Boosting production rework efficiency at an automotive OEM

Premium Automotive OEM boosts rework efficiency with 75% faster troubleshooting and saves up to €500k per production line annually

Challenge

A leading European premium OEM was facing growing inefficiencies in off-line troubleshooting and rework during the introduction of a new vehicle platform. Complex vehicle architectures and a high level of functional interdependencies made fault resolution increasingly difficult. Rework technicians were struggling to quickly identify error root causes due to lack of transparency and usable tools.

Most diagnostic and rework documentation accessible to the rework technicians was not consolidated and VIN-specific. As a result, technicians had to switch between multiple systems and documents to find the relevant information. For complex issues, they often required expert support by engineers. This led to long rework times, growing backlogs, and high dependency on experienced personnel. The cumulative delays risked disrupting production targets and inflated rework costs across plants.

Approach

To streamline rework and reduce dependency on expert support, the OEM implemented SPREAD’s Engineering Intelligence Platform. After a three-month ramp-up phase to ingest wiring harnesses, diagnostic data, BoMs, 3D models, and more, the solution was rolled out across two plants, covering five models across two vehicle platforms. The teams gained access to tailored insights – integrated into their daily workflows without requiring tool replacements.

Based on SPREAD’s Platform, the E/E Inspector in Production was deployed:

• VIN-specific system views and information displayed only the installed components for a given vehicle, allowing targeted diagnostics and faster root cause discovery
• Intuitive and interactive visualization in both 3D vehicle twin and 2D wiring diagrams to locate errors easily
• Suggestion of likely error root causes based on linking of VIN-specific configuration and DTCs

Impact 

SPREAD’s solution directly and quickly translated into measurable outcomes for the OEM:

• Up to €500k saved per production line, per year: through faster off-line rework
• 75% faster troubleshooting: driven by reduced repair steps and system switches for rework staff
• Avoided rework backlogs: by empowering rework teams to resolve issues without delay

“SPREAD’s solution enables rework technicians to quickly understand the increasingly complex vehicle errors and resolve them independently.”
— Head of Rework