[coupdejarnac]

Has there been a trend to bring controls back in house? I used to work in another mature industry, HVAC. It also went through a period of outsourcing all electronics/software, and then they realized that all the IP/secret sauce going forward will be in the controls and related software.

My former employer had plenty of unpleasant experiences outsourcing firmware, which contributed to bringing it all back in house.

[SlowRobotAhead]

>Has there been a trend to bring controls back in house?

Best I can tell it's still going out, not pendulum back in.

Part of the issue, and the thing almost no one realizes about Carpocolypse 2008 is that all these suppliers are 100% dependant on supplying to 5 vendors and that if one stops buying X module for 6 months, they fold. Blame in on JIT strategy, or regulation, or whatever, but Johnson Controls would have folded if GM and Chrysler weren't bailed out. Ok, but that means no seats for Toyota, Honda, Ford, etc. Very few people outside of Germany and Detroit realize what was really at stake there.

[dragonwriter]

> Part of the issue, and the thing almost no one realizes about Carpocolypse 2008 is that all these suppliers are 100% dependant on supplying to 5 vendors and that if one stops buying X module for 6 months, they fold.

This was widely pointed out at the time, including, IIRC, by the CEO of Ford, who used it in pointing out why the bailouts, which Ford did not directly receive, were essential for Ford.

[dsfyu404ed]

>Part of the issue, and the thing almost no one realizes about Carpocolypse 2008 is that all these suppliers are 100% dependant on supplying to 5 vendors and that if one stops buying X module for 6 months, they fold

They didn't have to wait until 2008 to learn this lesson. They could have learned it in the 90s if they were watching.

This is exactly why it's so hard to source vehicle parts for old Chrysler products. Every time they go bankrupt their suppliers go bankrupt and 3/4 of the tooling winds up turned into tin cans.

[Aloha]

I did at the time, I'd have to dig around to find my comments then - I looked at the bailout as cheap, compared to unemployment for the big three, and their dependent manufacturers.

[Glawen]

Yes, Autosar enables the carmaker to develop code in house for their cars, but it still needs the suppliers for the HW and the controls of specialised parts like injectors, rpm or lambda sensors.

The trend is for the carmaker to develop vehicle functions like start stop or cruise control, and give the object code to the supplier for integration.