1. Industry background and current status of software usage: AVL, as a core tool for power system research and development, has been in a state of “invisible use” for a long time
AVL software plays an extremely critical role in the development of engines, transmissions, electric drive systems, vehicle performance, thermal management and calibration. Enterprise engineers typically use AVL to:
- Engine cycle simulation (AVL Boost)- Vehicle/system level performance simulation (AVL Cruise/Cruise M)- 3D Fluid/Combustion Simulation (AVL FIRE)- Calibration system design, experimental process management (Cameo)- Data analysis and post-processing (Concerto) Typical engineering scenarios include:
- Large simulation cases run for more than several hours- Multiple teams conduct parallel verification of performance, energy consumption, durability, etc.- Calibration engineers need to frequently read and process large amounts of test data- The system integration team will keep the software open for a long time to facilitate access to data and results. However, in real-life usage environments within enterprises, AVL often presents the following problems:
- The license is frequently full and engineers cannot start the software– Who is using it and for how long is completely invisible- Some clients are idle for a long time but still occupy licenses- Large-scale simulations run at night, licenses are not released- When a project node arrives, multiple teams compete for resources- Management cannot determine which modules and departments occupy the most This makes the AVL licensing system a typical “high-value but invisible” engineering resource.
2. Typical pain points faced by enterprises in AVL usage management
[Technical Pain Points]
- Floating licenses are often full and engineers cannot start AVL during peak periods.2. It is impossible to know who is using and which modules are used in real time.3. The user opens the software but does not operate it, resulting in a long period of idle.4. The simulation task takes a long time and the model is large → the license is locked for a long time.5. The background process remains causing the license not to be released.6. Different teams running simulations at the same time → serious licensing conflicts.
[Management Pain Points]
- Lack of real usage data makes it impossible to formulate a reasonable purchasing strategy.2. Multiple departments compete for resources, and there is no basis for judging priorities.3. Project nodes (such as winter standard, summer standard, fuel consumption verification) have a huge impact, and the reasons are unknown.4. It is difficult for distributed teams (main hospital, power subsidiaries, overseas centers) to monitor uniformly.5. Whether expansion is needed cannot be quantified.6. Unrecognized waste of resources, such as licenses being occupied by unattended processes overnight. The core reasons for these pain points are:AVL usage behavior cannot be presented in a real-time, transparent, and data-based manner.
3. Nodexel’s intervention: building a visual management system for the use of AVL within the enterprise
Nodexel does not modify the AVL software itself and does not interfere with the engineer’s operating process. Instead, it builds a transparent layer of “monitoring + data analysis” on top of the existing authorization mechanism.
1. Real-time monitoring of AVL license usage
Nodexel can display in real time:
- Current online users- AVL modules in use (Cruise, Boost, FIRE, Cameo, Concerto, etc.)- Start time and total duration of use- The remaining status of the current authorization pool- Load trend of the day and near full load warning- User behavior status (Active/Idle) This enables enterprises to “see” the real usage load of AVL software for the first time.
2. Automatically identify active/idle users
Nodexel will mark:
- Whether there is no operation for a long time- Are you stuck in a certain interface?- Whether the task has been executed but not exited Idle information can help reduce large amounts of invalid usage.
3. Automatically identify abnormal occupancy and support gentle recycling
For example:
- Simulation ends but Fire/Cruise does not release license correctly- The user closes the software but the background process still exists- Batch processing task hangs Where permitted by corporate rules, mild recycling can be performed without affecting normal engineering tasks.
4. Provide department-level and project-level usage statistical analysis
For example:
- Which department has the most long-term use (powertrain, testing, electronic controls, etc.)- Which projects cause peaks before nodes- Which modules are resource bottlenecks (Boost/FIRE/Cruise)- Are there some groups that occupy a lot of Idle for a long time? Help managers clearly understand the resource structure.
5. Visually display the peak and trough periods of AVL usage
include:
- Daily peak hours (e.g. 9–11 a.m., 2–5 p.m.)- Periodic peaks (before winter standard/summer standard test, before calibration iteration)- Department load trends- Load differences in different business lines (simulation/test/calibration) Enterprises can plan resources based on data instead of relying on subjective judgment.
6. Support cross-regional and multi-team unified management
Applies to:
- Headquarters R&D Center- Power subsidiary- Overseas engine R&D center- Factory testing department- Outsourced calibration team All usage can be monitored centrally on the same platform.
4. Management benefits brought by data (quantified presentation)
After actual deployment, organizations typically see the following improvements:
1. License utilization increased by 20%–40%
Idle and abnormal occupancy are reduced, and resources are more efficient.
2. Idle occupancy reduced by 30%–60%
Hangups and legacy processes are significantly reduced.
3. Time spent waiting in line for permits is significantly reduced
AVL startup failures during peak periods have dropped significantly.
4. Authorization budget is more accurate
Enterprises can judge based on trends:
- Whether to expand capacity- How much to expand- Which modules to expand- Which modules do not need to be added?
5. Project delivery efficiency is improved
The simulation link is smoother, reducing project delays caused by waiting.
5. Real-life scenario cases for engineers
Power R&D center of an OEM, 10 am on Wednesday. Engineer Xiao Liu was about to open AVL Cruise to run the vehicle energy consumption simulation, but the software popped up:
“No Available License” The project is rushing to the trial production node, and various departments are intensively verifying the engine and transmission matching curves.Xiao Liu asked everywhere:
- “Is the experimental group full?”- “Is there any script hanging on the calibration side?”- “Is the simulation running high-volume conditions?” But no one can give a clear answer. After enabling Nodexel:
- Found 3 engineers idle for more than 1 hour- Calibration department A Concerto session hangs in the background- Cruise has a significant peak at 9–10 o’clock- The FIRE department does not occupy much space and is not a source of bottlenecks. The administrator promptly released the idle occupation, and Xiao Liu successfully started AVL and completed the energy consumption simulation.The department also had a clear understanding of the real resource pressure on different business lines for the first time. This is one of the most common and realistic scenarios within the enterprise:Problems happen all the time, but we just didn’t have the tools to see them in the past.
6. Summary: Nodexel makes the use of AVL digital, transparent and manageable
Nodexel’s positioning is not to exaggerate efficiency improvements, but as a set of engineering software usage monitoring and management infrastructure:
- Opening the “black box” used by AVL- Make resource conflicts diagnosable- Help businesses reduce waste- Support budget formulation- Improve software return on investment (ROI)- Make the power system research and development process more controllable and stable When AVL usage behavior is made transparent,The overall collaboration efficiency of enterprises in simulation, calibration, and power system design links will be improved accordingly.
