In recent years, technological superiority led by, especially developed countries in the world and its application in the market has led many developing countries to seek. The exemplary mathematical model or new approach created in the research is to reveal the application effects of new autonomous technologies on the stages of vehicle design, together with quantitative values, in qualitative depth. Therefore, the new approach planned in the study stems from the remodeling of the performance criteria created by the flow particles against innovations rather than the product or process selection realized with the AHP method. It shows that it is not a coincidence that countries are able to meet their specific requirements for new product, original design or service design at a level that can compete globally (innovation management, new technology acquisition or adaptation, and time), on the contrary, it is the result of a systematic study. For this reason, especially automotive industry companies have turned to the important effect of choosing the appropriate process step sequence or rearranging new concept design steps in order to ensure the adaptation and application of autonomous vehicle technologies, which are added every day, on the vehicle. The purpose of determining the workload clusters focused on new technology adaptation at the stages constituting the automotive concept design process and choosing the order of importance of the implementation steps; ensuring that the innovation or technology required by an automotive industry company is compatible with the entire new product development flow and the main process stakeholders who undertake to realize it at the desired time, with acceptable implementation costs or new software hardware needs, has a positive effect on the final new product. In the study, the order of importance of the stages in question or the workload intensity selection process of the steps creates a broad comparison structure formed by new and different autonomous technology features by using both quantitative and qualitative criteria that contradict each other. Therefore, the basic criteria used in examining potential new stages and specializations or existing disciplines on the verge of change differ according to the needs of the companies [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. In addition, the most popular criteria considered by decision makers in the evaluation of the process stages or in the selection of the order of importance according to the workload and innovation contribution of the stages; price/cost, design capability, product development process efficiency, resource management, innovation and technology management, research and development, flexibility, brand, product, risk, security, etc. constitute the main variables. It is a multi-criteria decision problem that includes the measurement of the effects of the stages that make up the particles of the holistic process on the final innovation, the selection decision or order of importance, and the evaluation of new and different criteria. Evaluating the impact of the sub-stages that support the basic process on the result or determining the priorities creates focus in the diffusion triggered by the innovation [5] [6] [7] [8].

Today, automotive industry companies are compared using various methods as a result of the performance measurement of many criteria such as design and new product development, innovation management, new product, manufacturing, cost, sales and delivery, and the results obtained from the final comparison are to perform important functions in the organizational structure, it constitutes the necessary inputs for developing, resource management or making long or short-term investment decisions. In this context, multi-criteria decision-making methods; It is a frequently preferred method in today’s research in terms of ordering the importance of the determined alternatives, making selection, evaluation and classification among the alternatives, and finally, the results obtained are suitable and applicable. In this study; in the automotive industry, which has a critical importance in the high economic returns of the nations, in 3 local and 3 global automotive industry companies that carry out automotive concept design activities together with manufacturing; together with the determination of the workload and operational needs created by the autonomous vehicle technology parts carried out on a project basis in practice; is aimed to measure the order of importance.

The innovations and workload in the application of the said new autonomous vehicle technology parts are driven by the reasons for the development of the new technology or the technical competence in the application problems of the new technology. In addition, the inter-firm design collaboration model, which will benefit from critical technology, reveals the determination of resource management or investment priority, together with software and hardware investments of similar variables in practice. Determining the priorities of the resource needs created by autonomous vehicle technologies, which have just entered the automotive concept design stages, increases the success rate of priority order adaptation studies. On the other hand, renewing all of the automotive concept design stages at the same time, creates undefined values for the measurement of value creation and conservation. However, the workload intensity and innovation management in the technology applications of the automotive design stages of the main and sub-criteria in the working model have a great importance in competition [8] [9] [10]. Therefore, the measurement of flow stages with appropriate methods or the selection and order of importance by evaluating the flow steps is the initial step for process optimization. For the solution of the problem, the mathematical model included in the AHP method was constructed and multi-criteria decision-making steps were applied in the study [10] [11] [12].

The evaluation of the efficiency of the process stages or the determination of the importance values of the stages that make up the process creates mathematical data for the simultaneous functioning and balance of the entire flow. The order of importance of a flow or critical selection problem is a subject that is frequently addressed and of great importance for businesses, and there are many studies on the product, part or system preference problem type [10] - [15]. When the aforementioned studies are examined, the commonly identified process or supply channel selection problem; price, performance, efficiency, product, part, system and service, similar variable structures were determined as the main criteria and appropriate alternatives were examined and measured. The AHP method measures the selection rank or efficiency within the approach of determining the importance of the main criteria and sub-criteria. Considering that the alternatives included in the calculations are formed at different values as a result of a process, because of the complex nature of the selection problem, feedbacks, interactions and too many criteria, it turns out that effective and realistic criteria for the solution are in an analytical network structure. Millet (2002) defined the machine selection problem for a company operating in the manufacturing sector and applied the AHP multi-criteria decision-making method for machine selection, since many qualitative and quantitative criteria should be considered together for the right machine selection [16]. In their studies, Paker (2018) and Chan (2002) weighed all the main and sub-criteria related to the problem, in which the importance effect of the stages forming the whole flow in the process was evaluated, and 26 process stakeholders, professional software, hardware, number of employees were evaluated in depth [17] [18].

Automotive concept design stages are the first step in the new and lean product development process where innovations and project goals are determined [19] [20] [21]. Therefore, the features of the new vehicle to be designed, the requests and expectations from the users or the improvements on the product that has been designed and entered into mass production, (aftermarket claim parts, critical fabrication parts, cost reductions, etc.) takes place in the automotive concept design phase, which is at the beginning of the project. Keeping the customer requests and expectations at the forefront among the project objectives is very important for the concept design phase because all new product development studies and disciplines will move in this direction. In the automotive concept design phase, vehicle design alternatives with targeted innovations and desired features are being developed. For example, if lidar, one of the autonomous technology parts, will be adapted or designed on the vehicle, by creating various combinations of form, capacity, size, location, serviceability and similar features, concept design alternatives and clay model prototypes are developed and evaluated by subjecting them to various tests. Until the compatibility of the said new piece of technology with the new concept design alternatives produces a satisfactory result; renewal and modification of prototypes continues [19] [20]. In addition, in the adaptations of new technology pieces like this, involvement of relevant expertise in automotive concept design phases, guiding or part location approval prevents repetitive development in the next new product development steps. This approach, in the creation or preservation of value within the entire current lean and new product development process, provides significant efficiency definition and advantage [21].

Elementarily, the purpose of the automotive concept design stages, to define the long-term new vehicle project goals for lean product development engineering stages, under the boundary conditions within the vehicle body structure, to eliminate the errors and deficiencies in terms of application of innovations on the product and to deliver the perfect new product to mass production. In addition, the studies to determine the position and function of the new technology parts on the body structure, which were realized during the automotive concept design stages, reveals the design of the product’s needs for usage performance along with it. Designing a functional vehicle with the features expected by the new automotive product user and implementing the project innovations within this scope is the main focus for the concept design stages. For example, a truck manufacturer automotive industry company, while designing the truck it produces in line with the expectations of its customers, primarily aims to make the vehicle go from point A to point B quickly, easily and efficiently by carrying a certain load. Therefore, the design of an autonomous truck in accordance with its target customer group includes autonomous vehicle technologies and systems as innovations in the project objectives, again in the appropriate technology, in line with technical and economic possibilities.

Automotive concept design stages in new vehicle projects, while applying new technologies and autonomous vehicle parts and the functional structure brought by the parts on the vehicle, it either makes the vehicle suitable for technology adaptation, or it can adapt the technology to suit the vehicle. These two sharp distinctions are carried out in direct proportion to the position of the supplier of the new technology piece or the role of the patent owner of the automotive industry company. In today’s global automotive industry, targeted innovations or new functions on the vehicle in the future are determined under autonomous vehicle technologies, and necessary part developments are designed under business structures with multi-brand, multi-disciplinary partnerships. Therefore, the development of new autonomous technologies, which are expected to be introduced in the automotive industry in the near future, continues under the global software and hardware R&D enterprises established with the partnerships of global automotive industry companies. From a commercial point of view, since the information required for the development of autonomous vehicle technology parts of these multi-partner R&D structures comes from the partners, the right to sell the software and hardware suitable for the newly designed product belongs to the founding stakeholders.

Another important approach is, in the maintenance, repair and new version updates or adaptation to the vehicle of the semi-finished product created by the R&D enterprises established for the design and development of new autonomous vehicle technologies is to present a reliable design that will not cause any problems that the customer may experience in the future, causing losses in both automotive products and the main brand image. In addition, in such cases, the design and form of the new vehicle concept lags behind the functional usage features of the new autonomous technology. On the other hand, in the adaptation of the new autonomous technology and usage functions within the sample, the automotive concept design stages realize the functional packaging adaptation of the new technology within the vehicle body concept. As an approach the form, form, closure of a new piece of technology can be considered as an extension of innovation and affects the acceptance of the product by the consumer. During the automotive concept design stages, the functional usage features of the new technology or the application criteria and adaptation tolerance information are collected by the developer of the technology before the new autonomous vehicle technology parts are functionally packaged in a form structure inside the vehicle body. Therefore, in order for the new autonomous vehicle technology to be packaged in the automotive concept design stages and to have a functional form structure, it receives phase transition approval in new product development engineering disciplines together with the developer of this technology. In addition, implementation decisions are made for the new autonomous technologies included with the project objectives, both in the initial stages of the automotive concept in the adaptation of the first vehicle, and afterwards, together with the engineering studies related to the expertise in new product development processes.

Compliance approval tests of the part are carried out with intensive studies at every flow step with new product development engineering in the continuation of the process of new autonomous vehicle technologies, which are included in the automotive concept design stages with new on-vehicle adaptations. This cycle continues until the new autonomous vehicle technology piece fulfils its function on the vehicle. After the new project targets are given at the beginning of the automotive concept design stages, preliminary information is obtained from all new product development specialists through design sketches along with the usage scenarios that can fulfil these targets. In the automotive concept design phase, which is the first process of new product development, even if the initial concept designs made on paper from the expertise and engineering departments in the continuation of the process are a bit of an exaggeration, adaptation problems of new technology or design alternatives that are impossible or difficult to produce are rearranged and some changes are made. In the automotive concept design stages, where the new project goals are embodied and form, after the vehicle is approved to be produced at the desired innovation level and within the acceptable investment cost limits, detailed engineering tests and analyses begin in the new product development process [20] [21].

When evaluating alternative vehicle concepts, the way the outer body structure accommodates technology parts or demonstrates innovation, the number of parts, the method of joining parts, tolerances and the complexity of the product are among the factors that affect the final concept selection. The aim is to select the alternatives with the most preferable value in the market among the concept design alternatives that meet the functional requirements of new technologies or to define the modification. In the selection at the end of the automotive concept design stages, especially the technical drawings that clearly show the new vehicle design, the selection of all materials, machinery and equipment to be used in production and their placement, plant capacity and many other issues, together with investment decisions, the process is related to new product development disciplines.

In order for the new vehicle design data revealed by the automotive concept design stages to not lose value in new product development processes, innovations are approved by the automotive concept design department at each stage transition, this time until the product is implemented (Table 1). With the introduction of new product development processes, the automotive concept design stages pass into a status that gives approval for the implementation of the targeted innovations in the body structure (Table 1). Since the changes to be made for the approved vehicle concept to go into production lead to both time and cost losses, each modification is thoroughly examined and approved [21].

After the concept vehicle design is transferred to the new product development stages, and after the process flow or studies are completed, physical and virtual road tests, trial productions and final trials of the new automotive product are carried out as the final process (Table 1). After seeking answers to questions such as whether the design was made as desired, whether it could meet customer expectations, and whether there was a need for changes, if the answers are positive, the promotional part of the business comes into play and by focusing on issues such as introducing the product to the market and informing the