ACMA Tech Summit points at the future
The fifth edition of ACMA Tech Summit saw the industry stakeholders delve upon turning challenges into opportunities.
Held at Pune between November 24 and November 25, 2019, the fifth edition of ACMA Tech Summit put the spotlight on disruptions. Delving upon the hardships faced by the automotive industry, the summit looked at how technologies could be leveraged to turn challenges into opportunities. Drawing vehicle manufacturers and ancillary suppliers, the summit, choosing to focus on strengths and opportunities thus, turned to be an effective medium to reflect the shift taking place at various levels in the Indian auto industry. Expressed F. R. Sanghvi, Chairperson of ACMA Skilling and Mentoring, in his welcome address, that there was a need to be prepared in-line with the Government’s push to come out with newer technologies. Stressing on the need to redefine employee skills, and to invest in independent R&D infrastructure, he urged the industry representatives to leverage their resources as well as introduce their employees to ACMA’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) - Saksham. Explained Sanghvi, that Saksham was designed to help the industry understand and study market requirements, the nature of disruptions, and to enable the industry stakeholders to design suitable business models and robust operational strategies.
With technology, total quality management and human resources finding a special mention in the opening session, the tech summit got off to a good start. Deepak Jain, President, ACMA, averred, “There is a need to work efficiently during an upturn as well as a downturn.” He drew attention to the automotive industry’s seven per cent contribution to India’s GDP. Stating that the industry generated an estimated 35 million jobs, Jain said that the auto
components industry contributed 2.3 per cent to the country’s GDP. Of the opinion that the undue negativity and association of the auto industry with global issues like pollution were uncalled for, he stressed on high vehicle density as the cause for infrastructure shortcomings in metropolitan cities. Reiterated Jain, that the positives far outweigh the detrimental impacts. It is therefore necessary that the stakeholders keep their heads high, he added. Lauding the efforts of his peers, Jain expressed confidence in the industry coming good on key metrics like innovation.
Highlighting the contribution of CVs to the country’s development, Girish Wagh, President & Head - CVBU, Tata Motors Ltd., pointed out that the auto components industry grew at 10 per cent in the last six to seven years in comparison to the growth of the automotive industry at eight per cent overall. Stating that all the sectors in the auto industry have experienced a slowdown for the first time, he averred, “It will take two to five years to attain levels of the earlier peak. The demand in the system will return after the shock is absorbed, and the liquidity is back in the system. Drawing attention to the setting up of the required infrastructure, Wagh stressed on the importance of optimising costs and realising break-evens in challenging times. “It is these factors that will help to sustain,” he added. Explaining that the cyclical nature of CV sales was not limited to India, Wagh said, “While the CV industry globally is known to experience cyclicity to the extent of 60 per cent, in India, the current slowdown is not just because of cyclical factors, but because of non-cyclical factors.” Expressing that a slowdown was expected in 2020 because of the price hike and an amount of pre-buying expected in 2019, Wagh informed that the period of trough usually lasts for 24 to 30 months.
Revealing that some downturns have lasted for a year, Girish Wagh stated that the current downturn is in its 13th month. He drew attention to the earlier peak which was achieved in FY13 and in FY18. Of the opinion that it can take up to two-to-five years to re-achieve the earlier peak, he touched upon exports, cost optimisation, enhanced aftermarket offering, and digital and analytics, as the key levers to navigate through the downturn and disruptive changes. On the subject of technology development, Wagh spoke about taking care of the consumer beyond regulatory compliance. Explaining that manufacturers need to keep Indian costs in mind while developing technology with localisation and modularity, Wagh said, “There is a need for collaborative development, which enables cross pollination of ideas from within and beyond the auto industry.” Martin Koers, Managing Director, German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), on the technology front, spoke about the need to focus on exports. Offering a glimpse of the scenario the world over, he explained that alternative energy, automation, connectivity and new services were the key trends the industry needed to be prepare for. “The future will be electrified, but not limited to battery. It will also include fuel cells,” he quipped. Informing that the the combustion engine will be of utmost importance even in the future, Koers said, “Depending on the mobility needs, different technologies are required. Auto manufacturers need to look at renewable fuels when planning a holistic approach.”
Linking mobility to demand and digitisation, Koers pointed out at new opportunities and challenges like access to new target groups, isolated tendency threats and an adverse regulatory environment. All these, he said, could affect the auto industry in the near future. Of the opinion that population growth, urbanisation, increasing traffic, traffic safety, consumption of resources, climate change and environmental protection should be tackled with solutions with alternate energy as an option, Koers said that automation could provide a viable answer to address the active safety requirements in mobility. “Connectivity could help to solve traffic problems in cities with the help of urbanisation,” he added. Of the opinion that markets with good growth potential like India and China are shrinking, Koers averred that environmental issues and traffic concerns were at the top of the challenges the auto industry is facing. Stating that these need to be solved through technologies like alternative powertrains and digitisation, Koers said there cannot be one solution, but different solutions for different needs. Informing that the internal combustion engine with synthetic fuel could be an option, he expressed that CO2-neutral mobility will call for different solutions.
Marking the release of a study by ACMA and Frost & Sullivan, called the Mega Themes of the Future and Implications for the Indian Auto Industry, the summit saw the signing of MoU by ACMA with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) & SAEINDIA as knowledge Partners for the Centre of Excellence (ACoE). This MoU is expected to focus on joint working for the development of content for training programs; joint working in the area of designing and setting up of labs, and in the development of e-learning platforms. ACMA would also get to leverage SAEINDIA Collegiate Clubs (AICTE Accredited Engineering Institutions/ Universities) for joint programs with training courses conducted by national and international subject matter experts. If the first session, ‘Leading through technology’, moderated by Sarwant Singh, Managing Partner, Frost and Sullivan, saw panelists, which included
Dr. R. Mukhopadhyay, Director (R&D), JK Tyre & Industries Ltd., Arun Rao, Senior Director, Dassault Systèmes India, and Sagar Bhosale, Managing Director, Schmersal India Pvt Ltd., provide insights into new automotive technologies, that take into consideration green mobility and a sustainable society apart from the use of RIO IoT platforms in CVs that are open and cloud-based, the session on ‘Transformation Leaders’ with Pradeep Bhargava, President, MCCIA, as the chairman, and Biswajit Bhattacharya, Partner & Executive Director, Automotive Industry Leader India SA, IBM India, and Vikram Salunke, Managing Director, Accurate Gauging & Instruments Pvt. Ltd., as the participants, looked at difficulty in business, and in the incorporation of new technologies.
The third session on ‘Achieving different, thinking differently, with Raju Ketkale, Senior Vice President & Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motors Pvt. Ltd., as the chairman, and Satheesh G, Senior Director & Head, C-DAC, P.G.S. Dinesh Davidson, Assistant Vice President (Operations), J.K. Fenner India Ltd, Prof. David Mendlovic, Chairman – Industry Affiliation Programs, and Dean – Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University (Israel), and Ashwini Tiwary, Founder and CMO, Autobot India Pvt Ltd, as participants, looked at reduction of CO2 through adoption of electric propulsion technologies by leveraging an increase in battery capacity and external charging. The session on ‘Success stories and new solutions’, chaired by Narasimha Suryanarayana Co-founder and CTO, TallyX, and with Alka Pande Advisor, Sapours Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Rahul Khonde Co-founder and Director, Sapours Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and Kody Baker CEO, VeloMetro Mobility Inc., as participants, focused on recalls and the need to ensure product quality as well as the ability to address differing mobility needs, and by tapping emerging mobility trends.
The panel discussion on ‘Exploring New frontiers of Technology’, with Kavan MukhtyarPartner & Automotive Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt
Ltd (PwC) as the moderator and
Rajneesh Vashisht, Vice President, CDMM- Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Rahul Karambelkar Vice President, Materials, Bajaj Auto Ltd.,Pradeep Mishra, Senior Vice PresidentPurchasing, VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd., Sowmya Chaturvedi, Supply Chain Head – India Area Business Organization, Cummins India Ltd, Col. A. K. Nath (Retd.), Executive Director, CDAC, A Scientific Society of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, GOI, and Yogesh Umbarkar Vice President, Asia-Ricardo Software, Ricardo India Private Ltd., as the participants, looked at BSVI shift in-line with the need to decongest, adapt technologies at a competitive price and differentiate in terms of products and value. The session, ‘EV, Future Mobility & Smart City’, was chaired by Som Kapoor PartnerRetail & Future of Mobility, Ernst & Young (E&Y) LLP, looked at smart mobility, infrastructure, urbanisation and energy gy efficiency. y Participants p included Sivam Sabesan, Managing Director, CharIN e.V., India, Ravneet Phokela Chief Business Officer, Ather Energy Pvt. Ltd., and Dr. R Gopalan Regional Director, International.
In the valedictory session, the guest of honour, Ashok Sharma, Assistant VP and Operating Head, Honda Cars India ltd, expressed that he is confident of positivity returning to the auto industry. Stressing on the need to make fundamental and strategic decisions to reshape the value proposition, adapt organisational demands and leverage partnerships, he averred that CO2 emission were a major concern, and needed to be addressed. Deepak Jain, President ACMA, in his concluding remark said, “We have an opportunity to grow from a USD 120 billion to a USD 450 billion industry. Efforts have to be put to become future ready, future compliant, and to stay relevant. At ACMA we are working towards a smart supply pp y chain, , intelligent g and connected vehicles with stress on quality, localisation, costs and customer needs.” Appreciating ACMA’s role in sensitising the industry about the changes the future would entail, Sunjay Kapoor, VP, ACMA, averred that the journey ahead for the organisation would include ways to prepare its members to overcome any challenges in the future that are likely to come their way. y