Nobo Technologies and IBM: Co-creating Next-Gen Digital R&D Management

Nobo Technologies, a prominent provider of intelligent cockpit system solutions in China, encountered significant challenges in R&D management, stemming from both industry dynamics and internal complexities. The co-creation between Nobo Technologies and IBM Engineering has elevated Nobo’s R&D capability to the next level.

From pressing challenges in the Automotive 4.0 Era

Source: YourTarget

Automotive engineering is moving toward a new “Automotive 4.0” era with the comprehensive digitization of R&D, undoubtedly creating new challenges for today’s automotive development.

In the evolving landscape of technology, optimizing automobile R&D is vital for sustainable enterprise development. Recognized by many, this model emphasizes the growing need for effective R&D management to respond to market pressures and integrate diverse technologies for maximum value. First, the pace of innovation is getting faster and faster, which becomes more and more reflected at the software level. Secondly, as innovation iteration accelerates, the difficulties of meeting quality management and compliance objectives continue to grow.

To persistent internal problems

Nobo Technologies’ software requirements and test management processes used to be mainly offline and manual. However, since 2021, the company’s rapid growth, increased production, and global expansion have made traditional methods like paper documents challenging to sustain due to the accelerated development pace. In particular:

• Problem 1: Traditional process management is like “drawing a conclusion on the basis of partial understanding.” Relying on traditional manual processes poses significant risks, including missing requirements, poor process control, and a lack of real-time collaboration. With 95% of test management information managed offline, there is low efficiency and difficulty in tracking project progress. Nobo Technologies requires a collaborative infrastructure to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and centralize scattered data and processes.
• Problem 2: Existing tools lack the capacity to handle a substantial volume of test cases. The XRAY plug-in, an online Jira lightweight test management tool previously utilized by Nobo Technologies, struggles to manage more than 80,000 test cases. The linking process is labor-intensive and incurs additional costs. Consequently, Nobo Technologies aims to implement a comprehensive automated testing process, encompassing test case management, to streamline the development iteration cycle.
• Problem 3: Traditional manual operations hinder the comprehensive traceability of requirements and tests. Having previously relied on spreadsheets for recording, Nobo Technologies encountered challenges in verifying successful traceability. The company’s rapid expansion led to an increase in isolated platforms and tools, impeding the objective of reusing information for product diversification. To address this, Nobo Technologies is working towards establishing requirement management and traceability capabilities for a closed-loop, requirements-based development throughout the entire product development lifecycle.

The impactful handshake between Nobo and IBM

To tackle these evolving challenges, Nobo Technologies has joined forces with IBM Engineering to create an integrated R&D digital platform. This platform aims to enhance the efficiency of software development management, facilitating accelerated innovation in product R&D and ensuring alignment with international development practices.

Based on a comprehensive evaluation of functions, scalability, process support (ASPICE, ISO26262, ISO21434), trial experience, implementation capabilities, server architecture, after-sales service and price/performance, Nobo Technologies chose to build seamless integration based on IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM), a digital platform that can manage software development efficiently and flexibly.

Create, build and solidify business processes

In this project, IBM adhered to the concept of co-creation and introduced relevant teams from IBM Technology and IBM Consulting to work together to provide end-to-end customized solutions for Nobo Technologies. In the project’s early stages, IBM Consulting closely collaborated with Nobo Technologies to integrate IBM ELM best practices with internationalization needs. Together, they ensured the platform met current business processes and industry standards like ASPICE, leading to the successful establishment of the ELM tool platform. During the project implementation phase, IBM provided thorough technical training enabling a seamless transition of existing programs to the ELM platform for Nobo Technologies. Internally, Nobo promoted ELM learning and iteratively optimized system processes based on user feedback and practice.

Zhao Xiaokai, General Manager of the IBM Sustainability Software in Greater China Group, explains: “Unlike some suppliers who just migrated existing processes, templates and data into the system, IBM worked closely with Nobo Technologies early at the communication stage to reorganize its business process, with Nobo’s business goals being the ‘lighthouse’ throughout the project. The entire project involves multiple departments of Nobo Technologies, their forward-looking thinking and strong execution of digital transformation, as well as in-depth communication and collaboration with the IBM team.”

Build an intelligent and automated R&D management platform

After over a year of collaboration, Nobo Technologies and IBM have established a versatile ELM framework for managing multiple product lines and various model platform projects. This includes the deployment of four types of requirement modules—system, software, hardware, and structure—and the design of 24 itemized requirement artifacts, encompassing around 90 field attributes.

Since April 2023, the fully operational system has integrated 11 online business processes, including project management, problem management, release management, change management, and quality management. Nobo Technologies introduced about 70 online forms, making 50% of essential product development requirements accessible online. Over 80% of ASPICE processes are now online, laying a solid foundation for comprehensive lifecycle management and achieving 10% cost reduction and efficiency improvement goals.

• In requirements management, the online system automates report processing for real-time sharing of progress.
• Test management now features daily uploads and refreshes of results, offering instant access to the entire test progress.
• Real-time bi-directional traceability links DNG requirements and ETM test instances with clear status in reports.

Moreover, the collaborative efforts of both teams led to the successful integration of ELM with the current project tool Jira, communication tool DingTalk, BOM and change management system NPCP, software static scanning library Sonarqube, and code library Gerrit. Specifically:

• Nobo Technologies achieved real-time, two-way synchronization of defect work items between ELM and Jira using the IBM Engineering Integration Hub.
• An MQ message plug-in and custom function package enabled ELM notifications to be instantly pushed to DingTalk accounts, allowing for real-time updates and approvals.
• Developers can trigger scripts to automatically add Gerrit links in ELM tasks when submitting code, ensuring two-way traceability.
• NPCP synchronizes change analysis tickets between systems through ELM’s OSLC interface, updating results and execution status.
• ELM, functioning as a report management system, provides a brief overview of changes and status.
• Interface programs were developed to access the Sonar database, generating ELM-specific widget interfaces for displaying Sonar charts in the dashboard.

Conclusion

In the era of fully digital Automotive 4.0, IBM ELM extends a formidable hand, providing robust and replicable solutions for automotive engineering companies. Join Vietsol, an esteemed IBM Silver Business Partner, in leading the digital transformation of the product development journey, and together, let’s forge a collaboration akin to the impactful IBM & Nobo Technologies co-creation and beyond!