Measurements of Support Processes: Proposed Improvements on Automotive SPICE PAM V3.1 in Light of OEM Standard Supplier Quality Requirements

Abstract

AbstractA need for process metrics arises automatically when an organization chooses to comply with a formal process standard such as Automotive SPICE, while product metrics are an essential tool to measure the compliance, progress and quality of the deliverable. Metrics collected during the development process have the purpose of describing important indicators of the product's health aspects as well as how good the development process is being applied and how successful it is. For both product and process, well-chosen metrics will show what needs to be improved, and linking those measurable customer standard supplier quality requirements with system or software-related efforts and activities in an organization is a necessary metric [10]. However, this is a challenging task, and there is a lack of methods addressing this gap.In this paper, we propose a solution to the problem of fully covering and reporting the OEM quality requirements by providing an improvement proposal to automotive process models such as A-SPICE; this improvement shall encompass a measurement based quality metrics approach that helps the quality assurance experts making objective and comparable decisions in system/software projects. This can happen by defining and assessing measurable quality goals and thresholds, & by directly relating these to an escalation mechanism, and guaranteeing that this approach will be verified and monitored during A-SPICE assessments of relevant support process areas.KeywordsAutomotive SPICESupplier standard quality requirementsAutomotive softwareSoftware measurementMetricThresholdKPIEscalationSoftware quality assuranceProcess & product quality metrics