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Speed time-to-troubleshoot, boost margins
By Raj Lakhanpal
9/18/2012 6:55 AM EDT
With the rapid growth in vehicle electronics, the electrical systems
for passenger cars and working vehicles are becoming increasingly
more complex. As a result, fault diagnosis of today’s vehicle
electrical systems has become an onerous task.
These complex vehicle electrical systems can be unreliable—fuses blow, terminals become corroded, ground studs fail, etc. Rapid fault rectification saves money, enhances brand image in the eyes of the customer, and reduces commercial vehicle downtime; so whatever can be done to speed this process along and make it more accurate is good for business. Perhaps most important is the experience for the customer. Few things are more frustrating than a long wait for a vehicle to be fixed, especially if it is a return visit to the garage because the original repair did not cure the problem. The customers’ experience affects brand image, which is vitally important in this competitive market. For commercial vehicles such as heavy trucks, delivery vans, and taxis, excessive downtime has a direct effect on revenue for customers’ business.
Identification, profitability
Vehicle service organizations are often OEM-franchised networks. Speedy fault identification is important to their profitability, and managers expect the OEMs to provide an efficient environment for the technicians.
Although fault diagnostic systems continue to improve, in most cases, a technician has to read and research through the OEM-provided documentation to do the job. And because of the high system complexity and even greater configuration complexity, technicians could use some help from technological advances in vehicle documentation. The service technician’s documentation used for troubleshooting usually is electronic paper, and sometimes still real paper. Traditional documentation is static, hard to navigate, and not configuration-specific.
These deficiencies impair troubleshooting and problem-fixing, which results in increased vehicle downtime and maintenance costs. Worse than that, the serviced vehicle has to be re-fixed if the first-time repair was incorrect.
No doubt, better technology is needed for the technician. Fortunately, new software provides a much more productive documentation and troubleshooting environment—it’s revolutionizing the way documentation is created and changing the technician’s technological toolbox for troubleshooting in a way that’s never been done before.
Changing the Way Vehicle Documentation Is Created
Producing documentation manually is slow, costly, and error-prone. With this new technology, documentation is more accurate because it automatically reuses data from engineering and manufacturing, requiring fewer manual translations and fewer loopbacks between the design and manufacturing engineers and the technical publications preparers.
The electrical data model is leveraged to deliver a smart environment to the technician (Figure 1). This data model understands all aspects of the information, and thus the software is able to provide true functionality to the documentation, boosting technician productivity. With Mentor Graphics Capital Publisher, vehicle manufacturers have found that the cycle time to produce publications is drastically reduced and the software’s smart delivery system improves the efficiency of technicians in the repair shop.
Figure 1: Capital Publisher enables dynamic and intelligent reuse of engineering design data and manufacturing updates that can be customized and then linked to diagnostic and vehicle-specific configuration information.
Revolutionizing the Service Technician’s Troubleshooting Environment
A technician needs as much help as possible to understand the extreme complexity of modern vehicle electrical systems. Using Capital Publisher, vehicle-specific documentation can be delivered as a navigable package to use in an HTML browser. The Java-script–based smart client provides a zero-install, browser-based application that can be deployed onto any system and run in both an online or a completely offline environment (Figure 2).
Figure 2: The smart client enables delivery of a vast amount of vehicle-specific data for troubleshooting onto the service technician’s computer and ease of use through a web-based browser.
As a result, Capital Publisher brings a brand-new experience to the repair technicians who are using the service documentation. The rich functionalities built into the smart client tool provide more accurate service information more efficiently. In addition, the smart client has a built-in function to incorporate diagnostic and service procedures.
The following are some of the features in this new technology that make it a revolutionary documentation environment for service technicians. Using this environment, a technician can move seamlessly across many related artifacts; for example, jumping at the click of a button from a schematic to a wire list to a location view to a repair procedure, with convenience aids such as windowing and pan and zoom. Metadata is instantly available so the technicians can access items such as expected pin voltage, fuse resistance, wire color, or component part number, but without excessive screen clutter. The software provides electrical intelligence so the technician can easily trace troublesome signals through the maze of connectors and devices.
And for very complex situations, more advanced features are available, such as progressive revealing of connectivity (“click and sprout”). All this information can be displayed in the technician’s local language via a hidden dictionary. An example of such an intuitive, highly productive technician environment is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: A close-up look at the new troubleshooting environment for service technicians via the Capital Publisher Technician Environment.
All component-level service information is tied to the component through hot links. With one mouse click, all information related to a component can be obtained, such as 2D face-view, 2D/3D location view, service procedures, and any other documentation related to this component if it’s available. The same object (e.g., device, connector, wire), shared in several sheets or systems is unified and can be accessed in a mouse click.
Automobile VIN (vehicle identification number)-based filtering removes all ambiguous information. It not only filters out non-vehicle–specific electrical components in the schematic, but it also can filter out vehicle mechanical components. VIN-based information is used to link with the repair record, service bulletin, and warranty recalls.
At any pin or device, the click-and-sprout capability allows the technician to construct his or her own schematic from the device and connections of specific interest. A schematic diagram through the click-and-sprout also can be created with assistance from the troubleshooting procedures.
Conclusion
Figuring out what’s wrong with a vehicle has to be done quickly. For cars, the speed and accuracy of diagnosis and repair effects brand loyalty. Manufacturers measure and track “first-time fix rate.” For working vehicles, such as aircraft and military, faster and more accurate diagnosis and repair means the vehicle is back in service more quickly.
Technicians have diagnostic systems and repair procedures that they use to diagnose vehicle faults. But traditional diagnostics isn’t 100% effective for electrical systems. The tools are correct about 60% of the time; for the rest of the time, technicians use their experience, skill, knowledge, and documentation to solve vehicle problems. And with higher system complexity and increasing configuration complexity, the technician’s job has undoubtedly become more difficult.
When installed at a service center, the Capital Publisher Technician Environment is changing this situation. Now all design data, including vehicle-specific configuration information, can be shared with service technicians, providing accurate information from the system level down to the component level. The software also can be linked to diagnostic codes to quickly narrow the fault down to the specific area of a problem.
With its smart-client delivery capabilities, this new software enables automatic, intelligent, and dynamic reuse of a vehicle’s electronic design and manufacturing information. This solution dramatically reduces the effort and time needed to prepare vehicle documentation, greatly improves the accuracy of the information, and revolutionizes the service environment.
For more information on the integrated product suite for vehicle electrical engineering design and service that includes Capital Publisher, visit http://www.mentor.com/products/electrical-design-softwar
e/capital/.
Raj Lakhanpal has consulted at Mentor Graphics for seven years. In addition, he has over a decade of engineering experience devoted to electrical distribution systems. He has worked as the lead consultant on deployments in automotive, mil/aero, construction, and heavy trucking OEMs and suppliers. In his current position, he continues to evolve and strives to enable customers to realize value by adopting proven methods and electrical platform engineering tools.Mentor Graphics toolset contributed article 9-17-12
These complex vehicle electrical systems can be unreliable—fuses blow, terminals become corroded, ground studs fail, etc. Rapid fault rectification saves money, enhances brand image in the eyes of the customer, and reduces commercial vehicle downtime; so whatever can be done to speed this process along and make it more accurate is good for business. Perhaps most important is the experience for the customer. Few things are more frustrating than a long wait for a vehicle to be fixed, especially if it is a return visit to the garage because the original repair did not cure the problem. The customers’ experience affects brand image, which is vitally important in this competitive market. For commercial vehicles such as heavy trucks, delivery vans, and taxis, excessive downtime has a direct effect on revenue for customers’ business.
Identification, profitability
Vehicle service organizations are often OEM-franchised networks. Speedy fault identification is important to their profitability, and managers expect the OEMs to provide an efficient environment for the technicians.
Although fault diagnostic systems continue to improve, in most cases, a technician has to read and research through the OEM-provided documentation to do the job. And because of the high system complexity and even greater configuration complexity, technicians could use some help from technological advances in vehicle documentation. The service technician’s documentation used for troubleshooting usually is electronic paper, and sometimes still real paper. Traditional documentation is static, hard to navigate, and not configuration-specific.
These deficiencies impair troubleshooting and problem-fixing, which results in increased vehicle downtime and maintenance costs. Worse than that, the serviced vehicle has to be re-fixed if the first-time repair was incorrect.
No doubt, better technology is needed for the technician. Fortunately, new software provides a much more productive documentation and troubleshooting environment—it’s revolutionizing the way documentation is created and changing the technician’s technological toolbox for troubleshooting in a way that’s never been done before.
Changing the Way Vehicle Documentation Is Created
Producing documentation manually is slow, costly, and error-prone. With this new technology, documentation is more accurate because it automatically reuses data from engineering and manufacturing, requiring fewer manual translations and fewer loopbacks between the design and manufacturing engineers and the technical publications preparers.
The electrical data model is leveraged to deliver a smart environment to the technician (Figure 1). This data model understands all aspects of the information, and thus the software is able to provide true functionality to the documentation, boosting technician productivity. With Mentor Graphics Capital Publisher, vehicle manufacturers have found that the cycle time to produce publications is drastically reduced and the software’s smart delivery system improves the efficiency of technicians in the repair shop.
Figure 1: Capital Publisher enables dynamic and intelligent reuse of engineering design data and manufacturing updates that can be customized and then linked to diagnostic and vehicle-specific configuration information.
Revolutionizing the Service Technician’s Troubleshooting Environment
A technician needs as much help as possible to understand the extreme complexity of modern vehicle electrical systems. Using Capital Publisher, vehicle-specific documentation can be delivered as a navigable package to use in an HTML browser. The Java-script–based smart client provides a zero-install, browser-based application that can be deployed onto any system and run in both an online or a completely offline environment (Figure 2).
Figure 2: The smart client enables delivery of a vast amount of vehicle-specific data for troubleshooting onto the service technician’s computer and ease of use through a web-based browser.
As a result, Capital Publisher brings a brand-new experience to the repair technicians who are using the service documentation. The rich functionalities built into the smart client tool provide more accurate service information more efficiently. In addition, the smart client has a built-in function to incorporate diagnostic and service procedures.
The following are some of the features in this new technology that make it a revolutionary documentation environment for service technicians. Using this environment, a technician can move seamlessly across many related artifacts; for example, jumping at the click of a button from a schematic to a wire list to a location view to a repair procedure, with convenience aids such as windowing and pan and zoom. Metadata is instantly available so the technicians can access items such as expected pin voltage, fuse resistance, wire color, or component part number, but without excessive screen clutter. The software provides electrical intelligence so the technician can easily trace troublesome signals through the maze of connectors and devices.
And for very complex situations, more advanced features are available, such as progressive revealing of connectivity (“click and sprout”). All this information can be displayed in the technician’s local language via a hidden dictionary. An example of such an intuitive, highly productive technician environment is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: A close-up look at the new troubleshooting environment for service technicians via the Capital Publisher Technician Environment.
All component-level service information is tied to the component through hot links. With one mouse click, all information related to a component can be obtained, such as 2D face-view, 2D/3D location view, service procedures, and any other documentation related to this component if it’s available. The same object (e.g., device, connector, wire), shared in several sheets or systems is unified and can be accessed in a mouse click.
Automobile VIN (vehicle identification number)-based filtering removes all ambiguous information. It not only filters out non-vehicle–specific electrical components in the schematic, but it also can filter out vehicle mechanical components. VIN-based information is used to link with the repair record, service bulletin, and warranty recalls.
At any pin or device, the click-and-sprout capability allows the technician to construct his or her own schematic from the device and connections of specific interest. A schematic diagram through the click-and-sprout also can be created with assistance from the troubleshooting procedures.
Conclusion
Figuring out what’s wrong with a vehicle has to be done quickly. For cars, the speed and accuracy of diagnosis and repair effects brand loyalty. Manufacturers measure and track “first-time fix rate.” For working vehicles, such as aircraft and military, faster and more accurate diagnosis and repair means the vehicle is back in service more quickly.
Technicians have diagnostic systems and repair procedures that they use to diagnose vehicle faults. But traditional diagnostics isn’t 100% effective for electrical systems. The tools are correct about 60% of the time; for the rest of the time, technicians use their experience, skill, knowledge, and documentation to solve vehicle problems. And with higher system complexity and increasing configuration complexity, the technician’s job has undoubtedly become more difficult.
When installed at a service center, the Capital Publisher Technician Environment is changing this situation. Now all design data, including vehicle-specific configuration information, can be shared with service technicians, providing accurate information from the system level down to the component level. The software also can be linked to diagnostic codes to quickly narrow the fault down to the specific area of a problem.
With its smart-client delivery capabilities, this new software enables automatic, intelligent, and dynamic reuse of a vehicle’s electronic design and manufacturing information. This solution dramatically reduces the effort and time needed to prepare vehicle documentation, greatly improves the accuracy of the information, and revolutionizes the service environment.
For more information on the integrated product suite for vehicle electrical engineering design and service that includes Capital Publisher, visit http://www.mentor.com/products/electrical-design-softwar
e/capital/.Raj Lakhanpal has consulted at Mentor Graphics for seven years. In addition, he has over a decade of engineering experience devoted to electrical distribution systems. He has worked as the lead consultant on deployments in automotive, mil/aero, construction, and heavy trucking OEMs and suppliers. In his current position, he continues to evolve and strives to enable customers to realize value by adopting proven methods and electrical platform engineering tools.
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