The purpose of Automotive SPICE (ISO/IEC 15504) is to evaluate the performance of the development processes of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) suppliers in the automotive industry.
Automotive SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination) works in context of ISO-26262– the current ISO standard for safety relevant electronic and electric (E/E) systems in passenger cars up to 3.5 tons.
The standards are complementary to each other.
The main focus of Automotive SPICE is software. It’s a framework for software process assessment developed by the ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission) in 1993.
Automotive SPICE applies this framework to the automotive industry, which comes with its own critical requirements. Automotive SPICE differs from functional safety standards in that it covers how design is conducted if safety is not a concern.
To ensure effective safety practices, automotive suppliers should incorporate both Automotive SPICE and ISO 26262 guidelines. Without adhering to both, you open yourself up to various risks and potential failures.
Fundamentally, Automotive SPICE defines best practices for embedded software in automotive development. It allows teams to organize their projects and approaches to ensure manageability, reliability and deliverables.
While Automotive SPICE has not been conclusively mandated, every automotive supplier could at some point be assessed for Automotive SPICE compliance.
Consequently, it’s a smart choice to begin integrating the associated practices as early as possible. Some organizations, such as the VDA (Verband der Automobilindustrie – Association Of Automotive Industry), have already set Automotive SPICE as the standard process model, and others are likely not far behind.
While the Automotive SPICE process may seem daunting, Automotive SPICE itself is largely generic. It does not dictate specific tools or techniques, but rather your approach to the internally selected development methods.
Want to learn more? Tonex offers Automotive SPICE Training, ISO/IEC 15504, a 3-day course designed for IT professionals to gain knowledge and skills needed to conduct software process assessments according to ISO 15504 Automotive SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination) Process Assessment. The course is based on latest ISO 15504 revisions and Automotive SPICE framework.
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.