AutoParts Asia April 2016

TKAP Designed For Continuous Productivity, Quality

RNI No. MAHENG.2015/64732

www.autopartsasia.in

Vol.No.1 Issue No 11 April 2016 | US$ 20 `200

AUTOPARTS ASIA | April 2016 RNI No. MAHENG.2015/64732

Innovation, Superior Products, Global Footprint To Drive Cooper Standard

Keith D Stephenson

Dana Expands Customer Base, Makes New Investments

Robert Pyle

Software Softens

Hardships In

Automotive

Testing

Vol No 1 | Issue No 11 | April 2016

ISSUE

IN THIS

14

10

Innovation, Superior Products, Global Footprint To Drive Cooper Standard

Hoffmann Is President Of Jaguar Land Rover Canada

CORPORATE

People

6

32

COVER STORY

- Software Softens Hardships In Automotive Testing

IMPRESSIONS

7 EDITORIAL 8 TRAILBLAZING TRENDS - Trendy Technologies

10 PEOPLE

- Hoffmann Is President Of Jaguar Land Rover Canada - Jonathan Collins Is New CFO Of Dana - Zink To Join Schaeffler Executive Board - Barnes Appointed COO of Bentley Motors Americas - Visteon Appoints Pynnonen As General Counsel - Nicolas Maure Is New CEO of AVTOVAZ - Freels At Helm Of Hyundai America Tech Centre

14 CORPORATE

- Dana Expands Customer Base, Makes New Investments - Innovation, Superior Products, Global Footprint To Drive Cooper Standard

20 INTERVIW

- XALT Energy Innovates, Expands To New Markets

26 FACTORY FLAVOUR

- TKAP Designed For Continuous Productivity, Quality Scale-up

2 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

26

FACTORY FLAVOUR

54

58

- Bosch Products, Systems To Make Driving Safer

- Anand Mahindra Among Top 30 Global CEOs on Barron’s 2016 List

FOCUS

- TKAP Designed For Continuous Productivity, Quality Scale-up

NEWS FOCUS

- Bharath University Opens Bosch Training Centre

FEATURES

40 TESTING - TUV Rheinland India Reigns With Unique, Universal Labs - FARO Finds Big Market In Indian Automotive Sector

53

PREVIEW

- CAPAS 2016 To Have Exclusive CV Zone

63 GLEANINGS International

- WABCO Supplies MAXX Air Disc Brakes To Daimler AG - GM Supplier Of Year 2015 Award For Faurecia - ANSYS, TSMC Enable Chip Makers To Create Cutting-Edge E-Products - Yanfeng Honours 15 Co.s With European Supplier Awards - GKN Transfers Super Sports Car eAxle Technology To Compact Vehicles - Mercedes-Benz Plant Kassel Makes 0.1m IPS Axles - BMW Group Embarks ON Journey To Next 100 years

60

70

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

- Global Rubber Meet Calls For Innovative Technology

72

AUTO LAUGH

GLEANINGS India

- German Industry Keen To Support Indian Manufacturing Sector

- Trucking Delights

AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 3

READERS’ LETTERS

IMPRESSIONS

Safety As Core Issue

A Colourful Edition

My sincere thanks for choosing Safety as a core issue in the March issue of AutoParts Asia.

I am happy that the article has touched up on all the facets of industrial safety. The highlight is the interview with V B Sant, Director General, National Safety Council.

Received the March edition of AutoPartsAsia. I must congratulate you and your team for producing such a wonderful edition. It has come out really well and looks very colourful, especially the Special Report on Axalta, and what better time to get it than in this Holi festival season. It’s a good read and has a well-designed layout!

R M Senthil Kumar, Chennai.

Mehr Jain, Mumbai.

We Welcome Your Comments We will bring to you every month AutoParts Asia magazine with the latest news and trends in Indian, Asian and global automotive industry. We present them in the way we think is the best. But you may think differently. Your different perspective may be a stepping stone to our ambitious target of achieving superior quality in content and style of presentation.

We want to make every edition better than the previous one. You can help us in this task by writing to us your evaluation, appreciation, comments, and suggestions.

Kindly mention your full address and phone number.

Our e-mail address is: tm@abm.net.in You may visit www.autopartsasia.in for instant updates on the automotive industry developments.

6 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

T

he present day vehicles have several new features to enhance safety, comfort and convenience. Paradoxically, there is a proportionate increase in vehicle recalls across markets, even in countries like India where the recall episodes have been rare. The airbags from Takata, a leading supplier of advanced automotive safety systems, which instead of being a safety device became a killer by itself, have been one of the biggest causes for recalls. The Volkswagen scandal also necessitated large number of recalls. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the US ordered the recall of more than 51 million passenger vehicles in 2015. This is about thrice the number of cars, pickups and SUVs sold during the year. A year ago the same number of vehicles was recalled in the light-duty segment alone. In India close to 1.9 million vehicles have been recalled so far.

Vehicle recalls confuse the owners. They are forced to think that the vehicle designers and engineers might have overlooked something important. They doubt the efficacy of vehicle testing. The consumer scepticism is bound to increase with the increasing automation of vehicles and plans for automated cars. Reports predict to have 44 million automated vehicles by 2030. To avoid accidents and reduce recalls, it is necessary for the OEMs to focus more on effective failure mode analysis, and to simulate and test the vehicle for even more stringent safety parameters. Multifarious testing has become the central theme of vehicle production and marketing. It is necessary to value validation to minimise risks and retain consumer confidence.

The cover story of this issue: ‘Software Softens Hardships In Automotive Testing,’ highlight the important role Computer- Aided Engineering (CAE), and simulation software play in the creation and production of safer vehicles. With the rising pressure on the vehicle makers to address the emerging demands from the customers, the OEMs and the component makers are striving hard to squeeze the development time. One of the impediments for meeting the time-bound launch schedules for new vehicles is testing. The story describes the options the automotive industry has with the development of software for simulation, testing and validation.

We travelled through the manufacturing plant of Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts (TKAP) in Bengaluru to savour its distinct features. The Factory Flavour section has a detailed report on that with lively photos. In addition to the regular features, you will find interesting stories on Dana and Cooper Standard among others. Hope you will find this issue interesting. Your views will help us improve further. Please send us your feedback.

E DIT OR IAL

Value Validation

Kurian Abraham Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief: Kurian Abraham | Chief Executive Officer: John S Powath | Editor: Murrali Thalor | Associate Editor: KS Nayar Executive Editor: P Raghav Varma | Assistant Editors: Prof T N Kalamani, A Saj Mathews, P Venugopal | Correspondent: Sharad P Matade

April 2016 | Vol. 1 | Issue No. 11

Subscription rates 12 issues: Rs. 2,100/24 issues: Rs. 4,000/Single copy: Rs. 200/US$20 Overseas: 12 issues: US$200 24 issues: US$400

Printed, Published and Owned

by Antony Scaria Powath, and Printed at Five Star Offset Printers, Building No. 1/151, A.B & C, Nettoor, Maradu Municipality, Ernakulam District, Kerala State & Published from: 20th Vaikunth Apartment, Mount Mary Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai 400 050.

Editor: Murrali Thalor

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US Correspondent: Dr Louis P Rumao, 621 Lockmoore Court, Rochester Hills, Michigan +1 48307-4229, Tel: +1 248 747 7201, Email: louis.rumao@ yahoo.com | China: Ella Liu (Liu Ting)/Terry Yin (Yin Tian), China United Rubber (Group) Corporation, Beijing, Tel +86-13911580967, +86-10-5377 9793, Fax: +86-10-5377 9608, E-mail:liut@chrubber.com, expo@chrubber.com | South America: Ms. Carina Bini Fernandes, Atman Filmes e Criacoes, SCLN 215, Bloco B, Sala 114, Asa Norte – Brasilia – DF, Brazil, CEP 70874–520, Tel: +55 61 3033 8007, +55 6181497800 (Brasil), +91 9895555281 (India), E mail: carina.bini@gmail.com European Representative: John Stone, 73 Chaney Road, Wivenhoe Essex, CO79RR, England.

Sapphire Media, Tel: +44 (0) 1206 822320, Mob: + 44 7769 675232, Email: john.stone@sapphire-media.co.uk | Australia: Jacob Cherian, Ausker Pacific Pty. Ltd., Suite 1, 1401 Burke Road, East Kew Vic 3102, Melbourne Australia, Tel: +61 3 9859 8922, Email:ausker@auskergroup.com.au | Japan: Shinichi Kato, Shinichi Kato Office Co., Ltd., 11-7 Nihonbashikabutochou, Chuoku, Tokyo 103-0026, Japan. Tel: +81 3-5645-8670, Fax: +81 3-5645-8671, Email: shinichi.kato@rubberstation.com South East Asia: A. Divakaran A.D. Nair, 33, Jalan PJU 1A/43F, Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, 47301 Selangor, Malaysia. Tel: +60 3 78454608, Mobile: +60 12 3985357, Email: aaps_avico@yahoo.com | Thailand: Ms Somruetai Patana-anek (Mott), Managing Director, Busgum Co. Ltd., 1093/115, 21st Floor, Central City Tower, Bangna-Trad Road (K.M.3), Bangna, Bangkok 10260, Thailand, Tel: +66-2-3993946, 399-4374, 399-3896, Mob: +66-1-8429105, Email: mott@busgum.com | Sri Lanka: P P Perera, No.20, 4th Cross Lane, Borupana Road, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka. Tel: +94 11 4863529, Mob: +94 772 972571, Email: ppperera1946@gmail.com |Middle East: Dubai, UAE - Markose Chenthitta, Email: 101@hotmail.com & Varghese Philip, Tel: +971 4 2276825, Mob: +971 50 7480984, Email: vp39386@gmail.com

AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 7

TRAILBLAZING TRENDS

By T Murrali

Trendy Technologies

I

n the first week of March, all roads led to Geneva for the International Motor Show 2016.

This show was very successful mainly for three reasons. It was the largest show, had the largest footfalls and served as the venue for the coveted European Car of the Year Award, a prize sought after by the global automobile makers.

The 2016 European Car of the Year award went to Astra’s Opel, which

is sold as Vauxhall in the UK, Opel in continental Europe, Holden in Australia, and as the Buick Verano Hatch in China. Opel won 309 points. The second and third places were given respectively to Volvo XC90, 294 points, and Mazda MX-5, 202 points, by the 58-memebr Jury.

More than 40 new cars, from sporty roadsters to premium limousines and sports utility vehicles, were among the original contenders.

Since its launch about a year ago, Opel had won several international

8 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

awards like SAFETYBEST 2015 and the 2015 Golden Steering Wheel, which made it a favourite in Geneva.

It also had received the maximum five stars for its performance in the Euro NCAP crash test.

supported by Deloitte, to recognise the efforts and achievements of outstanding and sustainable automotive suppliers’ innovation, and cooperation with vehicle manufacturers, were announced.

Opel is based on a completely new lightweight vehicle architecture powered by new generation diesel and gasoline engines. Smartphone integration, the ground breaking personal connectivity and service

The jury included experts from European associations and universities, the automotive industry, and research organisations. First, second, and third prizes were awarded in four categories: Green, Safe, Connected, and Co-operation.

Winners were evaluated on the basis of ambition, market relevance, impact, and quality.

assistant Opel OnStar enable ultramodern connectivity. It also features IntelliLux LED matrix light, known so far only in higher segments.

Technologies connecting the third platform, mobile phones, blaze the trend.

Innovation Awards Change is constant and innovation is key to success in any business.

Innovation is always recognised.

Recently the Innovation Awards of the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA)

In the current edition there were 76 applications from 45 companies and the jury had a tough time to pick the best. The Green Award went to Hidria for Optymus; Safety award to Valeo for Remote clean4U; Connectivity award to TomTom for HAD Map and RoadDNA; and the Co-operation award to Dana & Audi for partially-coated multi-layer steel transmission separator plates. The same award was given to Inteva & General Motors for complex geometry interior instrument panel designs.

These recognitions were the result of sheer hard work and spending time and money. It may be noted that the European automotive suppliers spend about Euro 18billion annually on research and development to keep them distinctly ahead of others.

Trailblazing traits.

Innovations will continue . . . . .

See you next month with more Trailblazing Trends.

PEOPLE

Hoffmann Is

President Of Jaguar Land Rover Canada

APA Bureau

W

Is New CFO Of Dana APA Bureau

D

ana Holding Corporation has appointed Jonathan Collins as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He was serving in the same role at ProQuest, a global leader in information resources, following previous experience in the automotive-supply industry.

Wolfgang Hoffmann

olfgang Hoffmann is appointed President of Jaguar Land Rover Canada, and he will be responsible for overseeing the brands’ operations there.

Hoffmann has extensive experience in the automobile industry as the President of Audi Canada, the Chief Operating Officer of Automobili Lamborghini America LLC in the US, General Manager New York Metro Area, and Director of Product Management for Audi of America.

“Wolfgang’s background and proven success in the automotive industry are a perfect fit for Jaguar Land Rover Canada,” Joe Eberhardt, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jaguar Land Rover North America, said. “He brings leadership experience in both the industry and the market that will help lead continued growth in the Canadian market as we achieve sales records and launch new products like the new Jaguar XE and F-PACE.” “I am thrilled to be joining the Jaguar Land Rover team at this time,” Hoffmann said. “The current product line-up for both brands is very strong, and there will be even more excitement with the new products that are on the way. I look forward to working closely with our dedicated Canadian dealer network, and growing the Jaguar Land Rover business in Canada.”

Hoffmann was born in Pforzheim Germany in 1966. He went to school in Germany and the UK where he completed a degree course in Engineering and a Master of Business Administration (MBA). He takes up his new position in the Jaguar Land Rover head office in Mississauga, Ontario, reporting to Eberhardt in the US. 10 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

Jonathan Collins

Collins has extensive experience in various facets of corporate finance and has built a solid record for improving profitability and executing growth objectives in multi-national corporations.

As Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ProQuest since 2013, Collins worked with leadership across

the company to improve the profitability of the business through strong cost discipline, organic growth, and accretive acquisitions. Prior to that role, he served as Vice President of global financial operations for ProQuest, where he led the global financial planning and analysis function efforts while integrating the financial operations of multiple acquisitions.

Collins also served in executive operational and commercial finance positions at International Automotive Components Group (IAC) from 2007 to 2010. Prior to his time at IAC, he worked at Lear Corporation in various positions of increasing responsibility in finance and also served as a financial analyst with Accenture.

Zink To Join Schaeffler

Executive Board APA Bureau

T

he Supervisory Board of Schaeffler AG has appointed Matthias Zink, global head of the business division Transmissions Systems, as a member of its Executive Board as of January 1,

2017.

Matthias Zink will succeed Norbert Indlekofer , whose contract was not extended at his own request. Indlekofer will leave the company on December 31, 2016and will continue to perform his role as Co-CEO of the Automotive division until that time.

The Supervisory Board has also decided to extend the contract of Peter Pleus, also Co-CEO of the automotive division, for an additional two years until December 31, 2018.

With regard to these changes, Georg F. W. Schaeffler, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Schaeffler AG said: “We are delighted to have appointed Matthias Zink, a top talent from the Schaeffler Group, to the Executive Board”.

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PEOPLE

Barnes Appointed Schupfner Is New COO Of Bentley CTO Of Visteon Motors Americas APA Bureau

V

APA Bureau

B

entley Motors has appointed Mark Barnes as Chief Operations Officer of Bentley Motors, Inc., the regional office for Bentley Motors in the Americas. He succeeds Kim Airey who is the new Regional Director of Bentley Motors China.

“Mark’s appointment comes when Bentley is preparing for significant growth throughout the region,” Michael Winkler, President, Bentley Motors Inc., said.

Mark is an industry veteran who brings to Bentley in-depth automotive experience, including many years of working with retail partners. His insights and background will be valuable as we execute our strategy in the nearly 40 countries and territories across the region.”

Barnes has 30 years of operations experience working for several automakers.

Prior to returning to the VW Group in 2014 and taking his current position, he was Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Aftersales for General Motors International Operations. Barnes had served in a number of senior roles at Chrysler, Hyundai North America, and Nissan North America.

Freels At Helm Of

Hyundai America Tech Centre APA Bureau 12 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

W

isteon Corporation, a leading global supplier of automotive cockpit electronics for the connected car, has named Markus Schupfner as the new Chief Technology Officer. Based in Karlsruhe, Germany, he will be responsible for driving technology innovation globally across Visteon’s technology centres in Europe, the Americas and Asia. He will also lead Visteon’s new technology initiatives in the areas of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

and autonomous driving, and product management of all Visteon products.

“Markus has an exceptional track record in the automotive industry in infotainment and ADAS technologies and brings a high level of credibility, Visteon President and CEO, Sachin Lawande, said.

Schupfner joins Visteon from Elektrobit Automotive GmbH, an international supplier of embedded software solutions and services. He has obtained several patents for embedded navigation software.

Nicolas Maure Is New CEO Of AVTOVAZ APA Bureau

A

lliance Rostec Auto BV has announced that Nicolas Maure will become CEO of AVTOVAZ effective April 4. The joint venture between Renault-Nissan and Rostec State Corporation (Rostec), which oversees AVTOVAZ, also confirmed that Bo Inge Andersson will step down from the role on that day.Maure is the Managing Director for Renault Group operations in Romania, where he is in charge of all commercial and industrial activities. He also serves as President and CEO

illiam Andy Freels is named President of Hyundai America Technical Center (HATCI). He will be responsible for leading the engineering groups to develop global platforms to meet both North and South American markets. Freels is the first local executive to assume the HATCI presidency.

“It is an honour to lead HATCI through a time of increasing responsibility for vehicle development in the Americas,”

of Automobile Dacia SA, one of the fastest growing car brands in Europe and the largest private company in Romania.

Before taking over operations in Romania, Maure was Vice President for Renault global manufacturing performance and a Vice President for Powertrain in the RenaultNissan Alliance Purchasing Organisation. He has led teams in manufacturing, purchasing, quality and aftersales. He joined Renault in 2000 after working for automotive suppliers including Faurecia and Valeo.

Freels said. “I look forward to building on the foundation of a highly respected research and development team as HATCI enters its 30th year of operation.”Freels started at the HATCI organisation in 2005 and most recently served as Director of the Vehicle Evaluation Group. He also played a pivotal role in establishing the foundation for HMC’s Proving Grounds in California City, CA. Freels has a Master’s Degree in Engineering Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

CORPORATE

Robert Pyle

Dana Expands Customer Base, Makes New investments

By T Murrali

D

ana’s contributions to automotive technology span more than a century of vehicle engineering.

Today, the company is recognized for its driveline products, sold in the aftermarket under the Spicer brand, and advanced engineering systems that focus on sealing and thermal management. As a global manufacturer, Dana operates more than 90 major facilities across six continents and is an integral part of the light vehicle, commercial vehicle, and off highway industry sectors.

Dana’s largest business, in terms of annual sales volume, is its Light Vehicle Driveline Technologies, which accounts for approximately $2.5 billion.

“While our overall sales volumes continue to rise, our company experiences the same challenges as international companies across all industry sectors. Currency exchange rates are a great example,” Robert Pyle, President of Dana’s Light Vehicle Driveline Technologies, told AutoParts Asia.

“The strong US dollar has created a tremendous headwind for Dana in

14 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

that, on paper, it significantly reduces our overall sales numbers. Even while we are growing sales volumes of 10-12 percent and shipping more products, we have experienced a company-wide decline in sales by $1.5 billion in recent years, solely as a result of currency adjustments.

To counteract this, we focus on continued growth.”

Expanding Customer Base According to Pyle, who is also part of the company’s Executive Leadership Team that develops corporate strategy, Dana’s approach includes a strong focus on its current customers, securing new business in regions where economies are expanding, and localisation of manufacturing and technical centres, as feasible.

Localizing Costs “Localising our costs can help to protect the company from the transactional effects of foreign exchange. However, there is also an added benefit,” Pyle added. “It is important to realise that, in the light vehicle business, a global footprint is necessary to support our customers who are both launching

new advanced platforms and improving existing ones. Our facilities throughout the world connect us closely with our customers and provide greater flexibility in meeting their needs.”

In recent years, OEMs have sought to extend the programme life of some vehicles, seeking to make only minor ‘cosmetic’ changes to the existing models without any significant change to their driveline or other foundational systems, a decision that impacts suppliers like Dana. However, the need to meet increasingly higher fuel economy standards and demands for vehicles with new power systems, including hybrid and electric vehicles, are leading automakers change and adapt driveline technologies more frequently. Dana plays an important role in helping automakers achieve their fuel efficiency targets.

“In addition to advanced materials and engineering, we also deploy new coating and fluid technologies to make drivelines more efficient.

This translates into real fuel economy benefits for the automakers, thanks to a reduction in power loss through

the drivetrain system. Our investment in technology and the demonstrated success of our products has made Dana an attractive supplier for OEMs, including those that have traditionally manufactured their own drivelines in-house. Utilising our advanced technologies in the drivetrain can allow OEMs to focus research and development resources on other areas of the vehicle, including emerging consumer-generated trends, like connectivity.”

Around the world, Dana has a significant light vehicle customer profile, comprising nearly every major automotive manufacturer including Ford, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan and Tata, which includes the Jaguar and Land Rover brands. Likewise, its customers constitute the leaders of other mobility sectors, including the alternative-fuel, commercial-vehicle, and off-highway sectors.

While business from Dana’s existing customer base continues to grow, the company is adding new vehicle manufacturers to its clientele, including major producers in Asia.

In India, the company is working with Tata, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Maruti Suzuki, and in China, it does business with OEMs including Foton Motor, Great Wall, and First Auto Works.

New Investments According to Pyle, new global initiatives and new customers will enable Dana to derive a greater percentage of revenue from outside North America, which represented approximately 53 percent of sales in 2015. In the light-vehicle driveline business, North America is Dana’s largest region in terms of revenue, followed by the Asia-Pacific, which is the fastest-growing region.

“The increasing significance of the Asia-Pacific market is a trend we expect will continue,” said Pyle.

“While the vehicle market in South America has slowed down, we see currently that long-term growth trends are most positive for North America and Asia.”

The company is making substantial investments in its US-based facilities to support the nextgeneration platforms of its largest OE programmes including the Ford Super Duty and the Jeep Wrangler, which the company has been supporting for

about 75 years. In Asia, it is focusing on manufacturing demand and design flexibility.

Dana recently opened a new gear plant in Thailand that has expanded the company’s capacity to produce approximately 600,000 gear sets annually. This move localised production for the Asia-Pacific market and freed up much-needed capacity in Mexico, which has helped to supply the growing North American market.

The Thailand facility also incorporates new manufacturing technology, allowing for increased customisation in the manufacturing process, which will benefit customers within the region.

“In India, we have tailored the design of our products for our key customers — in the commercial-vehicle sector, companies like Tata, Ashok Leyland and Volvo Eicher. Around the world, we operate 16 technical centres that help to connect us more closely with customers across a particular region and allow for increased collaboration on new platforms,” said Pyle. Centres in Asia include Dana’s India Technical Centre, which opened in Pune in 2013, and facilities in Wuxi, China, and Toyohashi, Japan.

Supply Chain Dana has a global and holistic supply-chain strategy, which takes into account the “best landed cost,” currency exchange, pipelines, and potential quality risks. The company’s supply chain is a complex array of imports and exports.

“While we seek to localize production when it is feasible, is not possible to manufacture all of the gears and axles in every place that you use them,” said Pyle. “This requires hubs for specific markets, where we optimise supply though importing components from various facilities and assembling them where we need them. We strive very much to standardise the heart of our driveline products and, subsequently, tailor them to satisfy customer needs, usually based on size and torque requirements. We continually evaluate operational data for our products and for those produced by other manufacturers to assure that we remain at the leading edge of both efficiency and performance.”

New Technologies Fuel efficiency remains a focus for vehicle engineers. Governments

continue to require more efficient light vehicles and end users in the off-highway and commercial vehicle sectors are increasingly demanding lower operational costs, especially in times of increased fuel prices.

‘Lightweighting’ per se creates new products with increased power density that deliver performance with a reduction in overall weight, is a key component of Dana’s light vehicle driveline research and development strategy. The company has worked with OE customers to develop and utilise new materials, things like aluminium propeller shaft construction.

“In addition to lightweighting, we are working on concepts such as enginedownspeeding, particularly in the commercial vehicle and off-highway sectors. This involves optimising the drivetrain to allow for operation of the vehicle at slower engine speeds, thus, requiring less fuel. We are also developing new technologies that increase connectivity between the drivetrain and vehicle control system, allowing for more efficient vehicle operation and generating new data that can be used to detect problems and to schedule pre-failure maintenance.

Dana’s Power Technologies Group is also expanding the frontiers of thermal-management systems. For electric and hybridelectric cars, reducing battery operating temperatures is a critical factor towards extending battery performance and lifespan,” added Pyle. “Dana is a global leader in providing technology for advancedvehicle battery manufacturers.”

About the short-term and longterm plans for his division, Pyle said, “The short-term is very much about executing our growth. We have a tremendous backlog of new business, new programmes that we will be launching in the next two to three years to drive our future sales and growth. The long-term is really making sure that we are the provider of choice for driveline products and technologies for our customers as their needs change along the lines of emission standards, fuel efficiency, connected cars and autonomous vehicles. They will be looking to critical, strategic suppliers like us to cater to their needs. We are ready for that.”

AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 15

CORPORATE

Innovation, Superior Products, Global Footprint To Drive Cooper Standard

By T Murrali

C

ooper Standard, the 62nd ranked automotive supplier in the world, had recorded revenue of $3.3 billion in 2015 and an addition of more than $300 million in unconsolidated joint ventures in the US, China, Thailand and India. The company aims to double the top line by 2021. Cooper Standard, which makes seals, fuel and premium hoses for commercial vehicles and passenger cars, envisions becoming one of the 30 largest automotive suppliers in the world by revenue and to be in the top five in terms of quality of earnings.

Cooper Standard operates in 20 countries and has 97 facilities worldwide that includes offices, technical centres, warehouses and 75 manufacturing plants. In China alone it has 11 facilities.

The company started in 1960 as the automotive components business of Cooper Tire. In 2004, Cooper Tire decided to split the company into two. At that time it was sold to Goldman Sachs and Cypress Holdings which is a private equity firm. In 2010, it was taken over by a different group of investors and in 2013 Cooper Standard went public.

Long-Term Vision

Keith D Stephenson

Along the way the company made a series of acquisitions which added breadth and depth to its product lines. “We have gone from being a North American company to a global one now. In 2012, our Chairman and CEO Jeff Edwards joined the organisation and that is when we developed the vision for our company over the next decade - what we do well and what we need to do better. We defined the four pillars of our organisation: Focus on the customer; superior products and innovation; world-class footprint and operations; and, most importantly, a highly engaging and performing workforce”, Keith D. Stephenson, Chief Operating Officer, Cooper Standard, told T Murrali of AutoParts Asia.

In 2015, Asia was the fastest growing part of Cooper Standard. In the coming years, North America, Europe and Asia will be the strong pillars of the company. Stephenson said: “Earlier this year we bought out our JV partner in China, opened three new factories there and two in India. By 2020, we hope Asia will be 20 percent plus for the company (half the cars in the world are produced in Asia). We have good relationships with the American, European and Asian car builders. Mahindras, Maruti Suzuki, Tata and Geely (China) are all important customers.

Historically, Asia has been under-invested but in the last three years we have been changing that significantly; Jeff Edwards has a deep commitment to Asia, having worked there for 10 years”.

Cooper Standard hopes to accomplish its growth vision through organic and inorganic activities and by integrating synergies. The whole organisation is aligned to these goals right down to the individual employee. The company’s plan is to make the North American business to be over $2 billion, about 35 percent of total revenue, the European business to be around $1.5-2 billion and Asian business to be one billion plus dollars. The rest of the world, including South America and Africa, will be $0.5 billion. In 2005, the company had 75 percent of its business in North America, 20 percent in Europe and five percent in Asia. “Today, we are 50 percent North America. In another 5 years we will be 35-40 percent North America as we continue to grow in all regions”, he said.

16 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

Since 2012, one of the strategic pillars for the company was superior products and innovation. With that, the company created a stand-alone innovation group from its engineering teams. The group’s job was to develop innovations by anticipating the needs of the customers and their consumers for the future megatrend. Cooper Standard put in place a structure for this group and put together what the company called the i3 process. The company has a leadership committee that move the relevant

ideas forward which would lead to a successful project. It is turned over to its commercial teams that then take it to the customers.

From the beginning in 2012, this group submitted 269 ideas to the company. Of these, 161 projects were chosen for further development and identified 47 as having the potential to be innovation projects. “Of these, nine are active and we have brought six to market. All of them are within our co-product space. The first one was a new generation, environment-friendly, coating technology called MagAlloy™ used on our fuel and brake lines that more than doubles their life span. Our Fortrex™ technology is a revolutionary material that provides higher performance and lower weight to weather sealing applications. We also have developed our ArmorHose™ product line which offers significantly more durable coolant hoses and eliminates the need for separate abrasion sleeves on under-hood hose assemblies”, he said.

Cooper Standard expects that these innovations will propel it into the top 30. Stephenson said: “We are going to get there by relentlessly focusing on the customer (what do they need, what do they want), by using superior products and superior innovation, by having a world-class footprint and putting that global capability in place, and by using the potential of our people to make some smart acquisitions. That’s how we are going to grow”. Stephenson continued, “we have developed a very detailed go-

to-market plan for all those products.

We have specific OEMs that we are working very closely with and specific platforms with specific targets in place for how we grow this business in the long-term. Our team is totally motivated and we are excited about it”.

another part of the business and are trained on the skills needed there.

This happens everywhere including India.

Megatrends

The company is spending time on individual development (goals and objectives) plans that are aligned with this vision on a global scale. It has invested in talent development and the management continues to communicate regularly to act on the employee feedback. “Getting 29,000 people to move in the same direction is a challenge but it is a challenge we embrace. When people understand their individual roles in the global mission, it is a significant step forward for the organisation”, Stephenson said.

Some of the megatrends that Cooper Standard follows are fuel economy and fuel efficiency which relate to mass reduction. Another trend is environmental, going green by moving its products to recyclability, backed my some good technologies.

“Our sealing system is the biggest product of the company generating about 53 percent of our revenue. We are the number one in the automotive sealing space worldwide with a 21 percent share of the global market. If the JVs that we do not consolidate are included, it is almost 24 percent. In the fuel and brake systems business we are second in the world with 9 percent market share. These are fuel lines and brake lines for cars.

In fluid transfer systems (premium low pressure hoses for heating and cooling) we have 7 percent market share that puts us in the third or fourth position. It’s a fragmented market as no competitor has more than 10 percent. We see this as an opportunity for us”, he said.

The company has very effective employee training programmes covering how to work safely and an on-boarding process that trains them on the skills required to be successful on their job with the right tools. When something like automation comes in, the affected employees are moved to

In India, Cooper Standard bought part of a company in July, and has a joint venture with the Sujan Group based out of Mumbai. The company’s anti-vibration systems (AVS) business is largely in North America, but it also provides global production capabilities in this product

Motivating Employees In order to realise its long-term vision, the company top brass is meeting the employees across the world, doing round table multiple discussions, employee town hall discussions, global webcast discussions, to make sure everybody understood the vision and were well within that vision.

AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 17

CORPORATE

line. It had a JV in Europe in 2011 and bought out the partner in 2014. In this area, it also has a JV in India – in Pune and Mumbai. Its products are on all the major vehicles. “We have been very purposeful in aligning our footprint with our core customers.

We have invested to position ourselves so that from a logistics standpoint there is the ease of doing business. We will be able to engineer the product for you in one place - be it India, US or Germany - it does not matter to us. We can manufacture that product globally with a consistent level of quality”, he said.

Product Engineering Cooper Standard has regional engineering teams around the world and a Global Technology Council.

They talk to the customers and understand the individual needs of the market which are then fed back to its global technology centres that are present in China, India, Germany and the US. With those inputs and the work with the OEMs the company generate solutions which provide the greatest value that ultimately helps them sell cars.

The company has a global manufacturing footprint and one global engineering system that allow it to move designs around the world on a fulltime basis.

According to IHS Automotive, by 2020, about 80 percent of cars will be built on a global platform.

“OEMs will want to work with global suppliers so that they don’t have to engineer in all the different regions of the world. We have global capabilities in engineering with a footprint that can move it around the world efficiently. This will give a significant competitive edge to our company. That is an

18 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

important part of our strategy and how we are going to grow the business organically,” he said.

Connected Cars Cooper Standard is aware of the importance of connected vehicles, autonomous driving and e-vehicles in the automotive industry and is making investments to support those technologies. In the electric cars, it is a major supplier to companies like Tesla for its battery cooling lines etc. “Any responsible company in the automotive space that wants to be a global player needs to be aware of those megatrends and needs to be doing things to ensure they are a part of that globally. We will be part of that. Going forward, there will be more and more smart technologies on vehicles like that with more and more sensors, a part of which will give good feedback to the fleet owner to help him work out the cost of ownership effectively.

The industry is working on those things and we are going to be an important part of moving this industry forward”, he said.

India India is a favourite market of Cooper Standard. It has 10 facilities, six wholly-owned, four JVs, and two partners. “Our plan is to make our core product lines a market leader in India. We are investing in people, footprint, and technology. We have opened two greenfield facilities, in Sanand, near Ford, and Bawal.

We just did a JV for the hose business. Our other JV is on AVS in Pune. ” Stephenson said.

INTERVIEW

XALT Energy Innovates, Expands To New Markets

The US-based XALT Energy, an innovator in energy storage technologies based on the advanced lithium ion chemistry, is exploring new ways to store and use power and energy. A market leader for more than 15 years, XALT is capable of handling virtually any energy storage need, anywhere in the world.

Its focus is on the growing demand for hightech storage solutions in marine, commercial transportation, grid and stationary, industrial motive and automotive transportation applications. In an exclusive interview to T Murrali of AutoParts Asia, Dr John Warner, VP Sales and Marketing, explained the areas where the company is making innovative developments. Edited Excerpts: Dr John Warner

20 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

Q: What are the options you have to build upon your existing strengths to be more competitive?

Warner: One is Chemistry, we are looking at some advanced chemistries right now. If I increase the energy density by twice, the cost reduces by half per watt-hour. We are playing around with four different chemistries to see which one gives better density and cycle life. We are trying to decide which one gives the best improvements. The second one is getting to capacity. We anticipate full capacity during 2016. At that point we can optimise the conversion cost for all the products going out of the plant. By optimising, we reduce weight and inefficiencies, and yield will continue to go up.

Q: You already have a flexible line?

Warner: We have four separate lines. We can either run all at one cell or run four different cells or any combination of these. It gives us a lot of manufacturing flexibility.

We are working in different areas – electrolytes, anode materials, cathode materials, separator methods – basically looking at all the core components within the cell, trying to tweak them to drive energy density up.

Q: When will you see the results of this optimisation?

Warner: We should actually see the first of them within the next 12

months. We anticipate 30-40 percent energy improvement in the cells.

The cost will be roughly reduced by 30 percent and the performance will go up by 30-40 percent. We expect that one would be ready for commercialisation in the next 12 to 18 months. It is still in the R&D stage but that will be the first from the chemistry standpoint. We know what our targets are going to be.

We have several teams working on pack engineering design and cell engineering to find where we can drive cost.

Q: How do you achieve flawless production? Do you have mistakeproofing techniques or automation for capacity enhancement?

Warner: Our throughput is in the high 90 percent range. What we have is a highly automated line; none of our technicians are touching the electrodes. We have checks and balances built into the system.

We have vision scanning systems throughout the process and an X-ray defectomer that actually scans the material coating to make sure the thickness is consistent. We have inbuilt quality systems to identify potential issues and pull them out before they get to the surface. For example, when we are coating, it goes through four vision scans, looking for gross defects before going to the X-ray defectomer. If there is a defect we can throw it out

before it goes for further process.

This ensures that the line continues; we don’t have to stop and restart.

Internal rejections would be 2 to 5 percent,I don’t have an exact ppm number.

Q: What are your initiatives to contain rejections internally?

Warner: Obviously the quality systems. There was a short period when we started noticing a reduction in performance in some of the cells.

The OCV (Open Circuit Voltage) had dropped a little bit. We were able to quarantine all these cells before they got out, scanned the bar codes and found out that these cells all came through the same vacuuming machine. We were able to dig back and found out that that particular chamber did not achieve vacuum at the rate it was supposed to. We were able to identify the root cause (due to a defective silo), resolve it and prevent it from getting out of the plant. Those are the type of quality systems that we have throughout the process. We can trace back to the genesis of the material.

Q: When you identify the root cause, do you take preventive action like the Japanese mistakeproofing techniques?

Warner: Absolutely, ever since it was an automated system.

Q: What are the preparations to supply to the HK group in China?

AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 21

INTERVIEW

You will supply from Midland but do you need to create a separate line for them?

Warner: No, we have four lines and have converted two of them to provide cells for HK. The lines are ready, up and running, to produce LTO (lithium titnate oxide). We had to add a drying step to the process and used the larger of our two cells.

One cell is 216x216mm and the other 255x255mm, so we had to convert the smaller cell to 255mm. The process is the same.

Q: These two lines were already running, catering to some customer or the other. When you divert this, what happens to them?

Warner: We have about 2.5 million cells capacity per year. If you look at the NMC (Nickel Manganese 22 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

Cobalt) graph it would be about 700 megawatt hours, if you look at 100 percent LTO it would be half that because of the difference in the energy density chemistry. Right now we are not fully utilised – we have shifted the production of NMC graphite to the other two lines because we are able to produce both chemistries without having to shift back. By the end of next year we will be at full capacity.

Q: I understand that the cells you are going to supply to HK get charged in about 10 minutes, which is a great advantage for any vehicle. You could approach passenger vehicle manufacturers, as for electric vehicles or hybrids, full charge in 10 minutes would be a great opportunity?

Warner: It is great but you have to recognise the trade-offs. The LTO chemistry is more expensive, the energy density is less. The NMC is our core chemistry with a higher energy density that is normally used in passenger cars. The LTO has got a lower voltage so I need more cells in series to get the same voltage. Eg. a Chevy Bolt uses about 96 NMC cells to get its nominal voltage of 355. To get the same voltage I would have to use 140-150 LTO cells. So you have a higher cost to do the same.

Since the energy density is lower in LTO I would need more cells in parallel. So for pure electric it only makes sense if you have fast charge capability. Where it makes sense for us is in buses where we can fully discharge the battery and then fully

recharge it. In a consumer vehicle the same capacity would be much more expensive, probably with a factor of two or three. For a bus we did recently the cap was 70 Kwh, for NMC graphite it was nearly 200 Kwh; it is 30 percent less energy with 30-40 percent more cost. Fast charge is good for some applications like taxis, buses and delivery vans.

We are also looking at marine applications with dynamic positioning to keep boats in a particular position.

Our course strategy is that we are going to focus on industrial applications today because by electrifying only a little bit you can get massive improvements. It is a market where we see ROI in a couple of years. In the automotive market for consumer vehicles the ROI is 8-11

years; we are looking at applications with high utilisation value. As the chemistry evolves the cost will go down; the EV market will increase.

Q: When do you see that influx point?

Warner: Not for at least 5 years. The US would hit about four percent electrification by 2020. It is going to be more than five years before we see high volumes of electrification in consumer vehicles. It is an evolving market; the brands/models in North America will go from 45 today to nearly 200 in the next five years. It means more competition which will help drive down costs and get more consumer acceptance. Infrastructure will have to improve with more charging stations available.

Q: Cordless charging or inductive charging – will XALT enter those segments?

Warner: We are not in the charging segment, we don’t develop chargers; it is not our forte. The market is going to evolve and I see a lot of opportunity there.

Q: Who are the typical customers for you and which are the geographies you plan to enter?

Warner: We are actually active all around the world – North America, Asia, China, India as well as Europe.

Some customers in North America are: New Flyer, one of the largest bus manufacturers, Gillig in California, and BAE Systems. We are working on a telecom opportunity in India that will use diesel gensets; we will add solarAutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 23

INTERVIEW

plus batteries to save cost and reduce the time the diesel genset have to run.

Q: Any particular geography you will focus on in the future?

Warner: Our next target is the stationary market, very big systems like the marine systems which are in effect floating grids. We anticipate growing in that market very soon. Most of North America and Asia are still in the development stage, the demonstration stage, for those things.

Q: What happens in passenger vehicles ultimately also gets into CVs. GM recently roped in LG to develop an AV design where complete responsibility is given to them; this is ushering in a new era in manufacturing.

In this ideal scenario where do companies like XALT fit in? Do you approach OEMs and new suppliers directly?

Warner: We are actively engaged with most of the global OEMs, we have told them what our strategies are. We meet with them annually. When we bring out new chemistries, many OEMs are 24 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

ready to test them as soon as our samples are ready. So there will come a time when we are deeply engaged with OEMs. Presently, we are engaged with them in advanced engineering for their formula races. The race industry, historically, has always been a good development tool for new technologies, going back right to 1900 when Louis Chevrolet was racing cars. These technologies have then been transitioned into consumer vehicles down the road.

Q: Alternate materials in the battery business are very limited. Do you see an opportunity to use some composites, especially in reducing weight?

Warner: In pack development, using composites, aluminium and advanced materials, we have to balance the cost versus the trade-offs; it has to meet the performance, safety and cost specifications. Safety is always the priority. We are looking at advanced materials both inside and outside the cell with the best solutions to connect the cells

safely together in a performance and cost effective way. We are looking at some separator materials which will allow us to improve the thermal barrier within the cell. This means that I can remove or reduce the amount of thermal barrier material I need outside the cells. By making a small change in the cell we can reduce components in the pack solutions. We are trying to evaluate all these types of things to find the right balance.

Q: Would you be expanding your manufacturing footprint, into other countries?

Warner: Yes, the idea is we will expand capacity wherever the demand is. China is likely to be the first place where we will expand capacity after the plant in Michigan is fully utilised. We see a lot of demand in Europe too but the biggest customers we are seeing is in China. The idea is to clone the plant in Midland and put it there so that we maintain quality. We will probably do a pack assembly (CKD) location first in China, with some local sourcing to drive costs down.

FACTORY - Flavour

TKAP Designed For

Continuous Productivity, Quality Scale-up

Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts (TKAP), Bengaluru, is a joint venture among Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) and Kirloskar Systems Ltd (KSL) with the equity holding of 64, 26 and 10 percent respectively. Established in 2002, TKAP manufactures, axles and shafts, transmissions, and engines and supplies to Toyota companies locally and globally.

T Murrali of AutoParts Asia took a close look at the TKAP Plant, its production and process systems and productivity and quality improvement methodologies, together with the Joint Managing Director of the company, K G Mohan Kumar.

T

KAP has three plants. The first plant established in 2002 currently produces rear axle and propeller shafts for Innova made in India. About 87 percent of the machines for the manufacturing operations in this plant are locally procured. The plant capacity has gone up from 192 units to 310 units daily in two shifts.

The second plant started in 2004, housed as an EOU, produces and supplies Manual Transmissions for the IMV range of vehicles including the FORTUNER made in India and HILUX made in Thailand.

Over 30 percent of the machines, mainly for gear cutting, are from Japan. Production capacity has been increased to 750 units per 26 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

day from 640 units. This plant was expanded in 2013 to produce Manual Transmissions for ETIOS Petrol model. Half of the machines of this expanded unit are from the Toyota plant in Poland. These used machines are erected here after modification and the other half is from Japan and India. It has the capacity to produce 1000 units daily. Very recently within the same expanded unit, TKAP started producing Manual Transmissions for ETIOS Diesel Model also.

The third plant commissioned in 2012, is the engine assembly plant to make petrol engines for Etios. About 42 percent of the machines in the plant are locally sourced. It has the capacity, to produce 216 units daily.

Now the plant operates in one shift.

Production Process For the production of Manual Transmissions, forging and turning are done at Bharat Forge, Pune, while the gear cutting, heat treatment, finishing (grinding process) and assembly are done in-house. Die-cast parts like case and clutch housing are procured from Toyota Industries Engine India P. Limited (formerly Kirloskar Toyota Textile Machinery Pvt. Ltd. (KTTM).

TKAP produces Manual Transmissions for front and rear wheel drive vehicles covering more than 18 variants. As a process, all the parts are received in the logistics block. The blue zone is the R-transmission area and pink zone is the C-transmission

area. Heat treatment is common for both. The operations done are gear cutting, heat treatment, grinding, assembly and dispatch.

rejections it was 0.06 percent in 201011. Now it is 0.03 percent, which is 300 ppm. The global target is 0.05 percent.� Mohan Kumar said.

Value Addition

The plant has deployed low-cost automation system. It makes better use of gravity and very small motors that consume less power. TKAP is benchmarked with most of the affiliates in the Asia- Pacific, Europe and other areas.

Value addition in sequence along with proper flow is quite common at Toyota. The plant layout is suitable for efficient operations and for minimal internal logistics and handling of parts. The advanced production systems use the 3-pillar concept for daily management. This consists of three main elements. One is the standard way of doing the work; process point management is the central pillar (to avoid mistakes during each manufacturing process ; and ownership maintenance is the 3rd pillar. This management philosophy works to deliver a set of key metrics like safety, quality, productivity, and human resource development. Of course environment is also taken care of. So this actually focuses on all the 4-M areas (Man, Machine, Material, Method) which are universal. “We have a plan to achieve global excellence, starting from bronze, then silver and eventually gold. In AsiaPacific, TKAP is leading in terms of number of gold certified lines. About 50 percent of our operations are goldcertified. In 2012 we achieved bronze level, in 2013 silver and in 2014 gold.

We are gold-certified in 21 lines out of 41. Fundamental to this is the 4S of shop floor. Machine availability was 83 percent in 2010-11 which improved to 90 percent in 2015. In case of

Quick learning is a hallmark of all Toyota plants. It also follows the single piece process in the assembly line.

Based on the Kanban, the operator picks up the required parts from the machining lines and supplies to the assembly line. Once he picks a part, it triggers the previous process - what to produce. (Kanban is a Japanese manufacturing system in which the supply of components is regulated through the use of an instruction card sent along the production line.)

Jishuken or Self-learning In this assembly line there is a person at each station. The takt time is 79 seconds to produce one item.

Every element of his work, including the waiting time, is measured. All types of challenges are visualised and problem, if any, is identified, measured and controlled. This improves productivity. The process of visualisation is for continuous improvement by identifying the bottlenecks. “If you can improve by just one or two seconds, the entire line can AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 27

FACTORY - Flavour

run faster to that extent. Once you start saving on time you can actually start loading the other loops and remove that operation itself. This line though running at 79 seconds, has a capability of running at up to 66 seconds without adding any machines or men. We started at 90 seconds in 2003-04, then 79 to 75 and now at a peak capacity of 66 seconds.

Earlier the lines were running at 90 percent efficiency, now it is 98 percent. The machining lines that were at 80 percent is now at 92 percent efficiency,” Mohan Kumar said.

“By the three-pillar concept and standardisation, we are able to increase the efficiency and reduce man-hours and wastage of power, tools, oil, energy etc.

These are driven by Jishuken, which is management-directed kaizen that includes self-learning. (Kaizen is a Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement of working practices, personal efficiency, etc.)

Predictive Maintenance A maximum of five to six machines are handled by one person. It may vary depending on the cycle time. The R-type transmission has 18 variants. The company deploys one of the 3-Pillars, viz., and ownership maintenance for preventive or predictive maintenance. A number of activities are carried out to identify abnormalities and take immediate action to ensure zero break-down of machines.

“From 112 (2012) Andon (alert by the operators), calls in the assembly line have come down to 30 (2015) a day for the entire shop. (Andon is a manufacturing term referring to a system to notify management, maintenance, and other workers of a quality or process problem.

The centre piece is a device incorporating signal lights to indicate which workstation has the problem.) For safety and quality we follow the 5-S approach. (5S is the name of a workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words: Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke. Transliterated into Roman script, they all start with the letter `S’. They mean Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardise and Sustain, respectively.) This is our base for human development and maintaining product safety and quality. We call it muscle memory - how to fix things. For all our four product lines we have got people adequately trained in our own Training Centre before deploying them on the lines.” Mohan Kumar said.

28 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

INTERACTION

Sky Is The Lower Limit For Us: Mohan Kumar

K G Mohan Kumar, Joint Managing Director, TKAP

Capacity expansion, localisation, accent on quality, sustainability and continuous efforts to go beyond targets with total employee involvement have been the hallmark of Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts (TKAP), Mohan Kumar said in response to direct questions from AutoParts Asia.

Q: How has been the evolution and the journey for TKAP? A: We started in 2004 with exports of our transmission. Now we have added the C-transmission at almost double the capacity at, 240,000. We also started the engine assembly at 110,000 capacity. We are perhaps the only plant in the Toyota group that has the complete drivetrain - engine, transmission, propeller shaft and the axle - at one place.

That has been a USP for us right from the energy generated in the engine till it is transmitted to the wheels. That’s one major part of the journey.

Second is exports. We started with export to Thailand and today we export to other SE Asian countries. From Thailand it gets further exported, as vehicles, to Australia, Europe and the Middle East. We are present in all the manual transmission markets. We understand the specific market requirements and customer expectations of each of them. This is a big improvement from where we started 15 years ago.

In the 3-pillar we have been gold-certified. This means, not just having the system in place but driving it down to the grass root level, involving everybody to achieve global results in terms of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).

In our engine assembly line, all pillars are gold, which is unique, and for the first time in the world.

Our target is to make all lines, even the supporting pillars like quality and logistics, gold by next year.

Right now 50 percent of plant operation is at gold level. Some of our Chinese affiliates are very well advanced; we have an engine plant in the UK where the assembly line also is at gold. Now we have a standard where we can compare all

the global operations.

Q: Reaching the pinnacle is easier, but how do you sustain it?

A: It requires total employee involvement. It is a bottom-up approach right from the grassroots level. For the assessors who come from TMC, the first checkpoint is how much has it percolated to the weakest link in the chain. We have a system called Q-Time (Quality Time) to address Total Employee Involvement.

We spend one hour every week on this activity. About 30 minutes is spent on developing the employee through Quality Circle activity and the remaining 30 minutes on 3-pillar improvement, enhancement, identifying Kaizen and improvement. Even the people from the office go to the shop during this hour and support this companywide activity started three years ago. This helps the sustenance part with employee engagement.

Q: Do you have a concept like Time for the vendors?

A: We are trying through an activity called SPEED - Supplier Performance Education, Enhancement and Development.

We are trying to deploy some of our best practices to our key suppliers.

We have done it very well with KTTM and Bharat Forge. They are our most important suppliers, and we have been able to increase capacity from 640 to 750 a day without further investments. Now we are looking at shared capacities.

With most of our suppliers we do not have dedicated capacities, only shared capacities. Now we are trying to extend the same to those areas also. There is no point in having just a pocket of excellence, the entire supply chain has to become competitive.

AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 29

FACTORY - Flavour

Q: This seems to be one of the important initiatives for any Japanese company?

A: Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has a very elaborate supplier support centre where there is a full dedicated team working only on supplier improvement and development. We do not have that many numbers but we have common suppliers. We have used TPS on their lines and they have started using it for their other plants.

They have an ICT programme where the supplier partners spend time in TKM and vice versa.

Q: Can you compare the vendor development in India with those in ASEAN, China or NAFTA? A: In Asia-Pacific, localisation in the Toyota group is pretty high. In India the potential for true localisation is high. For example, for steel as a raw material, India has the capability, after China, to localise steel procurement.

We are the first overseas car manufacturer that has localised gear manufacturing steel in the country.

All others import either the steel or the gear as it is. Unless you have true localisation you cannot be forex neutral.

Q: What about exports to other plants?

A: TKM and TKAP put together, we have exports to our overseas affiliates in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, 30 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

Brazil and South Africa. To South Africa we export the car itself. Total parts exports is almost Rs 1,000 crore of which 90 percent is our transmission, the balance is bought from the suppliers.

Q: Can you throw light on your suggestion scheme?

A: It is a bottom-up approach. We have two kinds of suggestions. One is for improvement that one can think of in any area of operations. Second is specifically focused on safety, how to improve work safety. Our target is to achieve one suggestion per member per month both for the suggestion scheme and the safety improvement.

Currently we are at 1.6.

Q: European or American companies also talk about this. But Japanese plants are practically up to the brim and at that point even one suggestion is very difficult. So how do you achieve it?

A: We don’t focus on just the number but we look at the quality of the suggestions. For us the sky is the lower limit for improvement. We have trigger points and themes. For example, this month we look at sharp corners, which is the theme. We drive that kind of thinking so that people look at it from that perspective, rather than some wild idea. To stimulate that thinking we have KY (Kiken Yoichi) sheets, which is a trigger for

identifying danger. It sharpens their eye for identifying details.

Q: What are your initiatives for environment management?

A: We are the first industry to use natural gas in Karnataka when GAIL introduced it.

We have been able to reduce our energy cost from Rs 10 per kW to Rs 6. We are completely captive; we use Electricity Board supplies for accessories but the main lines are all from captive power generation. Heat treatment for gears is very power intensive.

Within Asia-Pacific both TKM and TKAP are ranked number one in environment management, water conservation, energy use and in reducing the ecological impact.

Q: What are the learnings for TKAP from TMC? A: Toyota is one group where the sharing of best practices is very common. It is very receptive to suggestions. We can go and see best practices across all the affiliates worldwide and we keep sharing these best practices. Each region has its own teams that go across.

For example, recently we had been to Australia, all the Asia-Pacific teams assembled there to learn their best practices. Last year it was done in TKAP. We have about 10 affiliates in this region.

Q: What are the investments made in TKAP so far?

A: Rs 1,050 crore has been invested so far. In 2003, it was around Rs 280300 crores.

Q: Tell us about your short term and long term plans?

A: The changes for new models coming in this year and next year are on. But in terms of a different product line there is no immediate plans. We are operating at about 50 percent capacity, around the same level as that of TKM. So our first job is to utilise and recover the investments already made.

COVER STORY

Software Softens

Hardships In

Automotive

Testing

By T Murrali

The development process of product manufacturing is comparatively short. It is field-testing and validation that take a lot of time. With the emergence of virtual testing, the time-consuming real-time testing is becoming redundant. Computer-Aided

Engineering (CAE), and simulation software and services have reduced the time and cost for product design and test of manufactured products. They also help improve quality. During the last twenty years CAE and simulation software have become increas-

ingly important parts of the development process of components, subsystems and systems. Today, the software has advanced so well that it is possible to simulate almost the exact realistic situation. This helps in predicting the vehicle behaviour in various conditions. The two leading US-based multinational companies, with de-

velopment centres in India, that specialise in the various aspects of simulation software and technology, MSC Software Corporation, and Altair Engineering, are featured in this section. The following pages will give a glimpse of what these companies offer to the automotive companies to squeeze the time-to-market.

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COVER STORY

MSC Software

Simulates Reality, Delivers Certainty

M

SC Software is one of the oldest brands in the CAE Industry and one of the top ten original software companies that continues with the same brand as it started business.

The company supports product manufacturers to advance their engineering methods with simulation software and services. It helps them improve quality, save time, and reduce costs associated with design and test of manufactured products. Academic institutions, researchers, and students employ MSC’s technology to expand individual knowledge and expand the horizon of simulation.

The company has developed a broad array of simulation software and has introduced in the market under different brand names like MSC Nastran, Adams, Actran, Digimat, Dytran, Easy5, Marc, Patran, MasterKey, MasterKey Plus, MaterialCenter, MSC Apex, SimDesigner, SimManager, and SimXpert. These are trademarks or registered trademarks of the company and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. NASTRAN is a registered trademark of NASA.

MSC is a leading player in the automotive computer aided engineering (CAE) industry, providing best-in-class modelling, solution and optimisation tools.

Changing market landscape, consumer requirements and new government regulations are driving automotive industry to innovate to achieve higher fuel efficiency, improved noise and vibration (N&V) performance and reduced material costs.

The company’s software solutions have been in the forefront of this revolution, especially since they are already embedded in the design and development processes of the major OEMs and key suppliers. In order to enable engineering departments to achieve higher level of innovation, MSC provides with all the required tools, ranging from analysing component performance to system-level design.

Simulation Software MSC is a leader in providing software solutions in Simulation Data and Process Management. This enables companies, large and small, to capture, manage and retrieve the required data through the entire process and thus improve the throughput and efficiency of their teams.

The software is used for many types of automotive simulations such as Design Optimization; Noise and Vibration (N&V); Acoustics; Durability and Fatigue; Crash and Safety; Ride and Handling; Nonlinear and contact modelling; Structural analysis of components and assemblies; Composite material modelling; Thermal Performance; Mechatronics; Vehicle Dynamics; and Multidiscipline Analysis.

Sridhara Dharmarajan

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Engineers use the software for the Structural performance of components and assemblies; Elastomeric components like seals and mounts; Suspension systems; Composites modelling and failure analysis; Nonlinear analysis; Manufacturing process; Defroster studies; Tyre analysis and performance; Hydroplaning; Fuel-tank sloshing; Weight optimisation; Control systems; Materials management; Mechatronics; Multidiscipline analysis; Airbag deployment; and Crashworthiness studies.

In an

about 45 percent.

The vision of any CAE company is to eliminate test.

However, it remains as it is since the products are getting more complex, warranting tests. For instance, aviation companies would have eliminated about 250 types of tests in the last 50 years. However, they continue to test for new systems and also due to demand from customers.

When a vehicle had to be simulated about five decades ago, it had to be done individually for structural, thermal and dynamic aspects, due to the then available software code. However, when a vehicle is running, everything acts together since it is multi-physics and multi-domain. Today, the software has advanced so well that it is possible to simulate almost the exact realistic situation. This helps in predicting the vehicle behaviour in various conditions.

The Role CAE Plays As OEMs and suppliers replace metals with plastics and composites, they want to test physically also, though the software could simulate the exact realistic conditions. MSC Software has acquired a Belgium company, e-Xstream Engineering, having a product called Digimat. Steel or aluminium are homogenous as the material properties are similar across various points. However, the material properties are different along directions and length of fibre. Therefore, the fibre parts are dissected to perform finite element analysis. All these initiatives help reduce the number of prototypes by up to 35 percent.

interaction with T Murrali of AutoParts Asia, Sridhara Dharmarajan, Senior Director and Country Manager, MSC Software Corporation India, said that aerospace industry has taken a giant leap in CAE followed by automotive industry. This is because the aerospace cannot afford to make multiple prototypes as the cost of failure is very high. For MSC, 80 percent of the revenue comes from aerospace and automotive with the former contributing

Automotive engineers by default are test-driven engineers.

With the slowdown hitting different markets coupled with ever increasing customer expectations and the pressure to contain time to market, they are changing. The industry is moving towards the vision of the CAE developers. For the multiple product lines the more the industry generalises the parts the more money they make.

There is a difference between prototyping cars that are related to the car the OEMs want to produce, and prototypes that are based on a predecessor car, which

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COVER STORY

for many design engineers, is time consuming. However, from the CAE developer’s point of view, retesting from scratch is a wasteful exercise as the prototypes had been correlated fully by CAE. Unlike in many companies, the emerging organisations have single person heading CAE and the testing.

This helps in eliminating unwanted exercises in testing when the part or the system has been validated through CAE. In India, for instance, the top two players in the commercial vehicle space have one person each heading these two portfolios.

“One of the reasons for us to be very successful in the last 50 years is that a company which has used MSC Nastran to simulate what correlates with the test enables them to eliminate additional tests over a period of time – this establishes a strong tie between our customers and our products. It is very easy to change the external user interfaces, but the underlying solvers which do the number crunching and output simulation results are difficult to change,” Dharmarajan said. The new generation non-automotive companies that develop autonomous cars use CAE more than the traditional manufacturers.

Megatrends Since the CAE developers cater to different industries that follow their respective megatrends, they follow collectively. “We obviously do not develop software in isolation. We have a customer advisory board meeting every year where the top management of the customer companies share the challenges they face. This enables us to cater to the exact requirements of the future. In India this exercise began two years 36 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

ago with an automotive customer advisory board meeting in Chennai.

In 2015 similar event was organised for aerospace in Bangalore. This year we plan to hold the automotive event in Chennai. The inputs that we get will be studied in detail to understand the way the industry is moving and give our inputs to solve these issues,” he said

Additive Manufacturing MSC acquired Simufact that addresses the manufacturing process challenges. It is currently getting into the additive manufacturing space as well. For instance, before making any die for moulding process, the entire process can be simulated. This process largely eliminates rejections and minimises material waste.

Though additive manufacturing is picking up the world over, it is still not in India. Cost is a key factor for the small and medium enterprises to get into research and development and to energise these activities through CAE. To address these issues, MSC has set up Centre of Excellence (CoE) in certain locations to create awareness and to break the myth that CAE is only meant for graduate engineers

and above.

“We now have one CoE in Anna University (in Chennai) which helps those interested in carrying out analysis. We are planning to expand this to other centres in India. We are planning 14 more locations. We have procured tools for the next three centres – two in the northern part of the country and one in the South,” Dharmarajan said.

India Operations Globally MSC Software employs 1,200 professionals in 20 countries. In India, the company has development centres in Pune and Bengaluru. The Pune centre has 230 engineers.

Bengaluru is a small centre. There are products conceived and built in India, as some local customers ask for custom-built products. Other activities include sales and support.

The headcount at the development centres will continue to increase based on the demand. Eventually the India centre may emerge as a prominent service support centre.

On the talent availability he said there are plenty of software developers, but the OEMs face shortage for their CAE team. MSC offers special pricing for educational institutions so that the students who come out for performing basic engineering are familiar with the tools the industry uses. It has tied up with about 40 universities in the country helping and training the students and the teachers on the CAE software. “We have built a platform where the student can go online and get himself certified. It will be an additional qualification for employment”, Dharmarajan said.

From Concept To Market With

Altair T

he Michigan-headquartered Altair Engineering is focussing on embedding the validation process at the ideation level itself, to enable its customers to squeeze the development time. The company empowers client innovation and decision-making through simulation technology.

Altair consistently delivers a competitive advantage to more than 3,000 corporate clients representing the automotive, aerospace, Government and Defence, heavy equipment and consumer products verticals. Privately-held with more than 1,800 employees, Altair operates more than 40 offices in 19 countries, including India. It has a 27-year-plus track record for product design, advanced engineering software, on-demand computing technologies and enterprise analytics solutions.

There are four blocks, a four-step process, in developing a product. It starts with ideation where freedom is high and cost is low. It is followed by design to flesh the idea out, what is popularly called industrial design. The third phase is the detailed design, which is to create the geometry, done earlier by draughtsmen and now with the use of 3D tools. The next stage is validation of the design through virtual validation and practical testing.

“Altair plays a key role in validation. The more virtual validation is performed the less the real validation is needed. If the product fails in the validation phase, the whole exercise has to be repeated. And finally the production of the part follows,” Pavan Kumar, Managing Director, Altair India, told T Murrali of AutoParts Asia.

Pavan Kumar

New techniques are available to immerse the validation capability at the ideation level itself.

This is becoming possible by the combination of tools of industrial design and ideation coupled with validation. The first of such products is solidThinking Inspire, a new breakthrough product from Altair.

“Altair introduced this to the market last year and we have several early adaptors like Scania, and Renishaw that have implemented this in their projects. In the earlier days of the four-step process, only special engineers handled it. Now we have made the technology so simple that designers can use the validation techniques within the first stage. This is the application of very complex, but user-friendly and flexible, Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) technologies in a design environment. It is our firm belief that usage of such technology will enable designers to come out with designs that are ‘first time right’ and reduce the number of physical tests, Kumar said.

Mathematical Modelling Altair is working more on the mathematical modelling as systems in a vehicle are getting more complicated. A vehicle is no longer a mechanical system alone, it is a combination of mechanical, electrical and electronics systems that warrants the need to analyse the cause – effect relationship right from the design stage. “All these have to be mathematically modelled and we were not very focused on this domain earlier.

We are now investing time and efforts to create a strong math library and the ability to reuse the whole content. It is necessary to connect the math library to the 3D model and work together, which AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 37

COVER STORY

Autonomous Cars

is called co-simulation. In this way we are helping our customers to tackle new challenges”, he said.

Megatrends Design trends differ from industry to industry. However, the economic trends that drive the big picture will be common. The larger trend in India is fuel economy and environmental issues. “We need to leave the least amount of environmental foot print, in the manufacturing process, in using the product and when it is eventually recycled. While these requirements are conflicting, we play a crucial role in helping our customers to make products that meet these needs”, Kumar said.

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The development of autonomous vehicles requires OEMs and suppliers to adopt test processes more familiar to software developers than automotive engineers.

Commenting on this statement Kumar said, “even now there is a lot more code in a car than in an aeroplane of 1970s. There is a big shift with more and more software getting into a vehicle. While we are helping create more accurate mathematical models through our new tools, we are also working on the underlying physics involved. By incorporating comprehensive electromagnetic simulation software tools like FEKO, for the electromagnetic field analysis of 3D structures, our customers are able to tackle common challenges like EMI/EMC issues and communication concerns.

Such vehicles bring along their share of challenges to vendors and suppliers. They push everyone to

their limits of imagination as they are fundamentally disruptive to the existing system.

“Since Altair is probably the only company that combines cutting edge technology with deep domain expertise through its consulting arm, we are uniquely positioned to address this type of technology issue and handle the transition from ‘Print to Build’ to ‘Design to Build’. In fact, Altair is engaged with three large Tier-2 suppliers who want to move up in the value chain. We are analysing their design capabilities, coming up with the gap analysis and suggest the mitigation strategy. We are even supporting them to identify talent.

We are creating a package service offering. However, computing cost is an impediment for small and medium enterprises. Right now we are offering computing as a service through an appliance strategy, as we call it. Any supplier who wants to analyse a component can go to Altair Virtual Appliance in the cloud and utilise it.

However, the creation of the model has to be with him. We are currently working with large cloud providers for this cloud infrastructure. Next month we will be officially launching the partnership”, Kumar said.

India Operations Altair in India has close to 200 developers and about 100 consulting engineers at its Bangalore centre.

In addition it has sales support and

quality assurance teams. Altogether it has over 600 people working in India. The India centre is responsible for about 80 percent of engineering enterprise solutions (technology engagement that are wider than just products or point solutions) that are the new domains.

Altair supports the student’s community by way of co-sponsoring SAE’s BAJA. It has a common repository for students called Altair University. The website has lots of case studies and the students can also order their free versions of the software, which help them in designing and developing products, as part of their projects. “We will be expanding our operations in India.

We should be growing by another 50 to 100 people in the next one year. We have already created the infrastructure”, Kumar said.

Deep And Wide Altair has a growing client presence in the electronics, architecture engineering and construction and energy markets. It has four important products and service offerings: Altair HyperWorks, PBS Works, Altair ProductDesign and solidThinking.

HyperWorks is the leading CAE integration platform for crash and safety design. It covers all the different steps from meshing to optimisation of vehicle modelling and assembly using HyperMesh: analysis set-up, including model checking, dummy positioning, airbag folding using HyperCrash, and Crash analysis using RADIOSS.

It also covers visualization, results analysis and report automation using HyperView and study and optimisation using HyperStudy and OptiStruct.

faster. solidThinking software is sold and supported by a global network of distribution partners and is also available as part of the Altair HyperWorks suite.

Altair’s HyperWorks platform applies a revolutionary subscription-based licensing model in which customers use floating licences to access a broad suite of Altair-developed, as well as third-party, software applications on demand. The Altair Partner Alliance effectively extends the HyperWorks Platform from more than 20 internally- developed solutions to over 60 applications with the addition of new partner applications.

Cloud Solutions

solidThinking solidThinking creates, develops, and markets technology that helps the user community bring the most desirable products to their customers

Over the past ten years, companies have become more open to sending and hosting enterprise data on thirdparty networks and infrastructures.

This transition started with low-risk Customer Relationship Management systems but has evolved to a scenario where it is feasible to run all business operations in the cloud.

Today, product engineering is at a similar inflection point. The quest to deliver products and solutions faster and better, requiring exploration of multiple scenarios virtually, is only limited in the ability to mobilise resources quickly. On-demand access to HPC, and data management with zero IT burden, is the potential that cloud technologies brings.

Manufacturing Solutions Altair HyperWorks Manufacturing Solutions is a comprehensive set of industry proven, process- oriented software to simulate common manufacturing processes such as stamping, extrusion, casting, injection moulding, forging and welding. It provides design guidance spanning ideation, concept design, detailed engineering, and multi-disciplinary and systems optimisation.

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TESTING

TUV Rheinland India Reigns With Unique, Universal Labs

Hemant S Desai

B S Ravindra Kumar

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TUV Rheinland, Germany, entered India in 1996 and has been active in automotive testing since 2011. In an exclusive interview, Hemant S Desai, Vice President and B S Ravindra Kumar, Senior Manager, EMC & Telecommunication Products, TUV Rheinland India, told T Murrali of AutoParts Asia about the unique testing laboratories it has and how it is supporting the vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers in their domestic sales and exports by testing according to national and international standards and specifications. The excerpts:Q: What was the driving force for TUV Rheinland to set up a testing facility in India?

Desai: What we are focusing on is ‘think locally and act globally.’ Most of the Indian auto regulations are being adapted to international regulations so it becomes easier for the manufacturer to design the products, not only for the Indian market but also for the global one as the standards are aligned.

In this domain, supporting them in terms of testing and certification of products is the driving force because the regulations are being harmonised with most of

the manufacturers seeing global markets now. All those who look at exports need international certification, and want to test products as per international standards. These are the driving forces helping us expand our lab network.

Q: When did you first enter India?

Desai: TUV Rheinland India was incorporated in June, 1996. Product launch was only in mid-1999. We started setting up our labs from 2001; the big Anechoic chamber became operational in 2011.

Q: Any other factor that makes India operation relevant?

Kumar: As mentioned earlier there are many OEMs present in India and their specifications are much more stringent than the regulatory standards. All the vendors have to meet the OEM’s specification for components they supply. This is a big market and most of the time it is necessary for them to do the testing.

There are only a few labs in India for automotive testing; most of the labs are for IT product testing. So this another important driving force for investment in automotive testing facilities in India.

Q: Any further advantages for the customers?

Desai: We have to talk about the USPs. One is cost, by doing the testing in Europe, US and India.

This enables products to be tested on the fast track and meets the OEMs’ timelines to market as the labs are accredited to national and international regulations. The results can be traceable to the global labs in India or any part of the world.

Q: There are labs by government bodies like ICAT, ARAI etc. so what is the compelling reason for a customer to come to TUV Rheinland?

Kumar: When they have a requirement of Indian certification it is mandatory to go through ARAI or ICAT. There are only a few labs in India so the amount of load going to these labs is huge. Presently ICAT sends most of the products to our lab for testing. ARAI’s Lab is fully booked most of the times and ICAT’s ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY facilities are still to

function in It’s full capacity and hence not able to handle the load they are getting presently; so most of their customers are coming to our labs for certification testing. Also, verification and validation testing market is huge.

The labs that are overbooked are looking for accredited labs to offload, and use the results from those labs.

Desai: This is the domestic scenario.

We are an international certification agency. Anybody who wants to export from India needs certification that ICAT or ARAI cannot do. They can do it only for India but we do it for international operations. The European E-mark can only be done by us. That’s a compelling reason for suppliers and vehicle manufacturers who want to export to come to us. We test the entire vehicle.

Q: What kinds of tests that you carry out?

Desai: Within product testing, from a component to the whole vehicle, two things have to be noted. One is usage of our own labs for testing these products and second is the tests that are outside of EMC (Electro Magnetic Compatibility). For example, we certify all the Mahindra models but all tests were not done in our labs. We do certification for international approvals where there are a lot of tests other than EMC. This is one of our USPs. Kumar: The automotive vehicle is no more electro-mechanical unit; now the vehicle comes with GPS / navigation systems, Bluetooth and several other high-end computer systems incorporated inside. So, one equipment can create a lot of interference with other vehicle

systems in the same vicinity. This makes the vehicle deviate from the operations it is supposed to deliver. Here we are talking of two concepts – Electromagnetic Emission (interferences generated) and Electromagnetic Immunity. In emissions, we look at the amount of interferences generated by various electronic systems and components that are present in the vehicle. In immunity, we create the noise and induce it into the electronic systems present in the vehicle. The noise could be cranking noise, from the battery to all the power supply component networks, and noise from static discharges when a person touches any of those components or the electronic systems. These are generally the three broad lines of tests that we do in terms of EMC. If we talk about family of tests, EMC is one family; reliability tests are another family where we check whether the components designed are capable of working in a certain environment, road condition, vibration and humidity.

Life testing of components is another family where we do material testing, chemical analysis of parts to check on the life of the vehicle, right up to the complete vehicle’s qualification and certification.

When the vehicle has inbuilt wireless features, there are many country regulations that mandate the wireless other than the automobile itself.

So the gadgets used in the vehicle have to comply with all country requirements. This is the broad family of tests that would happen.

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TESTING Desai: We are proud to say that ours is the only lab in India.

Kumar: Wireless Planning & Coordination (WPC) is the governing body in India which governs the bandwidth and all the wireless products imported and used in India.

It is not only for imported products but also mandatory for products designed in India.

Q: Are all the test facilities in TUV Rheinland, Germany, available in India?

Kumar: No, it is not a duplication of the facility though what we have in Germany is available in India. Here we have some world-class state-of-the art facilities that our German facility doesn’t have. We have a centre of excellence in Bengaluru for EMC and Wireless, which is state-of-the-art, similar to the one in TUV Rheinland globally. We have some facilities in Nurnberg but not as full-fledged as in Bengaluru. EMC and Wireless are both very unique for us. We also have material testing facilities in India and in Germany and many other global locations of TUV Rheinland.

Q: Why India is made a centre of excellence for EMC and Wireless?

Kumar: It is mainly because India is a hub of design and development.

There are both big and small design and development companies in India.

The small companies design products for big OEMs. Wipro and HCL do not have many products of their own but they design and develop many products for global markets and global vendors. Infosys is into hardware design and development though most people in India consider it only a software giant. It is the question of concept to part.

Q: Is it already happening in India?

Desai: Yes, very much. Recently we did a project for Infosys for a product covering the requirements of 108 countries. The requirements of global OEMs are that they want these design companies to offer services from concept to prototype. It has been extended to tooling design also.

Kumar: Earlier, Infosys was a software partner working with another for hardware requirements. However, the OEMs want one company to do both hardware and software together.

Alongside they are also looking for a testing and certification partner in India who can make products compliant with the regulations in 42 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

force. The cost is the main factor that is enabling these design houses to attract design projects.

In addition to EMC and wireless, there are various other tests like electrical safety testing, medical safety testing etc. High voltage does not come in automobiles as they work with a 12V or 24V battery. There is a lot of product development happening besides the automotive domain.

For example, GE has the biggest research, design and development centre in Bengaluru with about 800 doctorates for various sectors like lighting, aerospace, medical etc.

All the other major design and development companies like Philips, Honeywell etc.; which can take up a project from scratch to the end, are in India. OEMs also want testing and certification to happen from India so that they can ship directly to the customer. This is driving TUV Rheinland to make certain investments in India to be ready

with platforms for testing before the technologies come.

Desai: Another driving force is the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan where electrification of vehicles is bound to happen together with hybrids. Our lab is flooded with many electric vehicles now in the development stage. So we are making investments in our labs to meet the challenges that are coming up from the electric and hybrid vehicles.

Q: How does wireless fit in here?

Kumar: When you play your mobile in your car you are using a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to transfer the audio signals to the car; customers don’t want a wiring harness in the vehicle, they want to reduce the wiring. Other wireless features are the navigation systems, GPS that talk to satellites directly, and communication systems. The European concept of connected cars will be coming up in India very soon.

The simplest example of wireless is

TESTING your car remote. Many companies in the recently concluded Auto Expo had come to India for the first time. They were trying to sell their products to the OEMs and the aftermarket. If the OEMs find it of value, they will have to meet their specifications. So we see a lot of potential for these people to use our labs for wireless testing as we are the only lab offering full-fledged Wireless services. One advantage for us is that we work 24 hrs unlike the government labs. This would help us reduce the time to market.

Q: So you are not confined to India; how many countries do you cater to from here?

Kumar: We recently did a project for 150 countries. The product is designed in India but it has to meet the regulatory requirements of the countries it goes to. The products

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that come to India also need to get tested. There is a list of 35 products that need to be mandatorily tested in a BIS- accredited lab in India. These include laptops, servers, mobile phones and secondary batteries that are used within mobile phones. That means India is a big market for all.

Q: Will TUV Rheinland India become centre of excellence for more products?

Kumar: Obviously because the ‘Make in India’ concept is coming up in a big way and our management in Germany is looking at India as one of the top emerging countries for finished goods. At present design and development happen in India and production in China or Taiwan. Once the ‘Make in India’ concept kicks off, then the entire design, development, testing and certification will be

in India. Any gaps in our testing would be covered; we would not be dependent on other labs, everything would be under our control.

Desai: We have started a battery lab for commercial batteries. Our plan is to expand it to electric vehicles.

That would be another competent centre that could become a centre of excellence.

Q: The third platform and additive manufacturing will play a major role in future. Do you have the capability to meet the emerging requirements?

Kumar: The 3-D machine that makes the part has itself to be tested by us.

We have the capability, developed during the past 10 years, to test and certify the entire machine. It can be a single CNC machine or a complete set.

Q: Testing these machines from what perspective?

Kumar: In machinery there is the risk analysis which is done according to the defined standards. In this EMC is also a requirement that the machine has to meet. During use the interferences generated by the machine should not affect the neighbouring equipment; this is also assessed as part of EMC. Q: To enhance fuel economy, reduce the impact on the environment etc OEMs use high tensile material with high thermal efficiency; do you have similar testing methods for these?

Desai: We may not have it now as we are basically from the testing, inspection and certification area. We are a purely in this space, and we don’t have anything for this sort of arrangement.

Q: Take for example the opposed piston engine; it has to be tested in a completely different way. What is your preparedness on this?

Desai: In India, not much, as all these technologies are going to take time.

Our major focus is on the regulatory side. The mission of TUV Rheinland is to ensure safety, quality and environmental protection. So unless there is a regulation we might not immediately go in for those innovative methodologies of testing because it might be one of a kind.

Q: What is it that you have that can offer your customers to squeeze in their time allocated for testing?

TESTING Desai: Any manufacturer has to meet certain regulations. One is the regulatory and the second is the consumer expectation. The consumer may expect much more but the bare minimum is the regulatory aspect. When there is an innovative technology coming in, the regulator has to see how to test it, what standards are to be acquired; that has to be seen first. Without that the product also cannot come. So we fall in that grey area where until there is some regulation we may not have much of a role. It’s more of validation testing and verification of the requirements.

Q: Is there a way to compress all kinds of testing?

Desai: Nowadays accelerated testing has also reduced because a lot of virtual testing has come in. Even in the regulatory regime virtual testing has started coming in. We have to follow that; it’s very challenging for us.

The main reason here is to reduce the testing time. We are part of that but from the regulatory aspect. Apart from EMC we have reliability, durability and fatigue testing in our labs where we do these types of accelerated testing just to support the manufacturers.

Q: Ultimately for regulatory purposes hardware testing is mandatory, right?

Desai: Now there are options available; a virtual method is allowed provided the simulation model is

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validated. We verify the validation and for the next model of the similar component there is no requirement for the hardware test. EMC is the most complicated domain as there are software that try to simulate some of the tests required. But without the hardware test I have not seen any virtual testing happening as yet. Still, every vendor tests his components and makes sure that it meets all the regulatory requirements but as a vehicle it still needs to be tested.

Once they are connected together there will be lot of couplings and interferences generated from those certified components, so simulation will not really be beneficial for many of the tests.

Q: Have you created enough infrastructure for the next five years or will you be expanding by adding similar labs?

Desai: The big lab for EMC was set up in Bengaluru. We already have a small version of such labs setup in Delhi. We are now trying to replicate this in western India, in Pune. It will be a satellite EMC lab.

Kumar: We have customers flying down to Bengaluru from Delhi for development testing because customers engage our lab during the design phase itself. If the product fails during compliance testing they will have to go back to the concept phase and review the design. It takes a lot of time. So they engage Rheinland

right from the design phase. To avoid their coming here we decided to have a satellite facility in Gurgaon last year where they can do complete Household and Lighting products EMC requirements. This would help them save time and resources.

Q: What kind of investments is required to set up a satellite unit?

Kumar: EMC or Wireless would be expensive because this type of equipment is not available in India.

All have to be imported, with high customs duty. Maintaining the lab is also a challenge because of lack of professionals with domain knowledge; a full EMC would cost around Rs 50 crore. In 2011 we invested Euro 2 million only for an EMC chamber. We grew the lab organically starting with small equipment in 2004; then we had a round of investment in 2007 and the complete facility in 2011. The total cost was Rs 50 crore. Last year we invested Euro 300,000 for automotive expansion; this year (2016) we plan to invest another Euro 300,000 for further expansion of automotive facilities.

We will continue investments every year for expansion of all types of facilities, not just EMC. As we are a partner with organisations that stipulate standards, we get to know about the technologies that are coming in and the standards that will be made mandatory. We want to

TESTING

be equipped with these facilities in certain competent centres where we feel more design and development happens. So investment is a continuous process.

Q: Is your company working on manpower development?

Desai: We have a special vertical called Life Care Academy mainly dealing in training. For automotive we have an ASDC (Automotive Skill Development Corporation) accredited training centre near Coimbatore where we run vocational courses for automotive technicians. Similarly we have one centre in Jodhpur, which is a JV with Cairn Energy, called Cairn Centre of Excellence. We are investing in skill development; in the high-end programmes we are associated with ARAI. We do Proficiency Improvement Programmes (PIP) where we deliver lectures and training courses to young engineers to enhance their proficiency. Automotive Technician Centre (ATC) was commenced couple of years ago, and with Cairn a year ago. We do it not only with ARAI but on our own also.

Q: Will the ATC numbers go up?

Desai: They should; we are also planning to launch one more 48 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

programme called Body and Paint, for the aftersales. We are very much into aftersales globally doing workshop audits, dealership audits, mystery shopping etc. This is a testing type for the OEMs. To increase these kinds of proficiencies we are also planning to launch the Body and Paint programmes in India. We are talking to the insurance industry and multibrand service centres.

Q: Do you play a role in certification?

Desai: Not in certification. We have already started these programmes in China and Germany, and in Japan with the insurance association. This is a certified body and paint programme – certifying the mechanics and processes - mainly for the OEMs and the dealerships. Nothing related to the regulations. It is like an audit and training body. We want to introduce it here and are in talks with a company based in Mumbai, which is into damage appraisals, insurance survey. Through this we are trying to approach different garages.

Q: Will it be a body that will certify all centres?

Desai: It is an independent model with no regulatory control. We are

of course talking to the insurance companies because we have certain projects abroad with a company called Thatcham in the UK which will have a different model. What we do is certification of parts. For example, if a bonnet has to be replaced after an accident, the replacement may not be from the OEM. So we will have to certify whether this bonnet is fit for use in that particular car. We have a tie-up with the insurance company.

We first audit the manufacturer of that bonnet, his processes and then test it.

If it is certified there will be a reduction in the premium.

Q: Do you have any role in remanufacturing?

Desai: Here it is called tripleR recycling, reuse and recover. This is mandatory in Europe where there is a dismantling station where segregation happens and certain parts are remanufactured or reused. That is again a regulatory domain. In India a couple of years ago a committee was formed for recyclability. SIAM is also working on this and already there is a model centre GRC in Orgadam, Chennai. It is meant for dismantling; the next step would be recycling. We are more into the audit part of that.

TESTING

FARO Finds Big Market In Indian Automotive Sector

By Sharad Matade

D

esigning and manufacturing processes in the automotive sector are becoming more complex making the role of metrology solutions bigger and crucial. Every manufacturer wants hassle-free processes to maintain quality standards of products and to speed up production.

The combination of precise

measurements, imaging devices and software helps to achieve these basic but challenging objectives, Harkiran Sandhu, Country Head of FARO Technologies, Inc., in India, South East Asia, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand, told AutoParts Asia.

“Manufacturing is all about making quality products. It all starts from the product design stage. With the right selection of measurement solutions, it is possible to get desired CAD/ CAM results. It will be still better with the right set of software. Depending on the industrial category it has to be very clear from production part of any manufacturing unit, that the first article inspected should be fit.

Overt 90 percent of the obstacles get solved after the first article’s inspection result,” Sandhu said.

FARO, a leading provider of 3D measurement technology, develops and markets computer-aided measurement and imaging devices and software. The company’s

50 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

Harkiran Sandhu

metrology solutions are used for high-precision 3D measurement, imaging and comparison of parts and compound structures within production and quality assurance processes. The devices are used for inspecting components and assemblies, production planning, documenting large volume spaces or structures in 3D, surveying and construction. The company provides products such as FARO ScanArm HD, FARO Gage, FARO Laser Tracker Vantage, FARO Laser Scanner Focus3D X Series, FARO Freestyle3D X and FARO 3D Imager Cobalt.

Metrology Solutions In the automotive sector, a product is made by assembling various components. Each component has to be perfect to assemble. In such a situation, measurement solution with right fit of software gains importance.

“Efficiency matters the most, as utilisation of time is a major factor.

Automotive companies prefer timely delivery with good product- mix,” Sandhu said.

Automotive companies are heavily investing in their plants in the Asian region. Automation is a vital area in their expansion project to speed up production. “Fast and steady delivery is a key factor for productdriven industry. Considering these facts, if we look at the growing demand for consumer and commercial vehicles, the need for rapid production is increasing day by day,” Sandhu said.

Therefore, the automotive industry demands metrology solutions which provide reliable results. With that, metrology solution providers also have an opportunity to look at the prospect carefully and suggest useful products. “This is a vital stage of demand and supply where need-based demand is the key driver. Added to this is the fact that automotive industry is one of the major industries in Asia,” he said.

Automotive industry is divided between consumer and commercial vehicles. Within the consumer vertical, two and four- wheelers have their own shares. Two-wheelers are most popular in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Demand for two- wheelers is higher in these cities than in the capital cities. Tier-1 and tier-2 cities

have the major share in the combined growth of four-wheelers. Commercial vehicles have their presence everywhere in India.

Automation “With such high demand in all tiers, the demand for automated solution is rising automatically. Automotive manufacturers have their own targets to meet and this trend is applicable to consumer as well as commercial vehicles. With rising waiting time for consumer vehicles, it is very clear that how rapidly the demand is growing and the resultant need for automation,” Sandhu said.

The growing CAD/CAM and international quality standards in metrology services are driving the product development portfolio at Faro.

“This actually resulted in a growing awareness and consequentially the need for higher precision and accuracy. This bodes well for FARO, as our solutions are benefitting more companies, and help them grow and expand their business. With our customers’ business expansion, we will be able to work closely with them to understand their current and future measurement needs, and thus direct our product development efforts to meet their requirements,” he said.

According to a research report, in North America the demand for metrology service is in aerospace and industrial applications. In the AsiaPacific region the demand is in the automotive sector. FARO has its own plans to grab the growing opportunity in this region. “Automotive is a key growth factor in APAC, because of the equipped infrastructure and natural resources. The automotive giants have their manufacturing and R&D facility in APAC. India as a country has many benefits, as the country is spread in to several regions and most of them are facilitated to support auto industry.

FARO has wide presence in Indian automotive sector, from General

Motors to Maruti Suzuki India Ltd,” Sandhu said.

Indian Market Apart from the government support for SEZs, the ‘Make in India’ policy also has encouraged the domestic auto ancillary component manufacturers to invest more. FARO is supporting such needs where, vendors have to deliver quality products in a limited time frame. “We ensure these vendors get better results for the manufactured product from the pre and postproduction process. Our sales and service teams are in constant touch with vendors and OEMs to reach their targets. In such way, we also penetrate to all tiers where automotive industry is spread,” he said.

In India, automotive industry is mostly dominated by small and medium-scale vendors where capital for automation is limited.

FARO has various solutions for various applications and business needs. The company constantly engages its customers, from both large multinational companies to small and medium- size companies, to understand their measurement needs and to design products for their requirements, Sandhu said.

About selling products to the smalland-medium- size companies which lacks capital, he said: “For vendors, the major concern is not to lose their customers. They make enough provisions in their capital budgets to have efficient and effective metrology solutions for fast delivery.”

India is a growing economy for most of the industrial segments, led by the automotive sector. Apart from export models many companies have regular domestic consumption. FARO has wide range of metrology products combined with software solutions.

“We see a larger picture. India is the fastest growing market in Asia, and in the near future demand for FARO’s products will increase,” Sandhu said.

AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 51

PREVIEW

First Rubber Dies And Moulds Expo In Pune T APA Bureau

he first edition of the Rubber Dies and Moulds Expo (RDME) will be held at the Auto Cluster Exhibition Centre, Chinchwad, Pune, on April 20 and 21, 2016.

The show, conceptualised by the All India Rubber Industry Association (AIRIA)- WR- Pune Chapter, will be organised under AIRIA. It is to help the rubber product manufacturers, especially who use dies and moulds for making rubber parts for OEMs and replacement market, Vikram Makar, Chairman, RDME, and Vinod Patkotwar, Chief Convener, RDME, told AutoParts Asia.

“RDME is a definite step forward to safeguard the interest of the rubber industry. It will promote growth of the industry and its objective is aligned with the ‘Make in India’ programme,” they said.

The rubber products makers have been struggling to get good dies

and moulds to produce quality rubber products to compete globally.

According to the organisers, the expo will be attended by rubber parts producers, dies and mould makers, end-users of rubber parts, and others in the rubber industry and business. It will connect better the rubber product makers and the dies and moulds manufacturers.

Better Connectivity RDME will also provide a platform to connect available talent and resources for rubber dies and moulds, and the rubber products companies. The rubber products manufacturers were finding it difficult to get access to appropriate dies and moulds manufacturers. They have been having only limited capabilities of their own to improve their dies and moulds shops and to apply the latest technologies to produce quality rubber products. “The dies made with latest techniques like tear-trims, using

proper steel, giving better finish and coating are the areas to be looked into. These are essential to produce best quality products. RDME is the platform to identify suitable solutions and mitigate problems faced by rubber product manufacturers,” Patkotwar said.

This will be the first of its kind of expo both for the MSME sector and the large companies to explore more business opportunities to meet the dies and moulds requirement. At the RDME, different verticals of dies and moulds manufacturers will get an opportunity to showcase their products like designing, CAD/CAM, mould coating, mould releasing method, die polishing etc. “This will strengthen the growth of the dies and moulds sector and will help rubber goods producers, and OEMs,” he said.

A one- day conference will be conducted along with the expo on April 21, 2016. It will cover subjects like transfer pot design and injection runner design, PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) coating for dies and moulds, semi-permanent release agents, mould releasing agents and applications and other topics.

“The conference will start a process of better understanding and closer networking. The scholarly presentations by experts will benefit all the sections of the moulds and dies, and the rubber products manufacturing industries. The presence of OEMs will also add value for both the parties. All the stakeholders can come together, discuss and understand the problems faced by them, their business needs and formulate development agenda to move forward, Patkotwar said.

Product manufactured by Gold Seal Saargummi and used for representational purpose only.

52 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

PREVIEW

CAPAS 2016 To Have Exclusive CV Zone

APA Bureau

T

he third annual Chengdu International Trade Fair for Automotive Parts and Aftermarket Services (CAPAS), taking place from May 19 to 21, 2016 at the Chengdu Century City New International Exhibition & Convention Centre, in the Southwest China region, will have an exclusive `Commercial Vehicle Zone’ as a new addition.

CAPAS 2016 is organised by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Automotive Sub-Council (CCPIT-Auto), Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) Co Ltd, and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Sichuan Council (CCPIT-Sichuan). The Commercial Vehicle Zone is co-organised with the China Commercial Vehicle Parts Market Federation.

In its three short years, CAPAS has made a substantial name for itself in Southwest China’s automotive industry. The show offers new business opportunities and immeasurable connections to exhibitors and visitors alike on the domestic and international stages.

The CV Zone The China Commercial Vehicle Parts Market Federation members, including commercial vehicle manufacturers and manufacturers’

dealers, distributors and repair shops in Southwest China will feature their high-quality products and innovative technologies in the Commercial Vehicle Zone.

The federation will also co-organise diverse industry-related fringe programme. There will be several opportunities for knowledge exchange through training activities, seminars, product presentations and networking events in the Commercial Vehicle Zone and other related automotive parts and aftermarket services topics. The fringe programme offers a unique connection between industry players and professionals to explore business opportunities and promote the growth of the industry.

Belt And Road Initiative The commercial vehicle industry is continually growing and its expansion also stands to benefit from the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21stcentury Maritime Silk Road initiative, or `The Belt and Road Initiative’. This is a substantial development approach initiated by the Chinese government to connect, promote and foster more cooperation among countries along the land-based `Silk Road Economic Belt’ and the ocean-going `Maritime Silk Road’. This concept plans to connect China’s western, central and eastern regions, as well as parts of Eurasia and regions of Africa.

This strategy is intended as a way to integrate markets and increase economic cooperation,

while introducing new trading landscapes. The investment possibilities of this initiative are endless and this will bolster a more integrated development within various regions of China and beyond. As a result, the commercial vehicle industry will have a greater and more positive development capacity in the future.

Exhibitors And Buyers The exhibition will be occupying 35,000 sqm and three halls with more than 730 exhibitors from around the world. Over 16,000 quality global buyers are expected to utilise the boundless business opportunities.

Global industry brands including Asia-Pacific, ENEOS, Liqui Moly, Luoshi, MagicBullet, MITASU, Olympus, Ruili, Ruiming, SONAX, Songtian, Trainsway, ultrasuede, VIEand Winsafe have confirmed their participation in this year’s exhibition and many more are joining soon.

Of the 16,000 expected global buyers, over 500 highly-qualified professional distributors and repair shop representatives will also be invited by the China Commercial Vehicle Parts Market Federation to attend the exhibition and especially the new ‘Commercial Vehicle Zone’.

AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 53

FOCUS

Bosch Products, Systems To Make Driving Safer

By T Murrali

T

India has more number of road fatalities than it had 10 years ago – a trend reversed in many developed countries.

he Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme (BNVSAP) will provide the buyers an independent index to identify safer cars. And it is more relevant with the government notification that crash standards would be mandatory for all new vehicles from October, 2017. While this may be an additional reason for Bosch Limited to introduce new technologies, it is the alarming accident data from India that made the company to innovate safety systems and products.

Global road accident data show that almost 40 percent of all fatal crashes are caused by skidding. A macroeconomic analysis by the University of Cologne in 2007 showed that in Europe alone 4,000 lives could have been saved and 100,000 injuries avoided if all vehicles had the support of some safety technology.

The Study A 2009 pilot study by Bosch in India looked into 50 accidents in which about 250 variables were analysed.

Based on the results of this pilot study, a further 1,350 accident cases on Indian highways with more than 1,000 variables were analysed.

The report found that many of these accidents could have been prevented had there been an active safety product.

The study concludes that Antilock Braking System (ABS) helps prevent 20 percent of fatal accidents while Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) can prevent seven percent, and powered two-wheeler ABS can prevent 33 percent. Of the ABSrelevant accidents, the system can help prevent two out of five car accidents on Indian highways.

ESP Prevents Skidding The basic task of ESP is to prevent skidding. Sleep and overtaking are bigger causes for losing control than bad weather. ESP can help prevent 54 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

around 70 percent of all accidents caused by loss of control. The possibilities offered by ESP, however, go far beyond this. As ESP can build up braking pressure independently of the brake-pedal position, it can carry out a series of value-added functions.

They provide additional safety, driving comfort and agility.

A range of ESPs for these valueadded functions are available in the market. Others will follow to meet the growing demand for safety and comfort. Depending on the vehicle manufacturer and the vehicle type, the ESP value-added functions are available either as optional or as standard features to the already fitted ESP. The company has introduced these active safety systems in India.

Alongside the Auto Expo Motor Show, Bosch had organised a technology exhibition with live demonstration at the nearby Knowledge Park. The company showcased ESP with hillhold control function, which is fitted in a few vehicles like Tata Hexa.

ESP is also able to offer some functions that solve practical driving problems like driving on a slope.

For example, in a few seconds gap

of releasing the handbrake and changing the foot from brake to accelerator, the vehicle can roll back.

But the presence of an active ESP will avoid such a risk by holding the brake pressure for the driver to make the pedal change safely.

How ESP Works?

ESP recognises a potential braking and starts its motor and builds the brake pressure so that the stopping distance comes down when the driver applies the brake. For a vehicle with higher gross vehicle weight or centre of gravity, ESP has a function called rollover mitigation. In a specific driving situation if there is a tendency for the vehicle to roll over, ESP through its active braking can select on which wheel the brake has to be applied and stabilise the vehicle.

There are also interesting functions like centre coupling and torque control for SUVs and off-roaders that apply brake and torque selectively on each of the wheels so that the vehicle can manoeuvre out of difficult driving situations. With torque vectoring and ESP, it is possible to effect active braking to individual wheels; these

two systems in combination can overcome difficult driving situations.

Parking assistance is also available where one can park, step out and negotiate with one’s mobile. Some of these value- added functions are already being integrated by a few OEMs in India, though not available in the market right now.

Ultrasonic Sensors Bosch has also showcased its portfolio of ultrasonic sensors. It has a scalable portfolio starting with a basic four to 12 sensors, to achieve several functions including park assist. In combination with ESP it can also do emergency braking and blind-spot detection or the side view assist. The sensor has also a radar system since radar frequency was delicensed in India last year allowing the 76-77 KHz frequency to be used for automotive applications. Globally, Bosch has a radar portfolio starting from long range to mid-range.

Bosch displayed its entire portfolio, from active safety to driver-assist to airbag control units. In 2017 ABS will be made mandatory for Indian cars and Bosch will start manufacturing

More than 50 percent of passenger car drivers attempt accident avoidance manoeuvres by braking or steering.

AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 55

FOCUS

Passenger car fatalities account for 16 percent of all fatal accidents, the second highest. if any error is displayed in the dashboard. However, if the user gets the information on his smart phone which tells him exactly how critical is the error – low, medium or high – in the language he understands, it will be effective. the lightweight AB-12 ECU in 2018. It is tailor- made for a market like India where the requirement is for two airbags that are compact and costcompetitive.

iTraM System Intelligent transport management system (iTraMS) is an end-toend vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) ecosystem, designed to address the challenges of the modern-day transportation and management of vehicles. This solution can be deployed across all vehicle platforms – passenger cars, commercial vehicles, construction machinery and farm equipment. It provides a complete telematics ecosystem comprising automotive grade HW, M2M framework, cloud-based hosting, web and mobile application, big data analytics and hotline support.

The key features of iTraMS are remote monitoring of the fuel economy, insights on driving performance, vehicle health check, scheduled or preventive maintenance, trip scheduling, asset utilisation, tracking and tracing, geo-fencing, safety features, firmware update over the air (OTA) and insights from data analytics on vehicle health, early warning alerts on component degradation etc.

The key benefits of iTraMS include increasing fleet efficiency and productivity, monitoring fuel efficiency, reducing maintenance cost and vehicle downtime. OEMs can use it for warranty diagnosis to analyse the performance of components.

56 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

Anything that the vehicle experiences outside can be put into the testing platform so that it can schedule the service accordingly. Bosch strength lies in modelling and algorithms and it is trying to get the same strength on to telematics too.

Connected Cloud Services The Connected Cloud Services division of Bosch is responsible for the complete ecosystem and provides solutions for the aftermarket where it connects its hardware devices to the vehicle’s On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) port and collects information.

It displayed both GSM and non-GSMbased solutions.

For data security the company has private certificates on the device, making it impossible for anyone to hack. It has a dedicated communication network with a few service providers including Vodafone and Airtel to transmit data through a secure channel to the Bosch data centres. The proprietary algorithms that run in these centres understand the data and provide services in the form of apps and portals.

The connectivity control unit is plugged into the OBD port. The vehicle dashboard is opened to connect it securely on to the metal frame. It has a GSM antenna, 3-D accelerator and motion sensors to see how the driver takes the curves, latitudinal and longitudinal acceleration, over-speeding, and DTCs (Diagnostic Troubleshooting Course). Today the problem is that the user generally does not understand

When there is an accident, most of the time the ambulance is not able to reach the right location.

To address these kinds of issues, Bosch has a solution in the form of a motion sensor which records the G-force when there is an impact.

This information is sent to the central server and it can configure it in such a way that a notification is sent to the ambulance with the exact location of the vehicle, for it to reach the spot and provide timely medical attention.

This information is important for the insurance companies for settlement of claims. It is a sturdy device with flash memory that can store information in areas with no coverage and then transmit the same to the secure data centres once coverage is available.

The company is focusing on this as an OE fitment and for the aftermarket.

The company is looking at directing the vehicle in need of service to the nearest Bosch Car Service garage.

Now it is directing the vehicle to the nearest service centre, irrespective of the availability of the required parts. The plan is to upgrade the system that can check the availability of the particular spare part and, if unavailable, divert the vehicle to the service centre having that particular part.

With the Bosch App the customer can make a call to his garage technician and make an appointment to diagnose the problem. It is also working on predictive maintenance, to help the customer plan the servicing of his vehicle, which will reduce the vehicle downtime.

NEWS - Focus

Bharath University Opens

Bosch Training Centre APA Bureau

T

he Chennai-based Bharath University has opened a ‘Bosch Training Centre’ at its campus to impart training programmes relating todiesel, gasoline, diagnostics and auto electricals. The centre offers joint certification to the students of Bharath University, technicians and service personnel. In a year the Centre will conduct 100 practice-oriented, hands-on training courses. They will beconducted by highly qualified trainers. A Memorandum of Understanding was recently signed between Bharath University and Bosch Limited for this.

S Jagathrakshagan, Founder Chairman, Bharath University,said that the Bosch Training centre would train the next generation of engineers and manufacturers.

“It is vital that we invest in young minds so that they will be able to fill the skill gap which is evident across the nation.”

Vice-chancellor of the University, M Ponnavaikko, said, “There is a real concern in the country that most of the Engineering

graduates passing out from the Indian universities are not readily employable. We are certain that our students will benefit from this industry-based training. This training centre will be a real resource of support for students who are aspiring to excel in the domains related to automotive engineering.”

Vijay Pandey, Regional President, Automotive Aftermarket, Bosch

LANXESS Unveils New

Thermoplastic Composites APA Bureau

L

ANXESS, a leading specialty chemicals company based in Cologne, Germany, made its first ever appearance at the Light + Building trade show in Frankfurt, held recently, and showcased its wide-ranging portfolio of new thermoplastic materials for LEDs (light-emitting diodes) and other lighting technology.

“The LED market is enjoying strong growth and offers excellent scope for our products. In many cases, they represent an alternative to metals and expensive highperformance thermoplastics,” Thomas Malek, New Business Development Manager for lighting technology in LANXESS’s High Performance Materials business unit, said.

Fibre-reinforced Composites Bond-Laminates, a subsidiary of LANXESS, displayed the new applications for its Tepex range of continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites at the recently concluded JEC World Composites Show & 58 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

Limited, said: “In the Automotive Aftermarket sector, Bosch is among the highest generators of employment. However, given India’s insufficient labour pool, there is a need to build on the country’s employability level.

To address this concern Bosch has collaborated with Bharath University to offer quality training programmes. Our joint vision is to ensure that the youth of India is able to build a sustainable future.”

Conference in Paris. BondLaminates highlighted the opportunities offered

by Tepex semi-finished composites in largescale series production of components in terms of their mechanical properties and optical performance. “This applies in particular to hybrid moulding, which combines forming of semi-finished products with injection moulding,” JochenBauder, Managing Director of BondLaminates, said.

At JEC, Bond-Laminates displayed highly integrated, crash-resistant seating shells from a German sports car and a ski binding as examples of cost-effective series-produced structural components using hybrid moulding. At the Brilon site in Germany Bond-Laminates has installed a demonstration

cell for fully automated processing of Tepex using hybrid moulding, among other things.

In hybrid moulding, semifinished composites are both formed and over-moulded in an automated one shot process in the injection mould, thus shortening the production process. The investment costs are also cut by eliminating the forming tool. The result is precision 3D components in highly reproducible quality that do not require reworking and directly integrate functions such as fixings and guides. “The cycle times for this reliable and stable production process are now 60 seconds and less, which also facilitates cost-effective large-scale series production of complex components,” Bauder said.

NEWS - Focus

Anand Mahindra Among Top 30 Global CEOs On Barron’s 2016 List APA Bureau

A

nand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra Group, is named to the prestigious Barron’s 2016 list of the Top 30 CEOs in the world. On the annual list he joins 29 global leaders, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Walt Disney’s Robert Iger, Alphabet’s Larry Page, and Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet.

Mahindra is recognised for transforming the Mahindra Group into a global federation of companies that maintains a level of transparency, governance, and shareholder focus, rare in emerging markets, according to Barron’s.

“I am honoured by this recognition by Barron’s which is an affirmation of the Mahindra Group’s global character, our high standards of corporate governance, and focus on delivering

growth and shareholder gains. The Mahindra Group focuses on enabling people to rise through solutions that power mobility, drive rural prosperity, enhance urban lifestyles and increase business efficiency.

The Mumbai-based $16.9 billionmultinational Mahindra Group provides employment opportunities to over 200,000 people in over 100 countries. Mahindra Group enjoys a leadership position in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation ownership. consistent shareholder returns,” Mahindra said.

Key criteria for consideration include financial soundness, employee motivation, innovative products, and maintaining consistent profit

The Group has a strong presence also in the agribusiness, aerospace, components, consulting services, defence, energy, industrial equipment, logistics, real estate, retail, steel, commercial vehicles and two-wheeler industries.

Centre Of Excellence To Skill Construction Equipment Operators APA Bureau

S

chwing Stetter India, in partnership with the Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council (IESC) has opened a Centre of Excellence, at its in-house Operator Training School, where construction equipment operators will receive a certified degree from IESC for equipment operation and maintenance. IESC is a unit of the

Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturing Association (ICEMA).

Schwing Stetter India, which manufactures concrete batching plants, and other related equipment, is a 100 percent subsidiary of the German Schwing Group of companies, and a part of the XCMG group.

Through this centre, training will be provided to the students and unemployed youth under PMKVY, the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, in segments like: Road Construction; Concreting; and Material preparation and processing.

Students who sign up for the course will receive a monthly stipend of Rs.10,000 and

guaranteed placement in leading manufacturing companies.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, recently visited the Schwing Stetter Operator Training School. “India should be a country filled with entrepreneurs, and we need more private partnerships to provide jobs for more people. Handling concreting equipment is a skill that needs special training and Schwing Stetter India is doing a phenomenal job in this field,” the Minister said.

Anand Sundaresan, President of ICEMA, and Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Schwing Stetter India, said that “IESC has taken the initiative to provide skilled operators and mechanics to the construction industry.”

AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 59

GLEANINGS - India

Global Rubber Meet

Calls For Innovative Technology APA Bureau

R

ubbercon 2015, an International Rubber Conference, with the theme, ‘Shaping the future through innovative technology’, highlighted the need for technological innovations for sustainable survival.

Inaugurated by the Governor of Tamil Nadu, K Rosaiah, the conference held in Chennai during March 1-3, 2016 was noted for the global rubber industry’s resolve to go in for innovative technologies and alternative sources of raw material.

Experts who addressed the various sessions were of the unanimous view that innovative technology will be the main driver of the global rubber industry in the coming years.

‘Innovate or perish’ will be the dictum of tomorrow, they said.

New Business Models Vipul Shah, COO, Petrochemicals Business, Reliance Industries Ltd, said: “New business models have to be developed to meet the future challenges. The elastomer industry is going through a tough patch. But it has opened immense opportunities.”

P K Mohamed, Chief Convenor, Rubbercon 2015, said that the industry should adopt better technologies in raw material processing, and develop environment-friendly products. K Mukhopadhyay, Chairman IRI, said that lack of skilled manpower was a major concern of the rubber industry which would require an estimated 650,000 skilled persons by 2022 as 60 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

against the current figure of 450,000.

He said IRI has been supporting the activities of the Rubber Skill Development Council (RSDC) in this regard.

Specialists in rubber and allied industries shared their experience and knowledge with the delegates from R&D organizations, educational institutions, testing laboratories, product testing centres, raw material manufacturers, automobile Industries, rubber growers, students, and research scholars. Important topics related to rubber, like advanced latex technology, rubber compounding, and rubber moulded goods, were discussed by internationallyacclaimed speakers like Peter Hanik of Reliance Industries Ltd, Lieven Larmuseau, NV Bekaert SA, Belgium and others.

Product Innovation Several innovative technologies were showcased by the speakers in their presentations. The papers on product innovation, speciality polymers and their applications, testing and simulation, manufacturing and equipment, new generation fillers, retreading and recycling, natural rubber and alternative materials and testing and stimulation were noted for the depth of the contents and the interest shown by the delegates.

In his paper titled `Innovation in the rubber industry - To be and not to be, that’s the answer’-, Peter Hank said that the number and quality of innovations increase as

employees are encouraged and empowered to innovate. India has not been recongnised as `innovative’ despite having the reputation for training highly-skilled engineers and scientists, especially in information technology.

Lieven Larmuseau, Executive Vice President of Bekaert, stressed the importance of developing greener, lighter, and long lasting tyres. He said that his company has been working together with its tyre customers and suppliers to find sustainable solutions in three areas: Eco-friendly usage by longer lasting tyres; eco-friendly performance; and eco-friendly materials and production processes.

Alternatives to NR Another topic of interest at the various sessions was use of alternative sources of natural rubber (NR) and other sustainable raw materials in tyres. A joint presentation by Nico Gevers of the R&D centre of Apollo Tyres in the Netherlands and Arup K Chandra, P K Mohamed and C. K Vinod of the company’s R& D centre in India, pointed out that the most efficient way to optimise the carbon foot print was by reducing the rolling resistance of the tyres. Further optimisation can be done using more sustainable materials.

Over 600 delegates from 19 countries attended the event. There were 14 technical, and three plenary sessions.

A total of 93 papers were presented at the conference by leading international rubber experts.

M E

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GLEANINGS - India

German Industry Keen To Support Indian Manufacturing Sector APA Bureau

I

ndia is focusing on expanding the country’s industrial manufacturing capabilities. The automotive industry and its component suppliers, the mechanical engineering sector, the aerospace industry, the energy sector and other branches of industry are reporting significant growth potential.

“The know-how that the German machine tool industry has gathered with our partners worldwide is something that we are keen to share with India. Our ambition is to work with Indian companies as partners in a long-term creative process, passing on our own experience and taking an active part in the expansion and modernisation of your industry”, Klaus-Peter Kuhnmünch, Manager General Affairs of German Machine Tool Builders’ Association, said.

He told a symposium on ‘Innovations in Production Technology – Machine Tools from Germany’, organised by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC), in cooperation with the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association (VDW) in Chennai. He said that the German machine tools stood for high availability, efficiency, long useful lifetimes, high precision, dependability, quality and customer focus.

According to the current forecasts, India’s industrial production is set to rise by 6.6 percent this year. The German machine tool industry will also benefit from this improved cyclical environment. Exports to India (the third-biggest market in Asia for German vendors) had already performed well in 2015, with a plus 62 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

of 16 percent. Order bookings from India grew by 41 percent in 2015. This definitely marks a turnaround.

“The German machine tool industry finds its customers in every sector of industrial manufacturing. Our companies have special experience with customers from the automotive and supplier industry. Nearly 50 percent of the production is being sold to these customer groups. Other important customer sectors for us include firms from the mechanical engineering, metal production, Aerospace, Railway & shipbuilding, Electrical industry”.

When it comes to the question of modernisation, expanding capacity and improving efficiency the installation of the latest German production technology has a crucial role to play. “This means that demand will remain high for machine tools for the most diverse range of applications”, Kuhnmünch said.

“Traditionally, the German machine tool industry has shown an active involvement in the key growth regions of the world. India is one of these growth regions, and it offers a great potential for us. We are confident that the technological solutions of the German machine tool industry are highly appreciated by our Indian customers,” he said.

President of IGCC, Hubert Reilard, said that there were close to 1,800 German companies in India. “But we believe that there could be more and more small and medium businesses here. We could also have more Indian companies operating in Germany”. He said there would be

significant changes in the machine tool industry whatever may be the headline: Industry 4.0, Smart Factory, Internet of Things. “It is obvious that India can play an important role in this development as a supplier of software for the German machine tool industry,” Reilard said.This was the fourth edition of the symposium. It was held earlier in Chennai, Pune and Bangalore in 2005, 2007 and 2010, respectively.

Seventeen leading companies from Germany including DMG MORI, EMAG, Gehring, GleasonPfauter, Heckert, Heller, Hermle, Kapp Gruppe, Leistritz, MAG IAS, Mauser-Werke, Open Mind, Peiseler, Profiroll, SAMAG, SW Schwäbische Werkeugmaschinen, & Waldrich Coburg, gave their presentations on the new technologies that would help the manufacturing industry, especially the automotive, to up their productivity. They offered solutions to manage the emerging trends such as new emission norms, enhanced fuel economy and increased driving and comforts.

Some of the topics discussed include: Latest trends in automotive manufacturing, innovative solutions for steering systems, multispindle machining, innovations in manufacturing technology, new development at spine rolling, innovative machining solutions and flexible and cracking and finish machining solutions for connecting rods, cylinder blocks, and heads.

These presentations included solutions covering almost the entire range of technological processes.

GLEANINGS - International

WABCO Supplies MAXX Air Disc Brakes To Daimler AG APA Bureau

W

ABCO Holdings Inc., a global supplier of technologies that improve the safety, efficiency and connectivity of commercial vehicles, has started delivery of MAXXTM air disc brakes (ADB) to Daimler AG for its heavyduty truck platforms, including Actros, Antos, and Arocs models, for the European market.

This air disc brake package for heavy-duty vehicles consists of MAXX 22 ADB on the front axle and MAXX 22L ADB on the rear axle. MAXX 22L, a variant of MAXX 22, features an optimised rear-axle design that requires less brake torque than air disc brakes for front axles. It is over seven percent lighter than MAXX 22, which has been recognised as the industry’s lightest and highest performing single-piston ADB for

commercial vehicles. “We are delighted that Daimler has adopted our air disc brakes to help bring advanced braking capabilities and excellent field reliability to its heavyduty truck platforms,” Jacques Esculier, WABCO Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said. This major supply agreement also expands the range of technologies adopted by this industry leader, he said.

The single-piston design of the company contains 25 percent fewer parts than other air disc brakes in the market. The MAXX ADB also features easily exchangeable ‘plug and play’ wear sensor technology, helping to improve reliability while lowering maintenance costs. The bi-directional adjuster optimises brake lining wear.

WABCO has supplied MAXXUSTM air disc brakes to Daimler Trucks North

America (DTNA) for series production since 2012. It is also based on the company’s MAXX single-piston technology. WABCO continues to pioneer innovations for advanced driver assistance, braking, stability control, suspension, transmission automation and aerodynamics.

Partnering with the transportation industry, the global supplier also connects trucks, trailers, drivers, cargo, and fleet operators through telematics, and advanced fleet management solutions.

GM Supplier Of Year 2015 Award For Faurecia APA Bureau

F

aurecia Emissions Control Technologies (FECT) was honoured with General Motors’ award for the Supplier of the Year 2015. The award recognizes FECT’s overall leadership and performance across all regions, in particular in North America and Europe “We are grateful to General Motors for recognising the inventive minds, hard work and lean processes that distinguish our worldwide Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies workforce,” FECT North American Operations President, Dave De Graaf, said. General Motors was Faurecia’s 5th largest customer worldwide in 2015, generating product sales of $1.35 billion. FECT earned the highest-level ranking for supplier performance based on a series of metrics applied by GM. GM’s senior

leadership, including CEO Mary Barra, recognised 110 of GM’s best suppliers from 17 countries at the 24th annual ‘Supplier of the Year’ awards ceremony held recently in Detroit, Michigan.

Top Employer In US Faurecia has been recognized as a top employer in the US by the Top Employers Institute, an independent organisation that certifies employers around the world for excellence in the work environment they create for employees.

The annual, international research undertaken by the Top Employers Institute recognises leading global employers: Those that provide excellent employee conditions, nurture and develop talent at all levels of the organisation, and which strive

continuously to optimise employment practices. Faurecia was most noted for its commitment to learning and development via programmes offered at the Faurecia University North America, its dedicated onboarding process for acclimatising new employees, and the opportunities it provided employees to gain international experiences through employee exchange and travel.

“At Faurecia, we work very hard to foster a workplace that not only values engagement, professional development and employee empowerment across the organisation, but also creates a stimulating environment for those looking to grow their skills in hightech trades,” Adam Jeffries, Vice President of Human Resources, Faurecia North America, said.

AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 63

GLEANINGS - International

ANSYS, TSMC Enable Chip Makers To

Create Cutting-Edge E-Products APA Bureau

T

aiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has certified the solutions by ANSYS Inc. for its 10nm FinFET process technology.

ANSYS is an American computeraided engineering software developer and a global leader in engineering simulation. The FinFE technology enables manufacturers of advanced electronic products – ranging from mobile and networking appliances to futuristic Internet of Things devices – to be more powerful, smaller and more energy-efficient.

Customers of ANSYS and TSMC can deliver their innovative and reliable products to market faster while minimizing design costs and risk.

TSMC also certified ANSYS solutions for the latest 7nm design rule manual and SPICE model for early design starts. Additionally, ANSYS solutions

are enabled for TSMC’s Integrated Fanout (InFO), the advanced waferlevel packaging technology for threedimensional integrated circuits.

The TSMC certification provides users with a proven design process for advanced System on Chip (SoC) – making new and innovative devices more affordable for consumers.

Today’s cutting-edge electronic products demand minimal power yet be reliable under various conditions and be affordable. These requirements place demands on the chip as well as a package, board and system.

“Certification of ANSYS solutions for TSMC’s latest technology gives our mutual customers a competitive advantage when designing complex SoCs,” John Lee, general manager, ANSYS, said. “In addition, we are

working with TSMC to expand our existing solution scope to support InFO technology, driving the delivery of advanced power integrity and reliability solutions across package, board and system levels, enabling customers to innovate at the chippackage-system levels.”

“Our close collaboration with ANSYS has enabled the delivery of advanced power integrity solutions including the analysis of thermal effects in FinFET technologies,” Suk Lee, senior director, design infrastructure marketing division at TSMC, said.

“The certification for 10nm and 7nm, and the enablement of multiple ANSYS solutions for TSMC’s InFO packaging, ensures tool readiness for advanced FinFET technologies and allows customers to analyse and design power delivery networks for 3D-ICs with confidence.”

Yanfeng Honours 15 Co.s With

European Supplier Awards APA Bureau

T

he Shanghai-headquartered Yanfeng Automotive Interiors (YFAI) recently presented its annual European Supplier Awards to 15 suppliers for their outstanding achievements at the Classic Remise in Düsseldorf.

Depending on the total points earned, Yanfeng presented the suppliers with a Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze Supplier Performance Award. This year, eight companies that provided plastics, resins, chemicals, foams, indirect packaging, trim and metal components received the Supplier Performance Award.

The Platinum Performance Award was presented to IZO-BLOK S.A., Poland, an expert in the processing of foamed plastics. The company 64 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

provides Yanfeng with foamed polypropylene (EPP). The Silver Performance Award went to SABIC Innovative Plastics GmbH, a manufacturer of chemical products, plastics and metals. The Bronze Award was presented to BASF Polyurethanes GmbH, Eurofoam Deutchland GmbH, A. Raymond GmbH & Co. KG, TR Fastenings Ltd., Coatex NV and J.H. Ziegler GmbH.

Leadership Award Yanfeng honoured 10 suppliers with the Leadership Award.

The criteria for this award were sustainability, innovation, quality, customer satisfaction, global growth and continuous improvement in performance. The recipients of the Leadership Award for continuous

improvement in performance were Xinpoint Corporation from China, TRICOR Packaging & Logistics AG and Polyvlies Franz Beyer GmbH, both from Germany.

MacAuto Industrial Co., Ltd. from Taiwan and A. Raymond GmbH & Co. KG from Germany were presented with the Quality award.

IZO-BLOK S.A. also received Leadership Award in the Customer Satisfaction category for its proactive support for project start-ups and the optimal structure of its supply chain. Bronze Supplier Performance Awards, in the Customer Satisfaction category, went to Everwill Industries Ltd. from China, ITW Automotive Release & Trim from Germany and Coatex NV from Belgium.

The supplier IEE S.A. from Luxembourg, an innovative developer of specialized sensor systems, was presented with the Leadership Award in the Innovation category. Together with the Yanfeng innovations team, the supplier developed the heated armrest for door panels.

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GLEANINGS - International

GKN Transfers Super Sports Car eAxle Technology To Compact Vehicles APA Bureau

G

KN Driveline is transferring hybrid technology from super sports cars such as the Porsche 918 Spyder and BMW i8 into affordable compact vehicles. The company has developed an eAxle module that will enable C-segment vehicles to offer buyers a plug-in hybrid option with improved performance and a reduction in CO2 emissions of more than 50 percent.

GKN Automotive President of Engineering, Peter Moelgg, said: “GKN leads the industry in eAxle

technology and we want to make plug-in hybrids a simple upgrade for consumers and manufacturers.

The new eAxle is an evolution of the system GKN designed for the Porsche 918 Spyder. The singlespeed design minimises weight to just 20.9kg while optimising efficiency, installation space and costs for mass-market vehicle applications.

Development by GKN is helping move the balance of power in vehicles from internal combustion towards electric drives. A typical

C-segment plug-in hybrid could now have an engine output of around 100kW, with a GKN eAxle supplying an additional 65kW of electrical power. The eAxle can improve 0-100kph acceleration times by several seconds, provide a useable pure electric range and reduce a vehicle’s CO2 emission rating to less than 50g/km.

Front-wheel drive vehicle platforms can integrate GKN’s compact, lightweight single-speed eAxle modules into the vehicle’s rear assembly.

Mercedes-Benz Plant Kassel Makes 0.1m IPS Axles APA Bureau

T

he Mercedes-Benz Plant Kassel, the global competence centre for commercial vehicle axles at Daimler AG, has crossed a milestone by producing 100,000 ‘Induction Pressure Welding’ (IPS) axles for Mercedes-Benz trucks. This unique technology enables to weld steel and casting parts with any contours. In this process, the main body of the axle, called the axle housings, is manufactured from three elements and adapted flexibly to the regional vehicle and market requirements.

The modular construction kit for axle housings pays off for truck customers, since its material-mix reduces the overall weight of the rear axle and reduces fuel consumption in the Mercedes-Benz Actros. Almost every new Mercedes-Benz Actros drives with an optimized rear axle.

In addition, the IPS axles are also installed in the Mercedes-Benz Atego and Axor trucks.

66 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

“The innovative IPS welding technology emphasises the importance of Plant Kassel as a global competence centre for the production of truck axles. This technology was developed and brought into series production for the first time at our Kassel site,” Frank Reintjes, Head of Global Powertrain and Manufacturing Engineering, Daimler Trucks, said.“This patented welding

technology was developed inhouse by the employees at the Plant Kassel. The IPS production machine was also designed and constructed on-site for the most part. Production started in 2012, and 100,000 IPS axles since start of production are testament to our factory’s innovative strength and flexibility”, Ludwig Pauss, site manager at the Mercedes-Benz Plant Kassel, said.

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GLEANINGS - International

BMW Group Embarks On APA Bureau

O

n March 7, 2016, BMW Group began in the Olympic Hall in Munich the official celebrations of its 100 years of existence as a company with the motto: The next 100 years. At a gathering of over 2,000 invitees, its pioneering vision vehicle, the BMW VISION NEXT 100, was unveiled. The guests included many athletes, who have enjoyed success around the world in sports with the support of BMW. Prior to this, a multimedia show took the gathering through the key moments in the BMW Group’s history and the company’s interpretations of future premium mobility.

Harald Krüger, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, said: “In our centenary year, we are deliberately looking not just back but first and foremost ahead – to the future: The next 100years. Nobody knows what the next 100 years will bring. But there is one thing we can be sure of: Future mobility will connect every area of people’s lives. And that’s where we see new opportunities for premium mobility.

For a better quality of life, the BMW Group is going to turn data into intelligence”.

“Soon, our cars will be digital chauffeurs and personal companions.

They will anticipate what we want to do and make our lives easier.

68 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

Transportation will become a personal experience that people will love because it’s precisely the way we want it to be. All of this forms part of our holistic vision of future mobility in 2030 and beyond. As always, the customer and his personal experience will remain the focus of what we do. Personal mobility is once again at the dawn of a new and thrilling era”.

After completing a century of its corporate history, the BMW Group, which has provided a pure electrically-powered premium automobile, is taking on a pioneering role in designing a form of mobility that is independent of fossil fuels and free of local emissions. Since 2013, the BMW i3 has provided the Ultimate Driving Machine in an all-electric automobile. The company introduced the plug-in hybrid model BMW i8 in 2014 for the drivers to experience the future of the sports car right now.

100 Years Of Fascination For Mobility From a small aero-engine manufacturer based in the north of Munich in 1917, the Group has become a world-leading manufacturer of premium cars and motorcycles, and a provider of premium finance and mobility services. According to ‘The history of the BMW Group

titled `100 Years of fascination for mobility’, on the route to this status, BMW has always proved to be a highly innovative company which has defined change and looked to the future. Today, the BMW Group is an international group of companies with production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and a global sales network. The company makes significant contributions to designing individual mobility of the future.

The ambition to achieve superior characteristics and the readiness to opt for completely new and technically complex solutions instead of making to do with the mundane has determined product development since the very beginnings of the company right up to the present day.

The BMW aero-engine launched in 1917 had demonstrated exceptional power, reliability and efficiency when operated at great altitudes.

The company also adopted an independent pathway when it developed the company’s first motorcycle. While other manufacturers were still working with the geometry of bicycles, the BMW R32 was consistently designed around the engine. The model presented in 1923 was the first motorcycle powered by a horizontally opposed twin-cylinder Boxer engine featuring a manual gearbox bolted

Journey To Next 100 years directly to the engine and power transmission along a shaft instead of a chain or belt. These key attributes remain defining characteristics for BMW motorcycles with Boxer, or flattwin, engines to the present day.

BMW Is Born From 1918 onwards, engines for trucks and boats, and from 1920 also engines for motorcycles, were among the products bearing the BMW logo.

The purchasers included Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG, which was soon to assume considerable significance for the brand. The company took over the rights to the brand in June 1922 together with the BMW logo, the production facilities and the workforce. The comprehensive renaming of the company as Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) also formed the platform for development into an independent engine and vehicle manufacturer.

Since Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG was founded on March 7,1916, this date is regarded as the date on which

the company BMW was established.

BMW became a manufacturer of automobiles when the company took over automaker Fahrzeugwerke Eisenach in 1928. The factory produced Dixi 3/15 PS under licence, based on the Austin Seven manufactured in England. This was followed by the more advanced model BMW 3/15 PS, which was in turn superseded by the company’s first in-house design in the form of BMW 3/20 PS. The more far-reaching ambitions of the company were documented with BMW 303 presented at the Berlin Motor Show in 1933. A new six-cylinder inline engine under the long bonnet and generous space inside the car signalled the moving up the scale into the mid-range class.

New Approach During the immediate post-war period, the company had to adopt a new approach in all aspects of its business. The first postwar motorcycle in the form of the BMW R 24 came off the Munich production line in 1948. The manufacture of automobiles started up again only in 1952 and the anticipated business success initially eluded the company. At the Annual General Meeting in 1959, the sale of BMW AG to Daimler-Benz AG – which

was on the brink of being signed and sealed – was averted at the last minute. The breakthrough came with the BMW 1500 as the first model of the “New Class”. After just a few years, the company had developed from a candidate for takeover into a flagship company.

At the beginning of the 1970s, when the upswing was brought to an abrupt halt by the “oil crisis”, the BMW 5 Series was presented as the successor to the “New Class”.

Take-overs, New Models In 1994, BMW took over the British Rover Group. The endeavour was not a crowning success. In 2000, the Rover Group was sold again. BMW only continued with development of the MINI brand. The company underwent restructuring and purchased the name and brand rights for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. A new form of diversity also characterised the pioneering vehicle concept with which BMW created a sensation in the automobile sector In 1999, the company launched the SUV, BMW X5, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

In the following years, BMW transferred the concept to other vehicle classes. The range now comprises five BMW X Models including two Sports Activity Coupés.

AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 69

CALENDAR 5th Annual India Commercial Vehicle Summit Four Points by Sheraton Pune 7-8 April 2016 Noppen Communications alans@noppen.com.cn Automechanika Istanbul 7-10 April 2016 TUYAP Fair, Convention and Congress Centre, Beylikdüzü / Büyükçekmece in Istanbul, Turkey Hannover Fairs Turkey A.Ş.

Tel +90 212 296 26 26 can.berki@turkey.messefrankfurt.com www.automechanika-istanbul.tr.messefrankfurt.com ExpoINA PAACE Automechanika Mexico City 13-15 April, 2016 Messe Frankfurt, Inc. Telephone +1 770.984.8016 Rubber Dies & Mould Expo 2016 20 -21 April, 2016 Auto Cluster Exhibition Centre, Chinchwad, Pune All India Rubber Industries Association Tel: +91 22 2839 2107, 2095. gm@allindiarubber.net Automotive Testing Expo 2016 India 20-22 April, 2016

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Publisher’s Name : Antony Scaria Powath Nationality : Indian Address : 20thVaikunth Apartment, Mount Mary Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai 400 050.

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Names and addresses of individuals who own the newspaper and partners or shareholders holding more than one per cent of the total capital:Antony Scaria Powath, 20th Vaikunth Apartment, Mount Mary Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai 400 050.

I, Antony Scaria Powath, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

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70 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

UKIP Media & Events Ltd Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam, Chennai, India Renata Lengui renata.lengui@ukipme.com http://www.testing-expokorea.com/english/ Secutech Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai 21-23 April 2016 Asian Business Exhibitions & Communications + 91 22-42863700 info@abec.asia www.abac.asia Lagos Motor Fair, Nigeria 28 April – 04 May 2016 Exhibitions India Group Ph:011-4279 5000 Email: amanpreets@eigroup.in www.comnetexhibitions.com Automechanika Dubai 8 – 10 May, 2016 Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre Messe Frankfurt Middle East bilikozen@uae.messefrankfurt.com Telephone: +971 4 389 45 00 www.automechanikadubai.com AAITF (Auto Aftermarket and Industry Trade Fair Jakarta, Indonesia 21 – 23 May, 2016 Comnet Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd +91 11 4279 5000 Email: amanpreets@eigroup.in www.comnetexhibitions.com AAITF (Auto Aftermarket and Industry Trade Fair) Mexico City, Mexico 1 – 3 June, 2016 Comnet Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd +91 11 4279 5000 Email: amanpreets@eigroup.in www.comnetexhibitions.com Automechanika Birmingham 7 - 9 June, 2016 NEC Birmingham, United Kingdom Forest Exhibitions Ltd info@uk.messefrankfurt.com Telephone: +44 (0) 1483 483 984 www.automechanika-birmingham.com Asian Machine Tool Exhibition 8-11 July 2016 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi Reed Triune Exhibitions Pvt Ltd 0124 - 477 4444, Info@triuneexhibitions.com www.reedexpo.in Truck Trailer & Tyre Expo, India, 6-8 August 2016 Codissia Trade Fair Complex, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

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Tel + 7 495 649 87 75 ext 124 nadezhda.fomina@russia.messefrankfurt.com Moscow International Auto Show – MIAS, Russia, 24 Aug - 04 Sept 2016 Exhibition Center, Crocus Centre Association of the Russian Automakers (OAR), www.oar-info.ru, Telephone: + 7 495 620 4580 – 620 4578 Automechanika Frankfurt 13 - 17 Sep, 2016 Frankfurt am Main Messe Frankfurt GmbH, automechanika@messefrankfurt.com Telephone: +49 69 75 75-0 www.messefrankfurt.com Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX), USA 1 – 3 November 2016 Sands Expo Convention Centre Las Vegas, NV, US Tel: +1 708-226-1300 jim.winslow@aapexshow.com www.aapexshow.com SEMA Show, USA, 1 - 4 November 2016 Las Vegas Convention Center, Paradise Road; Las Vegas, NV, US Tel: +1-224-563-3154 aapexsema@compusystems.com www.semashow.com Automechanika Buenos Aires 9 – 12 November 2016 La Rural Trade Centre, Buenos Aires, Argentina Indexport Messe Frankfurt SA Phone: +54 11 4514 1400 E-mail: automechanika@argentina.messefrankfurt.com, www. automechanika.com.ar Los Angeles Auto Show 2016, USA, 15 November - 27 November 2016 Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street, LOS ANGELES, CA 90015 Los Angeles Auto Show www.laautoshow.com/, Tel: +1 310 444 1850

Advertisers’ Index A Al Dobowi Back Inner AARTC Front Inner ATS Solution 5 Auto Motive Testing System 9 AMT Expo 2016 Europe 11 AMT Expo 2016 India 19 Auto Mechanika Dubai 45 AIRIA 49 Asian Retread Conference 57 AutoParts Asia 61

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I IRMRA 13 Indian Commercial Vehicle Summit 43 India Rubber Expo 2017 47

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T Tyre Asia Tata Motors

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Auto Serve 2016, India, 18 – 20 November 2016 Chenai Trade Centre, Chennai.

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18th Oman Motor Show Omen International Exhibition Center, Muscat, Oman 7-10 December 2016 Comnet Exhibitions Pvt LTd +91 11 4279 5000 E-mail:amanpreets@eigroup.in www.comnetexhibtions.com AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016 | 71

AUTO LAUGH

Trucking Delights

T

John S Powath He lives out of a suitcase. He keeps pace with the growing global footprint of Asian Business Media publications. John has a sense of humour whether engaging in business in Kuala Lumpur or Shanghai, Panama City or Akron. His anecdotal comments keep readers and executives in good humour

here is a saying: “A sailor has a wife in all the ports of call.” In these days of Internet of Things, things are different.

When they land ashore, the present day sailors are not as sex-starved as their predecessors. There are hotter stuffs available on the cyberspace.

Like sailors on high seas, we have truckers on high ways. The hardworking truckers patronise wayside eating joints serving tasty foods.

Once an American trucker came into such a cafe and placed his order. He was a regular at that particular joint. He said, “I want three flat tyres, a pair of headlights and a pair of running boards.” The newly- appointed

In India our truck drivers may not be literate in the conventional sense. But they are intelligent and have practical wisdom that they share joyfully in public. They dish out the lessons of life for all of us cruising behind their trucks.

Like the American trucker savouring his dish at the wayside café, the Indian driver writes this on the back of his vehicle: “Being rich, you live on biscuits and cakes, being a driver makes you live on the clutch and brakes.”

There are many such graffiti on Indian trucks plying on national highways. Mostly they

waitress, not wanting to appear stupid, went to the kitchen and said to the cook, “This guy out there just ordered three flat tyres, a pair of headlights and a pair of running boards. What does he think this place is... an auto parts store?”

are in Hindi or regional languages. Here are some less offensive samples that will make us wiser: “A true bride earns the love of her beloved, and a true vehicle is that which fetches earnings.” “Don’t laugh, girl. You’ll fall in love.”

“No,” the cook said. “Three flats tyres are three pancakes, a pair of headlights is two eggs sunny side up and running boards are two slices of crisp bacon.”

I vote for this creative genius: “Do not be baffled when you see someone’s wealth; God will give you too, don’t be upset!” Yet another one: “Don’t give those angry looks; you have been overtaken by a tiger. Those who are in a hurry are gone.”

“Oh, OK!” said the girl. She thought about it for a moment and then spooned up a bowl of beans and gave it to the customer. The startled trucker asked, “What are the beans for, Blondie?”

72 | AutoPartsAsia | APRIL 2016

She replied coyly, “I thought while you were waiting for the flat tyres, headlights and running boards, you might as well gas up.”

Motor vehicle regulators are happy that some of these graffiti have more impact than their tough and penalising regulations.

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Innovation, Superior Products, Global Footprint To Drive Cooper Standard

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Dana Expands Customer Base, Makes New Investments

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Software Softens

Hardships In

Automotive

Testing