Purchaser Assessments of Supplier Software Capability

Many automotive purchasers in Germany, Sweden, Italy and Japan are now embarking upon software process capability assessments of their suppliers using either ISO 15504 or CMM.

I would be pleased to hear of any experiences from either purchaser or supplier on this matter.

Sofware is becoming increasingly important (and therefore a high risk) as many of the componenets are safety critical.

ALso I would be pleased to hear of any industry initiatives in the different manufacturer groupings establishing contractual requirements on their suppliers for embedded software development.

Alec Dorling

[Marc]

What type of software? Test software? Canned SPC software? In-house written software? Embedded device software (also known as firmware)? Software which controls the engine control computer? Anti-lock brake nmodule firmware?

[Marc]

I can't cite personal experience. Just trying to nailthings down. I as well am interested in any war stories or other information.

By the way, CMM in the software world is not a dimensional measurement device, but rather SEI's Software Capability Maturity Model.

[This message has been edited by Marc Smith (edited 15 April 2001).]

Maily embedded software in
- braking systems
- steering wheels, cruise controls etc
- infotainment systems
- airbags
- stabalising systems
- lighting systems
- telephone systems (including emergency)
- etc etc

[Marc]

Any contemporary thoughts on software process capability assessments of software suppliers using either ISO 15504 or CMMI?

[antoine.dias]

Originally Posted by Marc

Any contemporary thoughts on software process capability assessments of software suppliers using either ISO 15504 or CMMI?

There is a clear switch towards " automotive SPICE " ( released on 2005 08 31 )
Several automotive OEM's are already using this to evaluate and rate the supplier's processes.
Can be found using following link:

http://www.automotivespice.com/web/download.html

You just have to register to be able to download 2 files :
Automotive SPICE process assessement model and
Automotive SPICE process reference model

The checklist used to perform the audit you have to buy.

Best regards,

Antoine