Synergies for the future: Audi’s new Software Development Center
Based in Ingolstadt, Audi’s new Software Development Center is set to join the Volkswagen Group’s network of SDCs and leverage the synergies. The center will develop new customer-centric digital solutions.
The role played by software in mobility grows more important every day. Whether it’s managing an electric powertrain or a multimedia or driver assistance system, cars’ on-board electronics are increasingly advanced and complex.
That’s why Volkswagen Group already has a broad base of Software Development Centers (SDCs): in Berlin, Wolfsburg, Lisbon and now Ingolstadt. The most recent SDC was opened by Audi to ensure the continued expansion of its digital know-how and in-house expertise as well as to safeguard development skills over the long term.
Smart solutions
Audi’s new Software Development Center has set itself the mission of developing customer-centric, secure, and smart IT solutions that are scalable – so that they can be easily replicated or adjusted in size. Its location a short distance away from the Audi site in Ingolstadt was deliberately chosen so that employees can enjoy a space conducive to new ways of thinking away from their traditional working environment while still allowing them to maintain contact with production areas at the plant.
The new SDC brings together software developers, UX designers and cloud platform specialists into a single team where dialog and collaboration mean solutions can be developed quickly and with a whole lot of creative thinking.
Agile working
“Thanks to the Software Development Center, we are setting new standards in agile software development in our teams and so ensuring faster product development with enhanced quality and a greater value creation depth for the whole Volkswagen Group,” says Frank Loydl, Chief Information Officer of AUDI AG.
Audi is deploying small teams and agile methods in its day-to-day work in the SDC, and the interior design and office equipment have also been chosen with this in mind. And, to create synergies with the existing SDCs, the Audi SDC has been integrated into the Group’s network, preventing the duplication of work and speeding up development.
Synergies with the Volkswagen Group
“We are working with the same technical platforms and in accordance with the same methods and standards as the whole Volkswagen Group,” says Thomas Bittighofer, Head of the Software Development Center in Ingolstadt. “This means that we are constantly sharing data and experience and so helping to build new skills all the time.”
The SDC’s efforts have already borne fruit in specialist areas. A couple of examples include a process platform for product marketing and a solution for marketing used cars.
Strategic projects
In the future, too, the Software Development Center will be seeking to take on projects of high strategic relevance, which is why short development cycles, close collaboration with different departments and rapid, high-quality results are vital. A Software Development Center is also being built at Audi’s Neckarsulm plant, with the focus here being on digital production and logistics.
On the basis of the Volkswagen Group’s “digital production platform” (DPP), this location will be responsible for developing high-performance IT solutions using Industry 4.0 principles. This SDC will also be part of an interdisciplinary network of expertise for factory transformation and innovation in the Heilbronn region and will in the future work together with “XL2,” a joint venture founded by Audi and Capgemini.
Source: AUDI AG