Quality, time and costs under control
Automotive companies can benefit from the competence of external partners in the development of software. Dr. Joachim Fleckner, a shareholder, former managing director and previous employee at F+S Fleckner und Simon Informationstechnik GmbH, knows what is important in this respect.
Dr. Fleckner, you are often out and about in your car – with „F+S inside”?
Dr. Joachim Fleckner: Of course, since numerous electronic systems such as brake assistants or proximity sensors are also „at work” in my car. And we support automotive companies with the development of corresponding software solutions.
You also provide services for world market leaders. Shouldn’t they be able to implement most requirements with in-house solutions?
Fleckner: That may be the case with major suppliers. But even they do not have the capacities or the desire to do everything themselves.
Why is that?
Fleckner: Automotive companies have to efficiently bring increasingly complex electronic systems to market maturity and they have to meet increasingly stringent quality requirements. Software development therefore requires specialized knowledge – and an efficient organization. As experts for automotive embedded software, we fulfill both of these requirements. Our customers keep their teams and the technical infrastructure streamlined by making flexible use of our services.
How do you meet your challenges?
Fleckner: We stand by our customers with a broad perspective: We develop and optimize software solutions and we test them early on so there are only minimal residual errors when we start the subsequent complex system tests. We help our customers to optimize their development processes. And we offer tools for well-coordinated development work. We can therefore promise our customers to implement their projects with a view toward quality, time and costs.
How do you keep this promise?
Fleckner: We have organized our company so that we can fulfill all of the market requirements – which is why our quality management system was certified according to the ISO 9001 standard. We comply with the relevant technical standards and the state of the art for optimal functional safety, ISO 26262. We also evaluate software processes within the framework of the industry standard „Automotive SPICE”.
How do you obtain the necessary knowledge?
Fleckner: We hire only outstanding employees and continually improve their qualifications. Many of our development engineers, for example, are Certified Requirement Engineers, Architects and Testers. We have certified Automotive Functional Safety Professionals and Experts among our ranks. And our consultants are certified SPICE Assessors, including two Principal Assessors. We can therefore also conduct assessments that are recognized by the manufacturers’ initiative HIS and the Assessor Certification Scheme intacs™, for which we also organize the assessor meetings.
And what are you working on at the present time?
Fleckner: The details are unfortunately confidential, but it is about software modules for technical systems that will make the next generation of vehicles safer, more efficient and more comfortable.
Then I wish you a continued „safe journey”!
