Upfront Q. Which key skillsets and focus areas are targeted and what is the demography of the target group like? A. With these training sessions, the aim is to help participants gain extensive product knowledge, including on the maintenance and repair of essential powertrain components and other speciality products. As part of a special practice session on disassembly and reassembly of Eaton’s six-speed manual transmission, a highly interactive one, Eaton experts answer the participants’ queries along with imparting a focussed training with demonstrations and practical learning experiences. Through this program, Eaton aims to provide
“The dependencies on the supply chain, processes and associated skill-set, ability to get things done digitally, will be major focus areas. ” end-users with advanced skills and matchless expertise on knowledge expansion in service and repair. Demographically speaking, the target population includes independent mechanics, members of mechanics’ associations and OEM mechanics. So far, we have trained more than 250 independent mechanics across Tamil Nadu (Namakkal, Sankagiri, Salem and Thiruchengode) and across East India (Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bihar and Odisha). The duration of each session is about 1.5 hours and extends depending on the interaction level of participants. The total training man-hours amount to approximately 400 and also include a recital in the local language for ease of understanding. Q. In hindsight have you achieved what you set out to and how do you see the initiative evolving in the Indian context? A. The training was adapted quickly to unforeseen situations without the focus shifting from the requirements of customers and end-users. The response for our in-person training has been tremendous, and we were hopeful that the shift to virtual platforms would be a success too, as long as we are able to deliver value. The mechanics have been sharing good feedback too and have found it useful and informative to the extent of broadening their skillset. Eaton has a strong focus on learning and the success of this program symbolises us realising the organisational focus. We see the virtual format gaining even greater momentum as we go along given that we are still in the midst of the pandemic. With the program already reaching out to more than 250 participants pan India within a span of six months, we are confident of successfully reaching
out to more participants. With the Indian commercial vehicle landscape undergoing a change with major OEMs adopting a modular business program, the virtual training workshop is designed to equip the mechanics on surviving a changing market and effectively adapting to it. It is a direct outcome of the time we spent and the efforts that went into understanding the mindset and requirements of the target group in the market. Q. How was the company poised ahead of the pandemic induced disruptions over Q3-Q4FY2020? A. While we were expecting a surge in demand in Q3FY2020 and Q4FY2020, in expectation of a pre-buying activity ahead of the BSVI rollout, the expected surge in demand did not come good. Some of our export businesses had also started feeling the pressure in Q4FY2020 due to the lockdown. Even in the absence of pandemic and no significant pre-buy, we were anticipating an uneventful but low-performance Q1FY2021. However, the pandemic negatively impacted even those assumptions. Q. How did exports fare and what’s the overall impact vis-a-vis domestic demand? A. The exports (specifically to the developed western markets), were impacted due to lockdowns, however, the bounce-back has been sharp. The volumes also went up, in anticipation of building the pipeline of stocks. During the lockdowns, with freight movements impacted, the inventory holdings witnessed a dip. In the domestic market, specifically, the commercial vehicle industry has been lagging. While we are seeing some improvements, the drag is still significant considering the www.autocomponentsindia.com
AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA n DECEMBER 2020
Q. How was the Virtual Mechanics’ Training initiative conceived amidst a disruptive pandemic and with strained resources? A. Mechanics and technicians of commercial vehicles constitute a significant share of the end-user community for Eaton. They are essential pillars of the automotive industry, as they keep the customer’s vehicle running. This makes it vital for them to have indepth knowledge to inturn increase the serviceability aspect of the vehicle. Eaton has been conducting hands-on practical training workshops with mechanics from Tamil Nadu since 2019. This was a part of our strategic end-user and influencer engagement program. We had trained almost 75 independent mechanics across four locations in Tamil Nadu and had plans in place to continue with the handson training for more locations across India when the pandemic struck. To ensure we went through with our plans, we came up with the idea of focussed-group training through virtual platforms with a focus on skill development and to reach out to our target group. We switched to virtual training in April 2020, where we used video conference apps to broadcast our comprehensive product animation and training videos using minimal resources. So far 250+ mechanics have been trained under the initiative. It has grown to a pan India implementation now.
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