From the Napkin to Autocode, a Body Control Module Software Development Journey 2017-01-1622

The Body Control Module (BCM) is a very large integration site for vehicle features and functions (e.g., Locking, Alarms, interior lighting, exterior lighting, etc…). Every few years the demand to add more feature/functions and integrate more vehicle content increases. The expectation of the 2013 MY (model year) BCM, was to double the feature content and use it globally. The growth in 3 years of feature/function content was huge number that grew from 150 to over 300. This posed a major challenge to the software development team based on the methods and process that were deployed at the time. This paper cites the cultural and technology changes that were overcome when Ford Motor Company partnered with Tata Consultancy Services to help manage and define this new software engineering development methodology. The process of getting from a vague description of a new body module feature to a saleable product, presents several very challenging problems.