Software-defined products (SdP), artificial intelligence, and digital twins have the potential to fundamentally change industrial manufacturing. However, only jointly developed standards and intensive exchange within the framework of pre-competitive cooperation will enable a breakthrough in this area.

SOFTWARE-DEFINED PRODUCTS

52 months or 120 weeks? That's how different development times are in the European and Chinese automotive industries. The discrepancy is glaringly obvious, but it is only a snapshot in the race for market share. In the future, those who know how to leverage new technologies based on approaches such as software-defined products or agentic AI, while also critically questioning and further developing the way they work with partners, will have the edge.

The prostep ivip association, based in Darmstadt, organizes precisely this type of pre-competitive collaboration.

The organization brings together leading industrial companies, IT system providers, and research institutions to develop methods and process designs for future product platforms. The board of directors includes the globally active companies Volkswagen, Airbus, AVL, Mazda, Unity, and the University of Excellence TU Berlin – proof of the relevance and international appeal of the recommendations for action.

New premises

The focus in product development has shifted significantly in recent years: the idea of a product whose value contributions come largely from hardware and electrical or electronic components has given way to a concept that views products in a holistic context—as systems and parts of larger systems (systems of systems, SoS). Products are now capable of communicating with their operating environment on their own. One consequence of this is that the current architecture of product systems needs to be rethought, not least from the perspective of sustainability and new business opportunities.

Platform approaches

From a technological point of view, a key strategy for implementing SoS products is the platform strategy. However, this does not involve just a single platform strategy, but at least two:

• A combined hardware and E/E platform for the development of mechanical components, systems-on-a-chip, sensor technology, and controllers

• A software platform for the provision of middleware and product operating systems

Function development and deployment should be cloud-based in order to realize scenarios such as the use of operational data and over-the-air (OTA) updates of functions, and to open up new business areas. This also calls for a dedicated cloud strategy.