AVL's Reimagine Mobility Podcast

Stephan is joined by Tom Baroch, Sr. Director of Global Partnerships at Outrider to discuss the commercializing of AV/EV distribution yards and automating logistics.

The distribution yard is a crucial link in the supply chain, serving as a transition point between warehouses and the open road for over 20 billion tons of freight annually. However, inefficiencies and unsafe manual tasks in these yards have led to bottlenecks in the supply chain. Over the past three years, these inefficiencies have led to diesel trucks idling in the yard, waiting for trucks or trailers, causing delays of up to four hours.

Yard trucks contribute significantly to the global carbon footprint, emitting 3.8 million tons of carbon dioxide. The future of yard operations is autonomous and electric, eliminating manual tasks for greater efficiency and safety. The private, confined space of yard operations is ideal for autonomy. Commercializing heavy-duty trucks with EV technology is a great place to start, reducing emissions and supporting the adoption of sustainable freight transportation. This aligns with forward-looking enterprises aiming to reduce emissions by having all-electric fleets in the next 10-20 years.

Automating a yard involves more than just an autonomous truck. Outrider's product is a comprehensive system that addresses operational challenges for customers. It includes a mission control dashboard allowing customers to control trucks and moves within their yards. The dashboard has an API that integrates with the customer's yard management system, directing trucks and trailers accordingly. They also handle deployment, infrastructure, and dock doors, making it a complete turnkey solution. Our focus on automation makes our product a winning solution.

The focus is on the system's overall throughput for the whole yard, not the speed of the trucks. The truck uses cameras and LiDARS to scan and geo-locate trailers, increasing efficiency continuously. The goal is to improve the total throughput of the yard, which can be operated with fewer yard trucks and with more accurate, safe, and efficient manual operations.

Tom Baroch is the Sr. Director of Global Partnerships at Outrider. He's responsible for designing, building and leading Outrider's supply chain and partnership ecosystem. Prior to Outrider, Tom spent over a decade developing and scaling supply chains that make mobility safer and cleaner at Bosch, Tesla and Waymo.

Outrider, the leader in autonomous yard operations for logistics hubs, helps large enterprises improve safety and increase efficiency. The only company exclusively focused on automating all aspects of yard operations, Outrider works with logistics-dependent enterprises to eliminate manual tasks that are hazardous and repetitive. Outrider’s mission is to drive the rapid adoption of sustainable freight transportation by deploying zero-emission systems. With its customers representing over 20 percent of all yard trucks operating in North America, Outrider is a private company backed by NEA, 8VC, Koch

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Potential and great things characterize the hype cycle for technologies in the industry, but the market assumes a 100% solution in the next few years. Predictable incremental innovation drives primary adoption. This is due to end users' ability to absorb the technology, especially in off-highway spaces. The market is moving towards incremental functions that make machines more efficient and enable new operators to work better for extended periods. Automation is more relevant in the industry, and while there has been hype about autonomous cars, significant technological advancement is still needed for on-road autonomy. The Ag space is the most conducive to full or close to full autonomy, as it offers a combination of uninhabited environments, stability, and well-controlled environments.

The triple technology challenge refers to the complex environment of alternative fuels, automation, and connectivity. The industry grapples with different diesel emissions levels, regulations, environmental conditions, and infrastructure. The impact on OEMs and customers is significant, as it may lead to new ways of going to market and business models, but it may also force changes in business models. This is the core of the industry's ongoing struggle with changing technologies.

There is a productivity opportunity from looking at systems in the farm and construction industry. Instead of looking at individual machines, we should look at how that machine interacts with the environment, other machines, and other processes.
abcgTM is a commercial vehicle advisory practice that offers unrivalled experience, deep industry knowledge and an external 360o perspective to clients, qualifying them to deliver accelerated, sustainable transformation that propels business performance from good to exceptional. Equally focused on delivering successful outcomes as well as conceiving strategy, abcgTM help to identity and remove points of friction and provide hands on support to implement the required change.

Alan Berger is Managing Partner at abcgTM, a commercial vehicle advisory practice. Alan has over 30 years of international product development experience in the off-highway vehicle industry, much of which he gained through roles of increasing importance with Volvo Construction Equipment culminating in the role of Senior Vice President, Technology followed by Chief Technology Officer at CNH Industrial. Alan also serves as Independent Director at Multi-Wing A/S in addition to being past board chair of the SAE ITC.

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We are joined by Chris Reed, Regional Senior Vice President, Research and Development, Nissan Americas. In this episode Chris discusses Nissan technology for all approach to their auto lineup and the task of balancing new technology with cost pressure.

Auto companies are changing the way they do business from a transactional relationship to an experience relationship. These global companies tackle cultural and regional differences and unique customer needs.

To accomplish this takes planning with speed in an uncertain environment with changing supply chains, regulatory environments, customer behavior and technological breakthroughs.

Companies are looking at the right balance of investing future time and effort in EV, Connected-Vehicle and autonomous technologies.

Chris Reed

Regional Senior Vice President, Research and Development, Nissan Americas

Chris Reed is regional senior vice president, Research and Development, Nissan

Americas. He was appointed to this position in April 2019. In this role, he is responsible for all vehicle engineering and development operations for Nissan Americas.

Previously, Reed was vice president, Platform and Technology Engineering, where he was responsible for Powertrain, Electrical, and Audio/IT engineering groups. He also served as the Overseas Chief Vehicle Engineer (OCVE) for Nissan LEAF, Murano and Pathfinder as well as the INFINITI QX60, at NTCNA.

Reed joined Nissan North America in 1988 as an entry-level engineer in the body design group. From 2011 to 2013, he worked in safety and then exterior/accessories while being OCVE of trucks. He also spent more than two years in Japan to help lead development on an all-new Nissan Murano. From 1999 to 2007, Reed was self-employed as a home builder and ran a small automotive parts supplier.

Reed holds a mechanical engineering degree from Virginia Tech.

About Nissan

Nissan is a global automotive manufacturer with more than 130,000 employees across 50+ countries working in automotive design, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing.

Through its long-term vision, Nissan Ambition 2030, the company aims to empower mobility for a cleaner, safer and more inclusive world. Our rich history and achievements in electrification provide a deep foundation for us to build on.

www.NissanUSA.com

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Megan Kosch brings over a decade of experience in our HR department at AVL, NA. In this episode, she sits down with Stephan to discuss the challenges in finding the engineers that fit into the niche of AVL, how the recruiting environment has changed since COVID, and the positive atmosphere at AVL. Many people are looking for trust from their management team, flexibility, and a place to make a difference which they often find working here at AVL.

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The automotive industry faces challenges in managing software and hardware complexity, especially in the context of over-the-air updates. OEMs need help managing a bifurcated world with 100 ECUs and need to integrate software updates into their stacks. However, the future of record vehicle architecture will simplify this process. Chip manufacturers must find affordable platforms for their products, but it doesn't mean they can afford it for a million vehicles. The biggest takeaway from the last 5 to 10 years is to reduce hardware and software complexity, then reduce service complexity on the back end. Engineers must constantly reduce and make better, as they love to create and add new features, but they must also continually reduce and improve.

Integrating technology into the vehicle is challenging, as it requires a balance between the car, cloud, and motor contract ecosystems to ensure optimal functionality and customer satisfaction. The challenge is not just the car itself but also the customer experience, as they may wait for their car to start on their mobile app after just a few seconds. The goal is to create a seamless consumer experience, ensuring their needs and expectations are met.

Timothy J. Yerdon President, Plymouth Technology Advisors

(Former Ford Motor Company and Visteon Corporation Executive)

Tim Yerdon is the President of Plymouth Technology Advisors, a global consultancy providing strategic guidance to vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, technology companies & start-up organizations supporting the rapidly evolving business of connected, electrified & autonomous mobility. Tim’s passion is around the seamless integration of design and technology to deliver customer driven, must have, user experiences.

Previously, Tim was global director at Ford Motor Company leading the business and product ownership for retail vehicles around software, services & hardware integration related to digital cockpit systems & in-vehicle-infotainment. He also was an initial member of the internal startup Team Edison, Ford’s dedicated team for battery electric vehicles that developed the customer-inspired and award-winning Mustang Mach-E SUV, F-150 Lightning truck, and E-Transit van. In prior roles as chief engineer of technology implementation & director of software and hardware strategy he led teams delivering common hardware, software and connected services with supplier-partners across electrified platforms.

Tim also served as Chief Marketing Executive at Visteon Corporation, a $3.8B global technology leader in vehicle cockpit electronics and connected car solutions. Leading all aspects of marketing and communications he was a key member of the c-suite leadership team delivering 11 straight quarters of top-line revenue growth, margin improvement, and stock price increases.
As an established innovation leader at Visteon, Tim also led diverse teams in industrial design, user experience design, connected car services, advanced cockpit electronics, advanced driver awareness systems, marketing, racing and the InnovationWorks® organization.
Tim is currently on the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s Industry Advisory Board and most recently added as an Innovation Judge for the prestigious Automotive News PACE awards. Tim previously served on the Consumer Technology Associations (CTATM) Board of Industry Leaders, Society of Automotive Engineers - Connect2Car consortium chairperson and Detroit Chamber | MICHauto talent retention committee chairperson.
Tim holds a master's degree in manufacturing systems from the University of Michigan - Dearborn and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering technology from Penn State University – Behrend.

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