Accelerating the electrification journey: A Conversation with Nand Kochhar and Puneet Sinha

(L-R) Nand Kochhar VP Automotive and Transportation Industries, and Puneet Sinha, Sr. Director, Battery Industry, Siemens Digital Industries Software

By: Kathryn Gerardino-Elagio

Batteries and electric vehicles (EVs) are revolutionising the automotive industry, offering a cleaner, greener, and smarter way of mobility. However, developing batteries and EVs is not an easy task. It requires a high level of complexity, innovation and collaboration across multiple domains and disciplines.

How can automotive developers overcome these challenges and create the next generation of batteries and EVs? The answer is Siemens Digital Industries Software. Siemens is a global leader in providing software solutions that enable the design, simulation, testing and optimisation of batteries and EVs.

At Realize LIVE in Las Vegas, International Metalworking News for Asia had the opportunity to sat down and interview Nand Kochhar VP Automotive and Transportation Industries, and Puneet Sinha, Sr. Director, Battery Industry, Siemens Digital Industries Software. The interview discussed how Siemens software solutions can help automotive and transportation companies to accelerate their electrification journey and achieve their sustainability goals.

Automotive OEMs primary challenge

According to Nand Kochhar and Puneet Sinha, the number one challenge for automotive OEMs is the growing complexity of vehicle design and development, especially in the areas of electrification, autonomy, and connectivity.

They reason that these trends require more computing power, more electronic control units, more software features, and more integration of subsystems into a robust, safe, and high-quality vehicle. They also point out that the industry needs to cope with changing customer expectations, regulatory requirements, and competitive pressures. 

To overcome this challenge, Nand suggested that automotive OEMs need to embrace digitalisation and adopt a comprehensive digital twin approach that connects engineering teams from across the electrical, electronic, software and mechanical domains. 

Puneet added that this approach can help automotive OEMs to design, verify and validate entire vehicle platforms, ensuring the highest standards of safety, reliability, and passenger comfort.

Siemens Approach

According to Nand Kochhar and Puneet Sinha, Siemens Digital Industries Software has a customer-centric approach and R&D process to help automotive customers achieve their goals and overcome their challenges. They explain that the company’s approach is based on four key pillars:

• Openness: The company provides open and flexible solutions that can integrate with existing tools and platforms, as well as support industry standards and protocols. This enables customers to leverage their existing investments and collaborate across disciplines and domains.
• Comprehensiveness: The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of software solutions that cover the entire product lifecycle, from design and engineering to manufacturing and service. This allows customers to optimise their processes, reduce costs and time-to-market, and ensure quality and compliance.
• Domain Expertise: The company has deep domain expertise in the automotive industry, with a team of experienced engineers, consultants, and partners who understand the specific needs and challenges of customers. They also have access to a global network of innovation centers, labs, and test facilities that provide cutting-edge technologies and best practices.
• Innovation Leadership: The company is a leader in innovation, with a strong focus on R&D and continuous improvement. The company invests heavily in developing new solutions and enhancing existing ones, as well as exploring new trends and opportunities in the automotive market. Some of the areas that the company is actively working on include electrification, autonomy, connectivity, software engineering, digital twin, additive manufacturing, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

The company’s R&D process follows a systematic and agile methodology that involves the following steps:

• Identify customer needs: The company engages with customers to understand their pain points, requirements, expectations, and feedback. They also conduct market research and benchmarking to identify the gaps and opportunities in the industry.
• Define solution scope: The company defines the scope of the solution based on the customer needs, as well as the technical feasibility, business viability, and strategic alignment. They also prioritise the features and functionalities based on the value proposition and customer satisfaction.
• Develop solution prototype: The company develops a prototype of the solution using rapid prototyping tools and techniques. They also validate the prototype with customers and stakeholders to get their input and approval.
• Test solution performance: The company tests the performance of the solution using simulation, verification, validation, and optimisation tools. They also evaluate the solution against various criteria such as functionality, usability, reliability, safety, security, efficiency, quality, compliance, and sustainability.
• Deploy solution delivery: The company deploys the solution to the customer using cloud-based or on-premise platforms. They also provide training, support, maintenance, and updates to ensure smooth operation and continuous improvement.

“By following the mentioned approach and processes, Siemens Digital Industries Software aims to deliver innovative and customised solutions that can help automotive customers achieve their digital transformation goals and gain a competitive edge in the market,” remarked Nand.

Adopting Siemens solutions in batteries and EV segment

Puneet said, “Adopting Siemens solutions can have a positive impact on the batteries and EV segment in several ways.”

Some of the benefits he mentioned are: Siemens solutions can help EV developers to design, simulate, test and optimise the entire battery system, from the cell level to the pack level, and ensure its integration with the vehicle architecture. It can enable EV developers to leverage the power of digital twin and cloud computing to create virtual models of the battery system that can predict its performance, behaviour and degradation under various operating conditions and scenarios. Siemens solutions can support EV developers to comply with the safety, quality and regulatory standards for batteries and EVs. Siemens solutions can assist EV developers to reduce the cost, weight, and complexity of the battery system by using advanced design tools, such as generative design, topology optimisation and additive manufacturing.

Nand also added, “Siemens solutions can facilitate EV developers to accelerate their time-to-market and innovation cycles by using agile and collaborative methods, such as model-based systems engineering (MBSE), software engineering and digital thread. It can empower EV developers to enhance their customer satisfaction and loyalty by offering personalised and customised products and services, such as battery swapping, battery as a service and over-the-air updates.”

Nand Kochhar is the Vice President of Automotive and Transportation Industries at Siemens Digital Industries Software. He is responsible for leading the global industry strategy, marketing, and business development for the automotive and transportation sectors. He has over 25 years of experience in the automotive industry, working with OEMs and suppliers on product development, engineering, and manufacturing solutions.

Puneet Sinha is the Senior Director of Battery Industry at Siemens Digital Industries Software. He leads the global battery industry strategy, marketing, and business development for Siemens software solutions that enable battery design, simulation, testing, and manufacturing. He has over 15 years of experience in the battery industry, working with various battery technologies, applications, and markets.