JULY 2023CIOAPPLICATIONSEUROPE.COM8IN MYOPINIONTHE SHORTCUTS DILEMMALUIGI CAMPAGNA, FUNCTIONAL SAFETY CORPORATE MANAGER, ELDORmplementing functional safety in the automotive industry today is not without its challenges, especially for Tier 1 suppliers. Major OEMs are looking for an ever-more-stringent time-to-market, with the consequent request for suppliers to meet ever-more challenging deadlines. In addition, the developed product must be economical, technologically advanced, small, and, last but not least, completely safe. In the context of the battery electric vehicle (BEV), functional safety becomes even more complex due to its interactions and interference with the domain under the control of the electrical safety standard.Under all these assumptions, it is almost impossible to follow a complete functional safety process, and more and more companies are considering alternative routes, parallelizing processes as much as possible, or evaluating shortcuts. And here comes the dilemma: Is it better to follow the process to the letter or use shortcuts to meet customer deadlines? But above all, are we sure that shortcuts really shorten time?The Dangers of ShortcutsFirst of all, the issue should be moral, and this in itself should block any intention. However, beyond that, shortcuts can have several serious consequences, such as increased risk of accidents, recalls, broken components at different production steps, and other problems that can lead to significant financial costs and, last but not least, damage to the company's reputation.Harming the company's reputation is the worst risk that should always be taken into consideration and thus avoided. Losing the trust of customers would unleash a dangerous domino effect: from the difficulty in securing new orders to the consequent loss of valuable employees and knowledge, ending with the inevitable bad publicity on the job market and making employers increasingly hungry for trained technicians. Finding and Luigi CampagnaI
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