries may vary

Court‘s point of view:

The current „state of the art in science & technics“ is to be applied.
(Product liability is not fulfilled with SPICE only)

ZF confidential
© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
7
7
Motivation – Continuous Process Improvement

The better the processes...

… the earlier defects are detected
… the less systematic faults remain in the
product
… the more accurate are the plans and
estimates

… the more predictable is the organization’s

performance
… the more reusable are assets and
knowledge/experience
… the lower is the cost

ZF confidential
© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
8
8
Motivation – Reduce corrections / loss through
waste
The later changes (due to bugs or request) are done in the development life cycle, the more costly
and time-consuming the become.
cost
factor

Requirements Design before while before while test Field use

elicitation coding coding test phase phase

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential 9
Motivation – customer expectation & future business

OEMs define the Requirement that their electronic and software supplier

have to attain Automotive SPICE Level 3 (minimum VDA scope).

Automotive SPICE Level 2 or 3 are assumed meanwhile by OEMs.

Does the supplier fail these objective they are called to improve their
development and engineering processes.
In case of identified risks (low attained capability levels), the supplier will
get a business hold (C-Supplier rating) and will be accounted with
contractual penalties!

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential 10
Motivation - Why are we using ASPICE?
 Control complexity
 Increasing lines of code and number of ECU in modern cars
 International teams, interfaces need to be managed, team of expert groups
 Achieve higher product liability
 Avoid warranty efforts and
 Damages due to your products
 Reduce correction cost
 Meet customer expectations and future business
 OEMs define the Requirement that their Electronic and Software supplier have to attain Automotive SPICE Level 3
(minimum VDA scope). Automotive SPICE Level 2 or 3 are assumed meanwhile by OEMs.
 Does the supplier fail these objective they are called to improve their development and engineering processes.
 In case of identified risks (low attained capability levels), the supplier will get a business hold (C-Supplier rating)
and will be accounted with contractual penalties!
 Continues improvement

 Standardisation

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential 11
Automotive SPICE Basic Training
2. ASPICE 3.1

ZF confidential 12
What is SPICE / Automotive SPICE
SPICE = Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination (SPICE (ISO
IEC 330XX family) international standard)

Automotive SPICE is a specific variant of SPICE for appliance in System- and

Software development in the Automotive industry

No real innovation, more a gathered reference of „Best Practices“ in System and

Software engineering of the last 30 years.

http://automotivespice.com/
VDA Band Automotive SPICE Deutsch 
Only the english version is binding
© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential 13
 Automotive SPICE – IS/ IS NOT

Automotive SPICE is:

 A Process capability determination model
 A Process maturity determination model
 Used as process improvement model

Automotive SPICE is not:

 A Software/Hardware Tool

 A Working method or work instruction

 A Certification

 A Product line or company capability determination (only applicable for Process execution in projects)

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential
ASPICE V3.1 Process Map

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential 15
ASPICE V3.1 Plug-in concept

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential 16
Automotive SPICE Basic Training
3. ASPICE ratings and assessments

ZF confidential 17
Capability Level – the definition of SPICE level
Optimizing
Level 5 Optimizing
Systematic continuous improvements are executed, process data PA.5.1 Process Innovation
are measured that show the ‚Best practices‘ (Innovations). PA.5.2 Process Optimization

Predictable Level 4 Predictable

Processes are executed and controlled within pre-defined PA.4.1 Process Measurement
upper and lower borders. PA.4.2 Process Control Estimate and
measure
Established Level 3 Established
Defined Processes are project specific PA.3.1 Process Definition
tailored, Resources are managed. Standards
PA.3.2 Process Deployment adapted
Managed
Planning and Level 2 Managed Process execution is planned and monitored,
Verification
PA.2.1 Performance Management work products are version managed and
PA.2.2 Work Product Management verified, Responsibilities are identified and
Performed assigned
Tasks are Level 1 Performed Processes are executed and work products are available in
done
PA.1.1 Process Performance pre-defined content and scope

Level 0 Incomplete Incomplete

Processes are not implemented or are not
systematically executed
Success depends on
© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
„Heroes“ ZF confidential
Capability Levels 1 to 3 in more detail

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential
SPICE – two dimensional process scoring

Not There is little or no evidence of achievement of the defined

N achieved
0 to ≤ 15% process attribute in the assessed process.
There is some evidence of an approach to, and some
Partially achievement of, the defined process attribute in the assessed
P achieved
> 15% to ≤ 50% process. Some aspects of achievement of the process
attribute may be unpredictable.
There is evidence of a systematic approach to, and significant
Largely achievement of, the defined process attribute in the assessed
L achieved
> 50% to ≤ 85% process. Some weaknesses related to this process attribute
may exist in the assessed process.
There is evidence of a complete and systematic approach to,
Fully and full achievement of, the defined process attribute in the
F achieved
> 85% to ≤ 100% assessed process. No significant weaknesses related to this
process attribute exist in the assessed process.

There is some evidence of an approach to, and some

Partially achievement of, the defined process attribute in the assessed
P- achieved -
>15% to ≤ 32.5% process. Many aspects of achievement of the process
attribute may be unpredictable.
There is some evidence of an approach to, and some
Partially
achievement of, the defined process attribute in the assessed
P+ achieved >32.5% to ≤ 50% process. Some aspects of achievement of the process
+ attribute may be unpredictable.
There is evidence of a systematic approach to, and significant
Largely achievement of, the defined process attribute in the assessed
L- achieved -
>50% to ≤ 67.5% process. Many weaknesses related to this process attribute
may exist in the assessed process.
There is evidence of a systematic approach to, and significant
Largely
achievement of, the defined process attribute in the assessed
L+ achieved >67.5% to ≤ 85% process. Some weaknesses related to this process attribute
+ may exist in the assessed process.

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential
Evaluation of Capability – Process capability level
SPICE Rating
A SPICE Level is achieved, once the PA is rated at least “L”.
The next Level can only be achieved, if all previous Levels are rated “F”
Capability level 1 2 3 4 5
Process attribute PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA
Process 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2
SYS.1 Requirements Elicitation F L L 2
SYS.2 System Requirements Analysis F F F L F 3
SYS.3 System Architectural Design F F F F L 3
SWE.1 Software Requirements Analysis P 0
SWE.2 Software Architectural Design L 1
SWE.3 SW Detailed Design & Unit Const. F F L 2
SWE.6 Software Qualification Test N 0
MAN.3 Project Management F N P 1
SUP.8 Configuration Management P 0
SUP.1 Quality Assurance P 0
ACQ.4 Supplier Monitoring F L F 2
F = Fully achieved L = Largely achieved P = Partially achieved N = Not achieved

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential
What is a SPICE Assessment?

• An Assessment is a method to evaluate processes. People

involved in the implementation of process are interviewed in
small groups

• It delivers beside the process maturity evaluation a list of all

Capability
Strengths and Weaknesses of the applied processes Improvement
Determination
• Countermeasures are defined in Action Plans to solve the
identified weaknesses/deviations with a key focus on

 structured work proceeding

 complete documentation
 demonstrable planning and control

Assessment

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential
Process Assessment approach

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential 23
How does ASPICE affect our Work?

What kind of Person is a SPICE assessor?

How do you think an Assessment is run?

Consistency is Key!
© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential 24
ASPICE - Assessor Certification
iNTACS is an abbreviation for “International Assessor Certification Scheme”
and its primary objective is the standardization of assessor education and
certification. It is an independent and legally registered not-for-profit
organization

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential
Automotive SPICE Basic Training
Process examples

ZF confidential 26
 © ZF Friedrichshafen AG
4/22/2019 Engineering Quality Assurance, Process Handling ZF confidential
GEE Process Dimension in STAGES

Stages
© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential
MAN.3 Project Management

ZF confidential 29
 MAN.3 Project Management

Process purpose:
The purpose of the Project Management Process is to identify, establish, and control the activities and
resources necessary for a project to produce a product, in the context of the project’s requirements
and constraints.
Process Outcomes:
1) the scope of the work for the project is defined;
2) the feasibility of achieving the goals of the project with available resources and constraints is
evaluated;
3) the activities and resources necessary to complete the work are sized and estimated;
4) interfaces within the project, and with other projects and organizational units, are identified and
monitored;
5) plans for the execution of the project are developed, implemented and maintained;
6) progress of the project is monitored and reported; and
7) corrective action is taken when project goals are not achieved, and recurrence of problems identified
in the project is prevented.

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential
MAN.3 BP1 - Define the scope of work.

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential
MAN.3.BP1 - Define the scope of work.

© ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF confidential 32