How to Transform Your Engineering Organization with LHP

How to Transform Your Engineering Organization with LHP

LHP Engineering Solutions was founded in 2001. Our mission is to provide our customers in the greater transportation industry with the means to create a safer, smarter world. We work to enable safer transportation technologies by implementing the LHP Functional Safety Ecosystem, and by guiding our clients through the process of understanding the requirements for standards and regulations relating to software-defined and autonomous vehicle technology. Our goal is to help all our clients create an efficient infrastructure around safety, centralization, and automation. We work to engage our partners in their process design and help them create technology that is safe and efficient.

The automotive industry’s landscape is changing rapidly, presenting both challenges and opportunities that have not existed in the past. The marketplace is rapidly evolving. Relationships between suppliers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are changing in ways that are not yet fully realized. Those who have not yet begun this journey are now considering doing so, as streamlining their operations comes into sharper focus for their overall strategies. This behavior spells changes in the relationship between OEMs and suppliers. However, some analysts believe there will also be closer and more long-term strategic partnerships producing project-specific “cross-organizational teams” between suppliers and OEMs^1,2.

International quality and safety standards are not only expanding in scope but also becoming more widely used. This leads to software itself being produced, tested, and integrated in new and exciting ways. This is a good time for a confident and fast-moving organization to transform intelligently to meet these challenges, changes, and opportunities as they come.

LHP engages your team to help find larger solutions. We offer engineering services, training, technology integration, innovative tools and ideas, and data analytic solutions to help these companies in the areas where they find the most challenges. With expert team members who sit on the board of the governing body for the ISO 26262, “Road vehicles – Functional Safety” standard, LHP is ready to partner with your business and discover how your organization will transform to meet our industry’s new challenges.

1. Foster a culture of innovation.

A company’s culture plays a vital role in its transformation. If an organization’s leadership and senior personnel are committed to innovation and adapting to the massive changes in the industry, then producing a positive transformation will be far easier.

LHP has been at the forefront of transportation technology for over twenty years, providing engineering and training solutions to not only automotive customers but also aerospace, rail and industrial vehicle manufacturers and suppliers. We have always adapted to the constantly changing needs of our industry, even when that means predicting those needs and adapting earlier than the rest. LHP can assist your organization to establish and maintain a company culture of agility and intellectual curiosity that promotes innovation and growth.

Einstein spoke of the need for curiosity, but also of the elegance of simplicity when solving a complex problem. Innovation doesn’t have to always involve a brand-new solution. Improving on existing solutions can mean simplifying an interface, for example, speeding a process, or just increasing efficiencies. Whether through providing data insight through analytics, developing custom solutions, or providing ongoing engineering support, LHP’s ethos of excellence can help your organization transform by identifying and removing obstacles to process (and product) improvement.

2. Assess your organization to discover opportunities for improvement.

LHP consultants collaborate with our clients to identify planning shortcomings, new areas for improvement, and previously overlooked opportunities. We’re a trusted source for consulting services within the industry, and our consultants will focus their experience and expertise on your organization’s assessment. Through this multi-faceted analysis, we can come up with custom-tailored recommendations. These can guide your organization to achieve cost savings and competitive advantage.

Whether for short-term goals or long-term strategic issues, an objective and skilled LHP assessment of your organization’s strengths and its growth opportunities can help set clear and measurable transformation goals. Our functional safety consultation service, as an example, is designed to help any size company implement functional safety and can guide both compliance and certification to ISO 26262, the functional safety standard.

These customizable consultation plans can give your organization a jumpstart towards transforming, and it’s often possible to combine consultation with training, which LHP offers in a wide range of solutions.

3. Transform your workforce with corporate training solutions.

Updating your engineering staff’s skillset by enabling them to add new knowledge or certifications helps organizations reposition themselves for the greatest market advantage. These new skills can be a great asset for your organization as it evolves.

Your organization’s personnel can find their ideal place in the LHP training funnel, with multiple levels of training intensity:

• Executive, for business leaders who require high-level breakdowns of roles and responsibilities, and the impact of the subject on the business
• Senior technical (engineering manager), for members in technical leadership roles who need to know the overview of the business impact as well as work products, and a good foundational knowledge of the topic
• Academy (transitioning and entry-level engineers) gives the trainees the most hands-on deep dive into the topic, with dedicated workshops; this training typically takes 3-5 days per module due to its intensity and rigor.

LHP’s standard professional training packages cover essential subjects from AUTOSAR and Autonomous Controls to Model-Based Design. We offer additional courses in Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment, Failure Mode Analysis, and even a course in how to write ISO 26262-compliant test requirements. We can develop a customized training program that incorporates your organization’s existing processes and procedures. We continually add new courses as the industry evolves, so we can continue to serve and assist engineering organizations who are evolving right along with it.

Whether your organization is a startup, a mid-sized engineering firm, a Tier 1 or Tier 2 supplier, or an established OEM, we can tailor a course to your needs, goals, and transformation timeline.

4. Meet the challenge of high demand with LHP’s Engineering Resources.

The increasing complexities and unique demands of the automotive manufacturing industry, and automotive software engineering in particular, require a skilled, agile, and dedicated partner. Functional safety, cybersecurity, design for integration, and government regulations are all becoming more demanding than ever.

While it’s by far not the only thing we can do to assist your organization, LHP maintains a dedicated team of professional-grade engineers and technicians ready to deploy to your location and solve problems. LHP can assemble teams for on-site consultation, training, and Functional Safety certification, as we’ve seen. LHP also has teams ready to assist your organization in redesigning its infrastructure for simulation testing and Model-Based Design (MBD) with our 4-part MBD approach, including integration of MBD in an AUTOSAR environment.

We can help your organization solve long-term engineering capacity issues with on-site resources or even direct placement, depending on your needs. LHP’s analytics solutions for automotive and manufacturing organizations can provide data and insights essential to your organization’s digital transformation, with our agile approach to the Internet of Things and Data Analytics. Our team can help you to capture, process, and most importantly, analyze data rapidly, so you have not only all the information, but you will know how to act on it.

Whether your organization’s transformation requires a trusted advisor, a one-off analyst or consultant, a corporate-level trainer, or a long-term engineer solving problems for you every day, LHP can provide the assistance you need to evolve with the industry.

5. Certify your processes to international standards.

Transform your engineering organization in the rapidly evolving automotive industry by taking the step into certification. This can be a large commitment; some of the standards governing our industry are complex. However, attaining certification can make a large difference for your organization, due to not only the added skill and knowledge of the certified individuals or organizations but also because the trust these certifications command translates to an added advantage in the marketplace. LHP is here to help guide your organization through the certification process.

The functional safety standard (ISO 26262) is one of the most critical standards to comply with and become certified in, as the industry moves forward. The industry continues its advancements toward full Level 5 autonomous vehicles. This drives greater propagation of Levels 2, 3, and higher autonomous functions throughout all OEMs’ product lines. The closer these vehicles approach the full Level 5 autonomy state, the more safety-critical features they will have. This is what places them within the scope of ISO 26262. Good functional safety practices are the key to ensuring these vehicles will be as safe as possible, and the industry overall will concentrate more attention on functional safety at all supplier levels. LHP, as an organization, focuses heavily on functional safety knowledge. We offer an ISO 26262 consultation package, as well as workshops, safety plans, executive training, and full Functional Safety certification.

The Cybersecurity standard, ISO/SAE 21434, “Road vehicles – Cybersecurity engineering,” is another area of intense interest and scrutiny within the industry, and that focus will also only continue to grow. For example, there are instances when Cybersecurity also falls within the scope of Functional Safety, because Cybersecurity can be seen as a quality factor. Also, weak Cybersecurity can be identified as a hazard, or a “potential source of harm,” within a Functional Safety assessment. Mitigating this risk, reducing vulnerability, and protecting consumer trust regarding the impact of cyber attacks are all goals of the standard. LHP offers Cybersecurity work packages including certification, training and compliance, executive training, and assessments of related standards that also affect security and safety in the cyber realm.

Summary

Do some of these options seem to intersect? Absolutely! LHP is a technology and services integrator, and it makes sense for our services to overlap at times. A consultation may determine that some training is in order, and who better to deliver that training than the engineering service provider closest to the situation, and is deeply rooted in the most current technology of the industry – LHP.

LHP can bring in fresh perspectives, specialized expertise, and modern tools to transform an engineering company, helping your organization develop state-of-the-art technology with increased efficiency and innovation. Overall, collaboration between engineering companies offers a multitude of advantages, ranging from increased competitiveness and access to resources to enhanced innovation and market expansion. Partnership is an opportunity for firms to leverage each other’s strengths and create mutually beneficial outcomes. A partnership with LHP is an opportunity for your organization to transform and perform to its best potential. Together, we can form a partnership that finds insights within the data, increases the efficiency and safety of your processes, and develops technology solutions that are fast, efficient, and ready for market.

1. Ondrej Burkacky, Johannes Deichmann, Martin Kellner, Patrick Keuntje, and Julia Werra. “Rewiring Car Electronics and Software Architecture for the ‘Roaring 2020s.’” 4. August 2021. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/rewiring-car-electronics-and-software-architecture-for-the-roaring-2020s
2. Dave Andrea. “Auto Supplier and OEM relationships: Insights from the 2022 WRI® Study.” 3. June 2022. https://www.plantemoran.com/explore-our-thinking/insight/2022/06/auto-supplier-and-oem-relationships-insights-from-the-2022-wri-study