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Tesla’s Software-First Approach Foreshadows The Future Of Cars

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Published on January 6th, 2019 |

by Guest Contributor

Tesla’s Software-First Approach Foreshadows The Future Of Cars

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January 6th, 2019 by Guest Contributor

Originally published on EVANNEX.
By Charles Morris

Everyone knows that Tesla is an innovative company, and almost everyone knows that its cars don’t need gasoline. But as Lou Steinberg points out in a recent article entitled “Some of the Greatest Innovations are not What You Think,” electrification is not Tesla’s only innovation, and when it comes to competing in the global auto market, it may not even be the most important.

Tesla’s center stack touchscreen display in the Model S (Image: Tesla)

In Steinberg’s view, Tesla’s most important innovations stem from the fact that it’s the first company to approach cars the Silicon Valley way: as a software problem. Steinberg perceived the power of “tin wrapped software” as the CTO of Symbol Technologies. “Symbol built hardware, but was able to use software to tune how it worked in different environments. Flexible software meant that the hardware behaved one way in a hospital (long-battery life for a 12-hour shift) and another way in a retail store (higher-power radios to overcome dead zones).”

“I bought the Model S because it was the first time I had ever seen someone treat a car as a software problem,” Steinberg writes. Sure, modern cars are full of software, but their builders are hardware companies, and automotive hardware is a mature market with few opportunities to disrupt, or even to differentiate their products.

Tesla has changed everything — for the first time, a car can improve itself over time via software upgrades. “Aside from navigation maps, all of my cars [he has owned many] had features that were largely fixed on the day they left the factory,” says Steinberg. “Not my Tesla. Every month, it gets software updates that make it better. It learned how to park. Then it learned how to do it better. It opens my garage door when I come home. It improved its self-driving. It improved the stereo. It added anti-theft features. After one year, my car is safer and better to drive than the day I bought it. My Tesla driving experience keeps improving through patches and updates.”

Tesla owner describes why he loves the car’s software updates: “It’s the feeling that your car is always new.” (YouTube: Tesla)

Steinberg vows never again to buy “a car whose capabilities are frozen in time,” and once they’ve experienced the ever-improving Tesla ownership experience, most drivers probably feel the same.

Another important but overlooked innovation that the Sages of Silicon Valley have made is to free up constrained resources. The Tesla Rangers — mobile teams that perform minor service at customer locations — provide an example. Why are the Rangers such an innovation? Because they free up resources at service centers. “The most constrained real estate at a service center is in the service bays,” Steinberg writes. “You can hire more technicians if demand increases, but the service bays are a big capital investment that can’t be flexed up and down. The second most valuable real estate at a showroom is in the parking lot. You can fill it with cars to sell, but only if you don’t have a lot of cars you already sold taking up space while waiting for a service bay to become available. Cars waiting for service, especially warranty service, crowd out cars that are ready to be sold and delivered. Add to this the fact that many owners will ask for a loaner car, and you need a fleet of loaners. It all costs money.”

Thus, the Tesla Rangers represent not just a convenience for customers (though they certainly are that), but also “a way to optimize constrained resources and save capital. It frees up the parking lots to sell and deliver cars.”

And the third and greatest innovation of all? Tesla isn’t selling just cars. There’s a saying in the software business: “People don’t buy software, they buy a roadmap.” In other words, customers, especially large companies, don’t buy software based only on what it can do today, but based on their confidence that it will continue to get better and keep up with future needs. Once you conceive of a car as software, the capabilities you can offer to customers are almost unlimited.

Tesla uses the phone as a “key” for the Model 3 (Image via Tesla)

“Tesla isn’t limited to promoting the current features,” writes Steinberg. “Tesla and Musk are either lauded for offering a vision or panned for over-promising, but they offer a glimpse of what your car will be able to do in the future. Not another car you have to purchase again…the very same car you buy today. My car knows how to park, and will someday have full autonomous driving. Why shouldn’t it drop me off in front of the store and then find a parking space on its own?”

Many stock market observers believe that the high valuation of TSLA stock has a lot to do with investors’ belief that the company will someday offer full self-driving capability, an innovation that could have even greater implications for mobility and society than electrification. And it’s not just the stock price. A Mercedes or a BMW is a great automobile, but once you buy it, it’s going to be the same vehicle you bought until the day you sell it. If, instead, you could have a machine that’s going to get better and better, and eventually be able to drive itself, how much more would you be willing to pay?

“By treating cars as software, and constantly pushing updates, Tesla can command a premium price today by selling the roadmap,” concludes Steinberg. “Other manufacturers may innovate incrementally, but as the character ‘bored Elon Musk’ once tweeted, ‘Incremental innovation is really just adjusting for inflation.’”

About the Author

Guest Contributor is many, many people. We publish a number of guest posts from experts in a large variety of fields. This is our contributor account for those special people. 😀

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Leading manufacturing ERP software company IQMS acquired by Dassault Systèmes for $425 million

VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, 09-Jan-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) today announced the completion of the acquisition of IQMS, a leading manufacturing ERP software company, for $425 million. With the acquisition of the California-based IQMS, Dassault Systèmes extends the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to small and midsized manufacturing companies seeking to digitally transform their business operations.

By integrating IQMS’s solutions into the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud, Dassault Systèmes will provide these manufacturers with an affordable system for operations that improves the collaboration, manufacturing efficiency and business agility needed to serve their customers successfully. The manufacturers – many of them SOLIDWORKS users – also gain the flexibility to rapidly scale-up as a business grows. In parallel, these manufacturers can engage in new business opportunities and create value by supplying their manufacturing know-how and services to a large community of designers and engineers in Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace – the world’s largest virtual factory.

Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform to become the business operations platform for small and midsized manufacturers seeking digital transformation in today’s Industry Renaissance.

In the context of the Industry Renaissance – the convergence of a diverse and powerful collection of digital technologies that is transforming every aspect of industrial business – the world’s 250,000 small and midsized manufacturers must adopt and optimize new ways of producing and doing business through digital transformation in order to innovate and accelerate their growth in an increasingly competitive, global marketplace.

“We must no longer think of industry as a set of means of production, but as a process of value creation. This applies not only to disruptive startups and established corporations, but also to the hundreds of thousands of mainstream manufacturers that produce parts integral to the development of new consumer experiences. In that context, we are creating ‘3DEXPERIENCE@WORKS’: a new family of business applications based on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform for the mainstream market. The IQMS Manufacturing ERP portfolio rebranded as DELMIA WORKS is part of this new business applications family to serve the mainstream manufacturers,” said Bernard Charlès, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systèmes.

“Given my experience with manufacturing, finance and industry investments, I’m very excited about the future for IQMS and our relationship. This merger represents a turning point in technology for IQMS; the opportunity is immense. Companies like KKSP and all of IQMS’ manufacturing customers will reap tremendous benefit from the enterprise perspective of an international technology partner such as Dassault Systèmes. Dassault Systèmes is a leader in innovation and inspires confidence that we will have the best resources available for future growth,” said Mark Murray, CFO, KKSP Precision Machining.

IQMS’s software – on premise EnterpriseIQ and software as a service WebIQ – deliver an all-in-one solution to mid-market manufacturers for managing engineering, manufacturing and business ecosystems by digitally connecting order processing, scheduling, production and shipping processes in real time. IQMS’s solutions are used by 1,000 customers based primarily in the U.S. whose 2,000 manufacturing facilities in 20 countries produce for the automotive, industrial equipment, medical device, consumer goods, and consumer packaged goods industries. Customers include Westfall Technik, KKSP Precision Machining, AMA Plastics, Donnelly Custom Manufacturing, FlowBelow Aero Inc., Global Interconnect, Inc., Jabil Packaging Solutions, Schnipke Precision Molding, Steinwall Inc., Scientific, Inc., Sturgis Molded Products, Tribar, and Ventura Manufacturing Inc. IQMS’s 2017 revenue was around $56 million.

Dassault Systèmes will help IQMS expand its customer base by leveraging the presence in the mid-market space achieved with Dassault Systèmes’ SOLIDWORKS applications, which are delivered and supported by the company’s Professional Solutions global partner channel.

For more information:

Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform, 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions: www.3ds.com

About Dassault Systèmes

Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, provides business and people with virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations. Its world-leading solutions transform the way products are designed, produced, and supported. Dassault Systèmes’ collaborative solutions foster social innovation, expanding possibilities for the virtual world to improve the real world. The group brings value to over 220, 000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 140 countries. For more information, visit www.3ds.com

3DEXPERIENCE, the Compass logo and the 3DS logo, CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, ENOVIA, DELMIA, SIMULIA, GEOVIA, EXALEAD, 3D VIA, BIOVIA, NETVIBES and 3DEXCITE are registered trademarks of Dassault Systèmes or its subsidiaries in the US and/or other countries.

MEDIA CONTACT

Investors contacts:
Bordonado François-José / Beatrix Martinez
+33.1.61.62.69.24
investors@3DS.com

Corp/France
Arnaud Malherbe
+33 (0) 1 61 62 87 73
arnaud.malherbe@3ds.com

EMEAR
Virginie Blindenberg
+33 (0) 1 61 62 84 21
virginie.blindenberg@3ds.com

China
Grace Mu
+86 10 6536 2288
grace.mu@3ds.com

North America
Suzanne Moran
+1 (781) 810-3774
suzanne.moran@3ds.com

Japan
Yukiko Sato
+81 3 4321 3841
yukiko.sato@3ds.com

India
Santanu Bhattacharya
+91 124 457 7100
Santanu.BHATTACHARYA@3ds.com

AP South
Magdalene Tan
+65 9487 1206
magdalene.tan.contractor@3ds.com

Korea
Hyunkyung Chae
+82 2 3271 6653
hyunkyung.chae@3ds.com

SOURCE: Dassault Systèmes

Adrian Hallmark: new Bentley CEO talks future products, electric cars and profitability – AutoExpress

Adrian Hallmark’s Twitter biog simply proclaims ‘Bentley Boy Again’. Following a stint as sales and marketing boss at Bentley from 2003, he left for Volkswagen in the US and then the Far East. After a short spell at Saab he joined Jaguar Land Rover before returning to Crewe in February as Chairman and CEO. “I’m… Continue reading Adrian Hallmark: new Bentley CEO talks future products, electric cars and profitability – AutoExpress

Caterham CEO Graham Macdonald: PH Meets – Pistonheads.com

After years of being dogged by its ignominious F1 team, Caterham is finally a company on the move. Its latest special edition, the Seven SuperSprint sold out in just a matter of hours, the factory is operating at capacity and there are even talks of Caterham exploring the dark art of electric propulsion. But perhaps… Continue reading Caterham CEO Graham Macdonald: PH Meets – Pistonheads.com

Unmanned systems: Silent Falcon UAS assisting Pojoaque Pueblo in New Mexico, Resolute Eagle UAS adopts MPU5 technology, Ford and Michigan State expand research partnership

In this week’s/today’s roundup from the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) which highlights some of the latest news and headlines in unmanned vehicles and robotics, the Wildflower International technology firm pairs with Silent Falcon UAS in Wildflower’s bid to build a new data service, PAE ISR upgrades the Resolute Eagle UAS with new communication… Continue reading Unmanned systems: Silent Falcon UAS assisting Pojoaque Pueblo in New Mexico, Resolute Eagle UAS adopts MPU5 technology, Ford and Michigan State expand research partnership

Tesla sales, VW tech, electric Harley-Davidson: Today’s Car News

Toyota Research Institute simulation of actual 3-car crash, to test Guardian active-safety system
With final sales reports out from the whole auto industry, we built some context around Tesla's end-of-the-year sales numbers. The Model 3 is setting the pace among luxury cars. Volkswagen buys wireless tech from Volvo. Harley-Davidson announces pricing and a date for buyers interested in purchasing its LiveWire electric motorcycle. And our readers are sanguine about falling electric-car tax credits in our latest Twitter poll. All this and more on Green Car Reports.

The Tesla Model 3 outsold every direct competitor and most competing brands in the fourth quarter. Annual numbers reflect the model's slow production ramp-up early in the year.

Volkswagen bought a wireless vehicle connectivity subsidiary from Volvo in an effort to bring over-the-air updates to its cars.

Harley-Davidson aims to win its freedom-loving bikers over to electric power with its new LiveWire electric motorcycle. The company has now revealed more specs, as well as when it will go on sale and how much it will cost.

Our Twitter followers weigh in on what effect they think the reduction in tax credits will have on GM and Tesla vehicles in 2019.

Toyota reveals its first self-driving vehicle technology at the CES show in Las Vegas. The company says it doesn't replace human control, however, only amplifies it.

Finally, just in time for the roll-out of the electric Audi e-tron quattro SUV, Audi announced it will end European delivery for its U.S. customers.

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Highlights From Elon Musk’s Visit To Shanghai For #Tesla Gigafactory 3 Groundbreaking Ceremony

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Published on January 7th, 2019 |

by Steve Hanley

Highlights From Elon Musk’s Visit To Shanghai For #Tesla Gigafactory 3 Groundbreaking Ceremony

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January 7th, 2019 by Steve Hanley

Elon Musk was in Shanghai on January 7 to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for Gigafactory 3, Tesla’s first gigafactory outside the US. Not surprisingly, Elon took to Twitter to celebrate the event … just a couple of hours after we published about the news. But there are a few things you might have missed if you caught our early coverage and didn’t keep refreshing for updates throughout the past 24 hours..

After the ceremony, Musk spoke to the local press and said that he is very impressed with the speed and quality of work possible in Shanghai. He made particular reference to the fact that a large multi-bay Supercharger location was completed in just 12 days last year, the quickest of anywhere in the world. He indicated the factory building would be finished by mid-year and would start producing cars by the end of 2019 if everything goes according to plan. (When has that ever happened?)

He was at pains to explain that Tesla is absorbing the tariffs imposed by China on US-built cars. Gigafactory 3 — which will have a capacity of 500,000 cars a year — will focus on manufacturing the more affordable versions of the Model 3 and later the Model Y so that Chinese customers can begin driving sustainable cars as soon as possible. The factory will also build cars for export to other Asian markets.

The more expensive versions of the Model 3 — Long Range, All Wheel Drive, Performance upgrade — will continue to be manufactured in America. Those are higher profit vehicles and Musk says the company will need to sell lots of them to help pay for the new factory. He encouraged people in China to place their orders for the US-made cars to help fund the Shanghai facility.

Tesla has learned much from building Model 3 production lines in the United States, and those lessons will be applied to bring the new Shanghai factory online as soon as possible. Musk also called upon local engineering talent to join the Tesla team, saying a junior engineer today could wind up taking his job someday, as the possibilities for advancement within the company are virtually unlimited. For more on Musk’s remarks, check out the video below.

About the Author

Steve Hanley Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his home in Rhode Island and anywhere else the Singularity may take him. His motto is “Democracy is socialism.” You got a problem with that?

You can follow him on Google + and on Twitter.

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GM did not heed call to keep Oshawa, Ontario plant open – union boss

DETROIT (Reuters) – The head of Canada’s auto union blasted General Motors Co (GM.N) on Tuesday for pushing ahead with plans to phase out work at its Oshawa, Ontario, assembly plant despite calls by workers and politicians in Canada to find a new vehicle to build there. FILE PHOTO: Unifor President, Jerry Dias, helps launch… Continue reading GM did not heed call to keep Oshawa, Ontario plant open – union boss

Live From BlackBerry’s Booth at CES 2019

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicks off today in Las Vegas and for those unable to make it we wanted to provide a first-hand look at some of the innovative technologies we’ll be showcasing at our booth (LVCC North Hall, #7523). This year BlackBerry will have two vehicles on display, the first being a 2019… Continue reading Live From BlackBerry’s Booth at CES 2019