AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA March 2019

www.autocomponentsindia.com Vol 6 Issue 01

March 2019

COMPONENTS

INDIA

Voice of the Automotive Suppliers th

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5

Ann

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aci awards 2019

Glimpses of globalisation in Indian manufacturing industry

Tata Elxsi offers innovative solutions in emerging technologies

SIAT 2019: India bridging the technology and regulatory gap

content

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Cover Story

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19 Glimpses of globalisation in Indian manufacturing industry 22 For Continental smarter machines are not options but necessity 26 Rane to reach next level of manufacturing efficiency through Industry 4.0 30 Bosch India modernises manufacturing to create Factory of the Future 34 Automation has leading edge in Fiem 38 Magna India sets operational standard 42 Implementation of new manufacturing technologies, systems and processes in Indian companies: Advik Hi-Tech 44 Industry 4.0 is going to be a game changer: SP Jain 48 Companies follow I 4.0 mainly for manufacturing excellence, communication: Steelbird

06 | News

New facility of RTSSL in Trichy to make occupant safety products Tata Elxsi offers innovative solutions in emerging technologies

Autolite bags big MNC order for automotive lamps

Elgi unveils new range of air compressors Benelli launches TRK range of bikes SKF launches high load bearing grease – LNEP 2IN

62 | Event ACMA Automechanika New Delhi 2019 gives big boost to Indian aftermarket

52| ACI Awards 2019

10| corporate

JBM Group acquires major shareholding in German auto major Linde+Wiemann

Recognition for auto component industry leaders who made outstanding technological innovations in 2018

SIAT 2019: India bridging the technology and regulatory gap IMTEX 2019 showcases host of new manufacturing technologies and tools

76| special report

Saint–Gobain opens three new facilities, invests Rs 1200cr

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EDITORIAL

Digital transformation AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA

Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E),Mumbai - 400 013 Tel +91 22 43525252, Email us at s.bhargav@nextgenpublishing.net Executive Editor Bhargav TS Editorial Advisory Board H. S. Billimoria, Aspi Bhathena Web Editor Ashish Bhatia Correspondent Sricharan R (Chennai) Gunjan D. Bidani (New Delhi) Head - Design & Production Ravi Parmar Asst Art Director Ajit Manjrekar Production Supervisor Dinesh Bhajnik Publisher Marzban Jasoomani General Manager – North & East Ellora Dasgupta General Manager – South Girish Shet Deputy General Manager – North & East Chanchal Arora (Delhi) Regional Marketing Manager Salma Jabbar (Chennai) Marketing Manager Minocher Parakh (Mumbai) Manager Circulation - North and East Kapil Kaushik (Delhi) Subscription Supervisor Sachin Kelkar Tel +91 22 43525220 Apple Newsstand & Magzter Queries: help@magzter.com Territory Sales Incharge (Circulation) Srinivas Gangula (Hyderabad) Cell +91 09000555756 Territory Sales Incharge (Circulation) Vidyasagar Gupta (Kolkata) Mob: 09804085683 Regional marketing offices Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd. Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E), Mumbai - 400 013 Tel +91 22 43525252 26 B, First Floor, Okhla Industrial Estate, Okhla Phase III, New Delhi - 110020, India Tel +91 11 42346600/78, Fax +91 11 42346679 Unit No:509, 5th Floor, ‘B’ wing, Mittal Towers, MG Road, Bengaluru - 560001, India Tel +91 080 66110116/17, Fax +91 80 41472574 Cenetoph Elite, No.5, Cenetoph 1st street, Teynampet, Chennai - 600018, India Tel +91 044 421-08-421/044 421-75-421 Devendra Mehta - Mob No.- 09714913234 Ahmedabad 201 Gera Serenity, North Main road, Koregaon Park, Pune - 411001.

Tel + 91 20 26830465

www.autocomponentsindia.com

O

ver the years, the factors like better comfort, quality, connectivity, rapid turnaround, easy maintenance, and safety have added up to a single unit of consumer demand. The government regulations are also on similar lines. This complexity has led the passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturers to design futuristic and sustainable vehicles with multiplicity of features. Future-ready and universal relevance have become cardinal concern of the industry in India and across the world in building the vehicle architecture.

Given the increasing need for variants in the market, some companies have introduced Modular Strategy, to control, standardise and manage development of mass-scale production. Even as industry players are focused on refining design and infusing technology to attract consumers, new and improved marketing strategies are essential to engage and influence them to buy the vehicle.

software integration allows them to analyse in real time mass of data, including production status and energy consumption. These advancements in automation mean quick distribution of resources, which saves costs and makes production systems more flexible. For flexible manufacturing and capturing the benefits of Industry 4.0 and its related digitalisation, companies must transform the way they do business — it is not just a matter of bolting onto new technology.

The Indian automakers have shifted gears to begin work on sustainable manufacturing and transportation. They are also honing their technical capabilities. Through extensive in-house research and joint ventures they are also developing innovative e-mobility solutions. Therefore, an imperative, going forward, is to leverage the interconnection of all mediums of engagement, while effectively communicating the message to all the relevant stakeholders.

As our tagline ‘Voice of the automotive suppliers’ denotes, we at Auto Components India (ACI) is also taking adequate steps to reach our readers more effectively. ACI turns 5 this month. Its half decade journey has been smooth and steady and we are happy to be a catalyst of OEMs and auto component makers. We expect a similar support from all our well wishers in the coming years and we will keep informing you on the latest technology insights and the best about matters that would interest and benefit you the most.

Wishing you all happy reading.

Bhargav TS Executive Editor s.bhargav@nextgenpublishing.net

In order to deal with these challenges, OEMs take the digital route, where Views and opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd. Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd. does not take responsibility for returning unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or other material. All material published in Auto Components India is copyright and no part of the magazine may be reproduced in part or full without the express prior written permission of the publisher Printed by Marzban Jasoomani Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E),Mumbai - 400 013. Published by Marzban Jasoomani on behalf of Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E), Mumbai - 400 013. Printed at Spring Graphics, 215 & 238, Shah & Nahar Industrial Estate, Sun Mill Compund, Lower Parel (West), Mumbai 400013, India.

Published at Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E),Mumbai - 400 013

All readers are recommended to make their own independent enquiries before sending money, incurring expenses or entering into commitments in relation to any advertisement appearing in the publication. Auto Components India does not vouch for any claims made by advertisers for their products and services. The editor, publisher, printer and employees of the publication shall not be held liable for any consequence in the events of such claims not being honoured by the advertisers. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Mumbai only.

Editor Bhargav TS

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march 2019 n auto components india

News

Autolite bags big MNC order for lamps

A

utolite (India) Limited, the flagship company of the Autopal MPG Group, has bagged an order from an automotive MNC to supply 13 million automotive lamps.

The deal is worth $6.5 million (About Rs 46.8 crore). The company has a pact with the buyer under Non-Disclosure Agreement to refrain from disclosing the name of the buyer.

The buyer has conducted multi-layer pre-order audits in the parameters of Quality, Plant Capabilities, Working Systems, etc which finally culminated in this big order for Autopal in competition with its domestic and global peers. It is in perfect harmony with Autolite Group’s commitment towards quality standards, global technological standards and high Level of customer-centric approach in line with the prerequisites of the global buyers.

lighting segments apart from its diversified investments in futuristic business of electric vehicles with the ambitious plan of positioning Autopal MPG Group among the front runners in EV segment.

Prior to this order, the buyer has been procuring this product segment mainly from the Chinese automotive lamp makers. Among the world leading automotive industry buyers, Autopal MPG Group has been renowned as one of the few companies that is constantly upgrading its production capacities and manufacturing capabilities by investing in the latest state-of-the-art manufacturing lines.

In the current year, Autopal MPG group will be investing about Rs 10 crore in new machines for the automotive

The company has already entered into contracts with machinery suppliers for Rs 7 crore for new lines in automotive lighting sector. This investment includes fully automated assembly lines, metalizing equipment and vision-based testing systems.

Last year, Autolite invested in the R&D and production lines of LED technology, which is now fully operational and presently under evaluation stage by the leading global buyers for granting big orders to the company. Similarly, Autolite is expanding its business with this MNC buyer in LED-based lamps and the orders into this segment are also under negotiations. ACI

Elgi unveils new range of air compressors

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lgi Equipments, one of the world’s leading air-compressor manufacturers, has launched its new range encapsulated air-compressor models with energy saving Variable Frequency Drives (VFD). The Encapsulated or EN series air compressors find a wide range of application across the general engineering, automotive, textile, food and beverage, and rice sorting industries. They are energy efficient and provide

superior performance by employing advanced technology that addresses industry specific needs, while providing customers with much needed peaceof-mind on account of bestin-class warranty standards.

Ramesh Ponnuswami, Executive Director, Elgi Equipments said, “ELGi has consistently ensured that all its products are in-line with customer’s needs and industry expectations. Our encapsulated compressor

range has been very successful globally. As part of our aim to be `Always Better’, we are introducing an upgraded range with improved energy consumption and higher performance, to provide enhanced value to our customers.”

which do not permit varying flow rates with changes in demand. The EN series models also come equipped with smart controllers that monitor, control and protect the compressor from failures by shutting down the compressor whenever necessary.

The EN series addresses customer’s varying air flow demands with high energy efficiency. The EN VFD optimises air flow and saves energy costs unlike that of the fixed flow compressors

ELGi has always placed primary importance on delivering high performance energy efficient air compressors by continuously investing in technology to meet industry needs. ACI

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News SKF launches high load bearing grease – LNEP 2IN

S Benelli launches TRK range of bikes

B

enelli, a leading global manufacturer of premium bikes, and Adishwar Auto Ride India of the Mahavir Group, have launched the adventure-oriented range “Benelli TRK 502”and “Benelli TRK 502X”. With its comfortable ergonomics, amazing wind and weather protection, superior suspension, efficient and powerful twin-cylinder engine, the TRK 502 is a perfect travelling companion for long leisure rides.

Designed to meet the needs of the most demanding riders who wish to travel without boundaries, the TRK 502 has been enhanced to create an adventure version, the TRK 502X. For an unadulterated experience, the TRK range gets a 20-liter fuel tank that allows riders to enjoy long hauls without much stopping for fuel fill-ups.

Vikas Jhabakh, Managing Director, Benelli India, said,“We are delighted to launch the TRK range as the first adventure offering from Benelli in India.

The launch of the TRK range is just the beginning and we are committed to bringing many more exciting Benelli products through 2019.”

Wrapped in a traditional Benelli steel

trellis frame, the TRK 502 range is powered by an all new twin-cylinder, liquid-cooled, four-stroke, 500cc, DOHC engine with 4-valves per cylinder. The fuel-injected motor produces 47.5PS @ 8500rpm, with peak torque of 46Nm available at 6000rpm.

The slick shifting six-speed gearbox is offered along with a gear shift indicator, which enables you to get into the right gear for right situation.

The trellis frame is made of steel tubes and plates, to guarantee agility under all circumstances. Up front, both models come with 50mm upside down forks, while the rear gets a vertically mounted mono-shock. While the front suspension is not adjustable, the rear mono-shock on both variants comes with rebound and pre-load adjustment.

KF India has launched a new and indigenous grease LNEP2IN specially formulated to increase the service life of bearings operating in demanding environments. The company expects that it will carry forward the SKF commitment for global quality and reliability across all geographies.

LNEP 2IN is a “high-load-extreme-pressure-bearing” grease which provides good mechanical stability with superior water resistance and corrosion protection.

The LNEP 2IN is a mineral-oil based lithium soap thickened grease with anti-wear additives that give it a high weld load rating. This makes it suitable for medium and large size bearings running at low to normal speeds. The mechanical stability of LNEP 2IN ensures that the grease is not ejected or does not lose its consistency during machine vibrations.

The corrosion inhibiting properties of this grease provide rust protection during water contamination in bearings.

This is suitable for a wide range of applications right from material handling, cement, steel, power, general engineering and sugar industry. This product is ideal for harsh operating conditions like in construction and earth moving equipment, conveyers, slewing bearings and crane wheels. This product is available through the authorized industrial distribution network and for OE requirements, it can be procured from SKF directly. ACI

Being a tourer, the TRK 502 gets 17-inch alloy wheels that come wrapped with 120/70 section Pirelli tyres at the front and 160/60 section Pirelli tyres at the rear. The adventure ready TRK 502X gets Metzeler tyres measuring 110/80– 19inch front and 150/70 – 17inch at the rear, which are wrapped onto spoked rims, offering more flex to tackle rough situations. ACI

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CORPORATE

JBM Group acquires major shareholding in German auto major Linde+Wiemann

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BM Group, the $1.5bn conglomerate with business interest in auto systems and assemblies has acquired major shareholding in Germany- based Linde+Wiemann GmbH KG, a leading manufacturer of complex structural components and assemblies for automotive OEM’s worldwide.

The acquisition brings to the foray a plethora of synergies for the JBM Group in the form of new products, global customers, and new German technologies that will not only help in expanding the global footprint of the homegrown conglomerate but will also aid in adding strategic value to its Indian operations, thereby increasing the Group’s long-term competitiveness.

activity is a strategic fit perfectly in sync with our existing scope of operations and solutions and will also further consolidate our global footprint. Both the entities together will bring forward an impeccable combination of frugal engineering and world class technology. We are looking forward to leveraging L+W’s experience in Europe coupled with our expertise in the auto component domain. JBM and L+W will together focus on developing new products that contribute towards improving the safety and performance of vehicles through light-weighting, thereby increasing the product quality and minimizing the time to market for OEMs, making it an integrated onestop solution”.

Linde+Wiemann, headquartered in Dillenburg, Germany, specialises in proprietary technologies in areas such as hot forming, tubular assemblies and usage of alternative materials like aluminium resulting in lighweighting in auto systems. The company has a strong base of 17 manufacturing plants across 8 countries: Germany, USA, China, Spain, Turkey, Czech Republic, Hungary and South Africa with over 2300 employees. L+W brings in an experience of over 70 years serving global auto OEMs such as BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Porsche, Daimler, Ford, PSA, etc.

JBM will also have access to L+W’s strength in domains such as electric vehicle components and systems and battery structure and systems.

Nishant Arya, Executive Director, JBM Group said, “This business

Ulrich Schoof, Chief Executive Officer, LINDE + WIEMANN, said, “JBM is a highly complementary partner for us with respect to customers and technologies as part of the global automotive market. The use of joint potentials is an essential motivation for the new partnership. Through the new business model, LINDE + WIEMANN will be able to unlock substantial growth by the adaption of product competencies in the area of chassis and suspension. Furthermore, LINDE + WIEMANN will extend its holistic system understanding in the field of e-mobility through the exchange with JBM’s electrical bus division.”

Ravi Sardana, EVP, ICICI Securities Ltd, the financial advisor to JBM Group, said, “The Investment brings together two leading players with

strong technology and product portfolio, with a complementary footprint and matching ambitions for growth”. The financing of the entire transaction has been done by ICICI Bank Limited.

L+W’s stamping capabilities are aptly reflected by machines with pressing capacities up to 3000 tonne. The company also brings in complex progressive dies and transfer presses along with hydraulic presslines being used for forming. The core competence of its in-house tool shop includes extensive knowledge in the field of ultra-high-strength steels and the integration of complex feeding units. L+W’s current product portfolio includes critical auto systems such as cross car beams, bumpers, rocker panels, tubular assemblies, etc.

JBM manufactures key auto systems and high-level and safety critical assemblies for almost all auto OEMs present in the country today. It has an end to end product portfolio ranging from passenger cars, 2- wheelers, 3-wheelers to commercial vehicles, farm and construction equipment.

Most of its innovative products are safety critical items such as chassis and suspension systems like axles, twist beams, lower control arms, subframes, exhaust systems, air tanks, fuel tanks, complete cowl assemblies, pedal boxes; aesthetical parts like skin panels (doors, roof, rear panel, front panel, bumpers); BIW parts and assemblies (floor, upper body parts like pillar, roof header, cross car beam, cross truck beam, oil pan assembly) and many more. ACI

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CORPORATE

New facility of RTSSL in Trichy to make occupant safety products ACI Bureau

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ane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd. (RTSSL), a joint venture of the Chennaiheadquartered Rane Group and the ZF Group, has opened a new facility for occupant safety products at Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu.

Strategically located on the Trichy-Chennai national highway, 40km from Trichy and 300 km from Chennai, the new facility will address the expected market demand and add capacity to localise laser cutting of fabrics and airbag cushion manufacturing for captive use and exports.

The company has invested around Rs 400 million in the new facility.

The initial annual capacity will be around 0.50 million modules of airbags and 1 million units of seat belt assemblies. The annual capacity would be ramped up to 1 million modules of airbags and 2 million units of seatbelt assemblies in 2 years, with an additional investment of around Rs 250 million to Rs 300 million. These investments are aligned with the Rane Group’s goal to bring best-in-class technology to help customers to offer products with enhanced safety.

Harish Lakshman, Vice Chairman, Rane Group, and Managing Director, Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd. said, “This new state-of-theart facility will help us to address increasing demand for occupant safety products and enable us to further localise the airbag cushion manufacturing process. In this milestone of Occupant Safety Division, I would like to thank our customers and partner ZF for their support in this growth journey.”

Dr Michael Büchsner, Executive Vice President, Passive Safety Systems Division, ZF Group, said, “The Indian market is increasingly important for the ZF Group and particularly for our Passive Safety Systems Division.

Our joint activities with Rane are appreciated by local OEMs and support our competitiveness for global customers and platforms.

The opening of the joint bag sewing plant in Trichy is the next logical step to further increase our vertical integration and thereby our customer service. That is only possible thanks to the continuous support by our JV partner Rane.”

Suresh KV, Head of ZF India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Safety is becoming a key driver for tomorrow’s mobility. With this investment both of the joint venture partners firmly support the target to reduce the number of total road fatalities. Bringing key safety technology to the Indian market underlines the growing importance of this region for the automotive world.”

Harish further said, “Right now, we are under discussion with our partners on the products that are needed for the next 5 years. Airbags in India started only for drivers, then it came to passenger side.

Going forward you will have knee airbags, curtain airbags and lot other products that will keep getting added. Therefore, we are clearly preparing ourselves to bring all those technology. Beyond that, there is no immediate plan. Rane and ZF as partners look at the next 7 years and plan to bring those technologies to the Indian market. We are also looking at exports. Currently we are exporting to Korea. Discussions are on to enhance export opportunities to other countries as well.” ACI

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GIVE US A MISSED CALL AT

CORPORATE

Tata Elxsi offers innovative solutions in emerging technologies Works with OEMs and suppliers to bring Connected, Autonomous and EVs to their product portfolio.

Story by: Gunjan D. Bidani

T

ata Elxsi, a global provider of design and technology services for automotive engineering solutions, is working with the top OEMs and suppliers by providing technology consulting, new product design, development, and testing. It provides solutions

in emerging technologies like IoT, big data analytics, cloud mobility, artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented and virtual reality.

Tata Elxsi is also working with the OEMs that plan to bring Connected, Autonomous and Electric vehicles to their product-mix. It is working with them in their advanced EV programmes for development and validation systems. The company is a strategic partner of 14 of the top 20 global OEMs. Its work with car manufactures includes ECU specification development support, providing software

ownership incorporating the latest model-based design techniques and AUTOSAR standards, and as a test house where it is providing component and system-level validation of ECUs. Technologywise Tat Elxsi is working closely with OEMs for active safety and autonomous driving, advanced infotainment development and testing, helping OEMs in coming up with their V2X strategy and supporting in various electric vehicle programmes.

Tata Elxsi through its eCockpit solution is addressing the growing connectivity requirements of OEMs

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CORPORATE by developing the software for digital cockpit that incorporates multiple features of traditional infotainment, cluster and heads-up display from single ECU controller and OTA.

the electronics is defined as an IP (Ingress Protection) rating for the box design. IP rating has different levels and depends on the mounting location of the ECU in the vehicle,” he said.

“Multiple active safety features like lane keep assist, blind spot detection, driver monitoring, surround view camera etc along with autonomous driving features are being introduced by the OEMs. Tata Elxsi is closely working with them and the Tier-1 suppliers in such projects. When electric vehicle comes to the mainstream, its testing becomes very important.

Our eMobility HILS framework will help an OEM test the EV and the associated components at a faster pace at lower cost. We are also working directly with the commercial and agricultural equipment manufacturers and through their component suppliers for various projects in telematics, active safety and autonomous programmes,” Shaju S, General Manager and Head of Automotive Business Unit, Tata Elxsi, told Auto Components India.

Along with the manufacturing plants, today most of the global OEMs and suppliers have invested in their own R&D facilities in India.

They are driving innovation teams that come up with cutting-edge technology products for global car product-line as India is becoming the cornerstone of innovation and an exporter of automotives to the global markets.

Tata Elxsi follows the automotive ECU development process and standards warranted by all major global OEMs in the design, development, review and validation of its products. “This process ensures the robustness of our work products to withstand all the harsh conditions like snow, rain, wind and hot climates. Each component in a vehicle is designed to withstand the extreme conditions in which it will be used and this will be one of the non-functional requirements to the design team. All these aspects will be considered during the product development cycle and will undergo a rigorous validation testing to ensure the conformity.

Normally the prevention of mud and dust particles entering into

The Indian car market is poised for tremendous growth as now the consumers are increasingly demanding for more safe and consumer- friendly features in their cars. This will lead to increased demand and development of electronics with intelligent functions. Today advanced features like telematics, driver assistance like parking assists, along with invehicle infotainment and enhanced fuel efficiency etc, are introduced in the Indian cars, thanks to the growing electronics presence.

There is a wider adoption of Electronic Control Units (ECU) by car manufacturers and due to which the overall software content inside the car is increasing. This trend will continue and Indian cars will come with features equivalent to the European or the US cars in the near future.

“Our team works with global OEMs on advanced harnessing technologies, leading to weight reduction. Our electronics software and hardware design team enables the OEM or supplier to consolidate and reduce the number of ECUs in the vehicle, thereby also reducing the harnessing requirements.

Lightweighting is seen as a global

trend among car manufacturers as this leads to improved fuel efficiency. Tata Elxsi’s Electrical Distribution system (EDS) team is working with OEMs for vehicle EDS design, development and integration of electrical and electronic architecture. We are exposed to global programmes and working with OEMs and wiring harness suppliers for EDS engineering support thereby helping them optimise the wiring harness and help reduce the overall vehicle weight,” Shaju said.

q Energy efficiency

The ECU power consumption is dependent on the vehicle battery and is managed by the various power modes like Run mode, Sleep mode and Deep sleep mode.

The power consumption for the Run mode will be the maximum and the ECU will be in Run mode only when the engine is in start condition and the vehicle alternator is on. The Sleep mode or Deep sleep modes will be defined when the engine is in off condition and will have stringent power consumption in micro amps range (eg: 100uA or so). “Our design looks for the lowest possible quiescent current for the ECUs we undertake to design,” he said.

Tata Elxsi looks also into the costing aspect of the ECU since cost is a challenge for the Indian market. As the number of ECU features increases, the cost will also go high, as the system design will be complicated. Scalable and robust platforms are required to meet the cost pressure from OEMs and customisation with minimal changes for future requirements needs to be done. Functional safety standards demand more protection and hence more cost.

q Safety

Tata Elxsi is experienced in the 15 15

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CORPORATE development of safety critical systems across multiple automotive domains. The functional safety team of the company works with the automotive players helping them in addressing the possible hazards caused by malfunctioned behaviour of E/E safety-related systems by providing ISO26262compliant software and hardware development and consultations.

On the safety front, Shaju said, “We are working on both passive safety systems like locking controls, airbag controllers, passive entry, passive start etc. On active safety, we work on both camera and sensor-based systems for providing advanced safety solutions. Some of the works include surround view camera, proximity warning, cruise control, and driver monitoring.”

The size of software present in a modern day high-end car will be well over 100 million lines of code. Moreover, technology is moving towards driverless cars and hybrid electric vehicles. In this way, electronic systems have become an increasingly large component of the cost of an automobile. Electronics are prone to failure; hence, it is very important to upgrade offerings to provide fail-safe safety technologies which ensure the passenger/ occupant safety.

q Electric vehicles

Electrification of vehicles is an area

where Tata Elxsi is heavily involved in providing software development, system development and validation for battery management system (BMS), charging systems, hybrid control units, range extenders, DCDC converter, inverters and more.

It has also developed modular and scalable BMS software with optimised cell-balancing system that can address all the future electrification needs.

As many countries are bringing in regulations and investing heavily to phase out fossil fuel vehicles between 2025 and 2040, Tata Elxsi is developing a unique test infrastructure coined as eMobility HILS that allows OEMs or suppliers to test rapidly the EV and other associated ECU components at a faster pace and at less cost. It has also own battery management software IP which can be readily used for any EV programme.

Wide acceptance of electric vehicle over IC engines would lead to introduction of newer vehicle models with EV. This would require OEM’s to have a quick and efficient validation of systems within vehicle. Interconnectivity of electric system with other vehicle systems plays a critical role in terms of safety and reliability. Customers would be looking for more efficient electric vehicle with more range/ charge. Cost of the complete testing infrastructure would be extremely high and huge investments required for tools, frameworks, hardware and software. Testing of EV components, interconnected with ADAS/ autonomous, infotainment and telematics sub systems, requires enormous test scenarios.

Tats Elxsi’s innovative solutions also address the areas of connected cars, and autonomous driving.

For connected cars, its focus is on in-vehicle infotainment, and

telematics and V2X. It has also developed an integrated eCockpit solution, which enables ECU consolidation. The company is also working on advanced concepts like Software Over the air updates, multimodal HMI and also brining in AI-enabled vehicle remote diagnostics and prognostics.

“We have been working on a driverless car solution for quite a few years and have now developed our own intelligent autonomous middleware platform, Autonomai – based on AI and Deep-learning algorithms. We also have ready-todeploy ADAS algorithms such as 3D-surround view system, camera monitoring system and driver monitoring system and more, which address the current need of L1, L2 and L3 levels of autonomy,” Shaju said.

q The challenges

Tata Elxsi is a technology-led design services company and is in the forefront of innovations. “Still there are challenges, which we are not yet fully scaled up in-house to address. This applies to areas like cyber security, which is becoming an advanced requirement for most OEMs. As the software content is increasing, the ECUs are becoming increasingly exposed to malicious hacks from external parties. Making the ECU secure is a challenging task and for addressing this we have entered into a partnership with Irdeto, leader in cyber security who provides secure in-car display systems for automakers. Technology Partnerships is a key initiative from our side to bring in more synergy and address our global customer requirements efficiently. We have taken these steps to be able to provide a seamless and ideal solution to our customers, and this is what makes us an industry leader and preferred partner for our clients in this industry,” he said.

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CORPORATE INTERACTION

“We work with key players to produce futuristic, intuitive solutions,” Shaju S, GM and Head of ABU, Tata Elxsi.

Q: How does Tata Elxsi’s partnership with DiSTI Corporation Florida, USA, perform?

Shaju: We announced this partnership in 2017 to deliver DISTI’s GL Studio products with Tata Elxsi software services especially on the eCockpit demonstrator. We had a joint showcasing of this demo in multiple global events like Consumer Electronic Show and Embedded World 2017. There are interactions happening between DiSTI and Tata Elxsi on how we can scale up the offerings and we have opportunities where both can work together for various customer projects. We are certainly confident about this partnership since there are more advancements happening in the areas of digital cockpit, and HMI will continue to play a key role.

Today’s cars are connected and smart machines on the move. There is also the V2X (vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure), which makes driving more hasslefree, and autonomous. “Among the many challenges, the most prominent one is how to address the requirements for a new set of sensors and sensor configuration.

Equally challenging is how fast we can test various driving scenarios

Q: Is there any upcoming interface solutions providing futuristic HMI design?

Shaju: We have designed and developed an innovative next-gen eCockpit powering both instrument cluster and infotainment and developed complex multi-modal HMIs like voice, touch / gesture-enabled interfaces, to designing concept car HMIs showcased at various auto shows globally for international OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers. We are continuing to work with the key players for bringing futuristic and intuitive solutions.

Q: What’s the update on your prototype project for a driverless car?

Shaju: The development of Autonomai, an AI-based solution and our trademark software stack, was initiated three years ago. This was when we decided to invest in our own software.

It is a fully autonomous middleware platform, which was launched last year and has been licensed to one of the top five automakers globally.

We are making rapid progress in enhancing the capabilities of Autonomai and making it more robust.

Q: Do you plan to test Autonomai on Indian cars and public roads?

Shaju: ‘Autonomai’ is the result of our work on driverless car solutions for the past few years. It is an intelligent, autonomous vehicle middleware platform, an AI-based solution. This

before we rightly say that the car is safe to drive autonomously.

This also means that the software content inside the car will increase and is making the car vulnerable to potential hacking which can be life-threatening. Connected cars are generating staggering amount of data enabling data analytics, image processing, voice recognition etc to churn out meaningful and useful information

platform’s sensor fusion algorithm combines inputs from Lidar and other sensors and leverages AI and deep learning to come up with various use-case scenarios of driverless cars.

We have licensed this software to a leading global OEM and field trials are going on in Europe.

We have also deployed the same software stack along with camera and different sensors on Indian-made cars.

The car is tested in a closed track with simulated road conditions within our premises.

Currently testing of features such as traffic jam assist (Stop & Go, Distance keep), On-road obstacle (Static/ Dynamic) avoidance (Safe stop and Lane change), etc are completed.

The autonomous test vehicle speed is limited to 50kmph as per the traffic and road regulations for urban driving.

Considering safety as the priority, for Indian cars and roads the features such as Traffic Jam Assist, Collision Avoidance, and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) are very crucial and once the necessary legal clearances are in place, we can test these features on open Indian roads.

Q: What is your target market for this mobility service?

Shaju: We are in constant touch with the global OEMs. They can readily deploy our Autonomai solution for their R&D programmes.

and OEMs have to ensure that the generated data is not getting into any wrong hands,” he said.

“As EV is coming to mainstream, the range anxiety it creates is larger.

People today need fast charging and sufficient range on one full charge. It needs to be seen how the car manufacturers will meet the growing urban demands on mobility efficiently,” Shaju said. ACI 17 17

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Glimpses of globalisation in Indian manufacturing industry Story by: Bhargav TS

I

ndia’s auto component industry forms the backbone of the burgeoning automobile sector, with three fourths of the total sales generated in the country. It may be a minnow compared to the global automotive component industry, but the sector has achieved huge growth in recent years and has emerged as a leading hub for outsourced manufacturing of components for leading global automobile manufacturers. The component industry has achieved a turnover of almost USD 40 billion in 2015-16 and is expected to reach USD 100 billion by 2020.

India has begun to attract significant attention as a manufacturing destination, following the ascent of China’s manufacturing industry. The next wave of off-shoring is likely to take place in the skill-intensive industries and India has a clear advantage over other Asian countries in the manufacturing segment.

The changing demographics of the developed and developing world is the other important factor in favour of India. Various demographicrelated studies have revealed that, while the ageing population in the developed world is driving the manufacturing jobs to the developing countries, amongst the low-cost manufacturing destinations including countries like China, Brazil and Russia, India is expected to have the largest percentage of young working age population leading up to 2050.

India, along with its automotive and

auto component manufacturing industries, is on a steady upward trajectory. Mainly, India is emerging as global hub for auto component sourcing. A costeffective manufacturing base keeps costs lower by 10-25% relative to operations in Europe and Latin America. The total value of India’s automotive exports stood at US$ 13.5 billion in 2018 as compared US$ 10.9 billion in 2017. This has been driven by strong growth in the domestic market and increasing globalisation of several Indian suppliers. Growth is further expected to accelerate to 8-10% this year due to pick up in global scenario.

About 66% of the Indian components exports are to the replacement market and to the OEMs in the US and Europe whose quality and technical standards

are very high and stringent.

This signifies the qualitative and technological excellence of the Indian auto components. India has the maximum number of Deming award winning firms outside Japan, especially in the auto component industry. The Deming Prize is the recognition of the state of maturity of TQM practices in a company. The quality initiatives have significantly contributed to the growth of the industry, with global companies preferring to source component requirement from Indian companies rather than Chinese companies, due to the higher quality standards in India.

Various industry and academic studies have documented that the Indian auto component companies have adopted various strategies for

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COVER STORY process and operations improvement to capture OEM supply contracts.

While most of the companies chose ISO certification which was considered mandatory to obtain supply contracts from MNCs (especially European customers), many others adopted more rigorous quality initiatives such as SPC, TQM, and Six Sigma. Some companies have adopted productivity improvement initiatives like TPM and lean manufacturing. These initiatives helped them improve their operations and establish quality standards that are the minimum requirements to obtain supply contracts from leading assemblers.

Some companies also forged technology joint ventures (JV) and/ or licensed technology from the established global Tier-l suppliers, which helped them procure export contracts and supply contracts from the JV partner’s customers that have made entry into the Indian market.

ISO 9000 is a set of 5 worldwide standards that establish requirements for management of quality to ensure that the certified company has a Quality Management System

(QMS) in place which will enable it to meet its publicied quality standards. The deployment of rigorous TQM efforts through the establishment of Quality Control Circles (QCCs), Cross Functional Teams (CFTs), and Supervisory Improvement Teams (SITs) is known to contribute to a company’s operational improvement. These teams embark upon the TQM journey to improve product quality, delivery time, customer satisfaction, safety and human resources through top management leadership and with the help of scientific methods, Quality Assurance Systems, TQM Frameworks, use of TQM Concepts and Values etc. These quality and operational improvement efforts in turn are expected to improve the financial and market performance of the implementing entity.

strategies involve improving process quality, adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies and joint venture arrangements with global companies for technology licensing and financial resources.

There were also some inherent corporate level characteristics, such as affiliation with a business group, tier-l status and relatively longer experience and hence well networked in the industry, have all played a critical role in the success of a company in some way or the other. The new manufacturing techniques and various process improvement initiatives like the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies and world-class quality management practices have contributed to the performance of the Indian auto component industry.

Since the economic reforms liberalised the industry, the Indian auto component manufacturers have been following various strategies to survive and grow against the onslaught of global competition. Some of these

Globaliation has several dimensions in India. To begin with, adoption of ‘management methods’ like TQM, TPS, balanced score cards, Business Excellence, lean management, were given priority. From the toolkit of TQM, techniques like 5S, 5 Whys,

q Globalisation

19 19

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COVER STORY TPM, Hoshin Kanri, X matrix were all imbibed by many Indian companies in the organied sector.

The SME sector got busy with exporting goods and services to a growing world market.

According to R. Jayaraman, Professor, Operations Management, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, “The factors that have enabled this significant globaliation performance of Indian manufacturing industry were led by investments, acquisitions of companies abroad, exports-driven growth, changing work and management methods to include global developments and a positive entrepreneurial energy, characteristic of a millennial civiliation. Productivity improved, profits and profitability grew, mainly due to the improvements brought about by TQM, TPS, lean management and an enlightened industrial leadership. Over the years, with the adoption of the latest technologies, the Indian companies have upped their standing in the international arena, leading to many foreign companies relocating their R&D facilities to India.”

q Industry 4.0 In order to stay ahead of a fiercely competitive business environment, companies face ongoing pressure to deliver gains in productivity, quality and, probably most importantly, customer service delivery. In recent years, the term ‘Industry 4.0’ has come to represent the next wave of opportunities for the most ambitious businesses looking to leverage new technologies to optimise their performance. Industry 4.0 represents the fourth significant upheaval in modern manufacturing, following the introduction of mechanical manufacturing systems in the late 18th century, mass production and electrical energy in the 20th century, and electronics-

driven automation in the 1970s.

By combining the technologydriven potential of Industry 4.0 with performance-focused Lean Management principles, businesses can potentially unlock even greater improvements and considerable competitive advantages.

In the words of the Rane Group Vice Chairman Harish Lakshman, “Everything that we do in relation to shopfloor, automation etc, is referred to as industry 4.0. For me it does not mean full automatic line, robots and no human beings etc. This level may be relevant in Germany and some other European countries. In India, I think we are far away from the fully automatic line in automotive business. In other industries it may make sense. In automotive, the advantage we have is people. So, for us, industry 4.0 is more converting the data that is generated in the shopfloor into digital. So, we will have better analysis, uptime, quality, and the way information comes to co-relate it with certain conditions.”

q Manufacturing excellence The Indian automotive industry is poised for the next big change as the world begins to focus more on energy-efficient, safe, and connected automotive solutions. In India, and across the world, several industries in manufacturing are at various stages of embracing advanced manufacturing technologies and smarter machines and the utilisation of the most modern technologies to transform industrial processes to improve efficiency, productivity, costs and the value to customer.

As a technology company, Continental believes that smarter machines are not options – they are a necessity for manufacturing excellence,” says Phanindra Karody, Plant Manager, Continental’s Central Electronics Plant, Bengaluru.

In the world-class manufacturing journey of Magna, a global automotive supplier, employees and management work in partnership to achieve operational excellence based on the principles of Employee focus; Safe and healthy work environment; Pride in craftsmanship and total quality; Integrity and respect; Operational effectiveness; Scrap and waste elimination; Operational availability; Communication; and Recognition and rewards.

“Within our strategy for the local plants, in 2015 itself we had identified Industry4.0 as a key enabler of manufacturing excellence. Since then more than 160 projects have been successfully implemented, many of them developed in India with our Engineering and Business entity. This includes artificial intelligence for vision systems, digital twins for optimiation of our manufacturing lines and a device bridge for connecting old machines to the Internet of Things,” says Andreas Wolf, Joint Managing Director, Bosch Ltd., India.

Advanced manufacturing technology prepare companies for earlier penetration of market, prompt response to market needs, high quality and reliability of products.

The companies which have adopted the technology have increased domestic and global market shares.

In the words of Prem Prakash Gajpal, Chief Operating officer, Advik Hi-Tech Pvt Ltd., “ The need for advanced manufacturing technology in automotive industries has become more relevant with the new environmental and safety regulations. Time for development to meet these regulatory requirements has become very short.” ACI

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For Continental smarter machines are not options but necessity By: Phanindra Karody, Plant Manager, Continental’s Central Electronics Plant, Bengaluru

T

he Indian automotive industry is poised for the next big change. The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) is here, as the world begins to focus more on energy-efficient, safe, and connected automotive solutions.

In India, and across the world, several industries in manufacturing are at various stages of embracing this trend. This trend, in simple terms, is the utilisation of the most modern technologies to transform industrial

processes to improve efficiency, productivity, costs and the value to customer.

As a technology company, Continental believes that smarter machines are not options – they are a necessity.

Globally, Continental has been one of the first companies to adopt Industry 4.0, ensuring smarter, more efficient production processes and practices. The transformation to Industry 4.0, is, however, not an overnight task. One must take into account the machines, manufacturing

processes, upskilling workforce etc. that need to be digitised.

This further draws to the fact that such transformations are capital and effort-intensive, hence the attention on ROI is magnified.

The automotive industry is in the front run to embrace Industry 4.0, adding the quotient of smartness to the manufacturing process.

To state an example, at Continental’s Central Electronics Plant in Bengaluru, we took a steady approach towards Industry 4.0, by introducing COBOT. COBOT is the collaborative robots deployed to work in a human-

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machine team environment. Unlike traditional industrial robots, the COBOT works seamlessly with operators, sharing mutual work spaces. It is intended to assist with complex and repetitive tasks, thereby relieving operators to focus on more precision or productive jobs, while monitoring all quality aspects of production. Such established process aide zeroerror strategy and add boon to the production output with minimum energy consumption and low emissions.

With a global network of Industry 4.0 competence centers, Continental creates platforms to exchange knowledge and prepare for the wider use of new production technologies.

We believe that constant skill upgradation is critical for growth.

All employees undergo regular training programmes that enable them to grow further in their area of choice. Employees at all levels, from shop floor or top-level executive, must go through continuous learning process. Without which, humans, products, technologies, organisations or brands are going to fall in the pit of obsolescence.

When artificial intelligence makes human intervention unnecessary in some areas, humans will take up more sophisticated roles such as designing algorithms for complex processes to fix the increasingly complex machines and their software systems.

Additionally, implementation of Industry 4.0 standards across centres helps us develop

knowledge further and implement targets. From a skill development and workforce perspective, this has enabled manufacturing workers become enhancers and ‘cloud’ workers. It helps improve ergonomics and safety, while making room for flexible working schedules.

The AI industry is forecasted to become larger than the automotive industry of today.

This is because automobile will become a computer on wheels or a robot. There will be a constant verbal interfacing with the machine such as instructing to drive on certain route, pick a parking or mere conversation.

In order to secure the future of the business we must always be ready to adapt and change.

To envision such scenario in the market we must offer our best products. The smart use of the technologies available or in development will create the competitive advantage among the players in the same market.

It is possible that industry will lead to junctures where various technologies will come together to create new segments and turning others obsolete, as it happened with steam engines when diesel engines were introduced.

At Continental we are using the ever-expanding possibilities of digitisation to create intelligent solutions for new mobility solutions, information management, technologies for increased road safety, more fuel-efficient drive systems, etc.

If technology improves comfort and convenience, along with non-negotiable topics like safety and clean air, it must be explored further. Continental believes in promoting all these technologies. ACI

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COVER STORY

Rane to reach next level of manufacturing efficiency through Industry 4.0 Chennai-headquartered Rane Group is engaged primarily in manufacturing auto components for more than 5 decades. Rane is a preferred supplier to major OEMs in India and abroad.

Through its group companies, it manufactures steering and suspension systems, friction materials, valve train components, occupant safety systems, die-casting products and provides connected mobility solutions. Its products serve a variety of industry segments including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, farm tractors, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, railways and stationery engines. The group has built comprehensive quality systems to produce worldclass products and till date Rane group has received 3 Deming Grand Prizes and 5 Deming Prizes for various business units. Talking to Bhargav TS on the theme ‘Globalisation in Indian manufacturing industry’, Rane Group Vice Chairman Harish Lakshman said, “The TQM journey which started in the year 2000 has come full circle with all our major manufacturing businesses having secured Deming Prize. We have achieved distinctive performance benchmarks through the application of Total Quality Management (TQM) and we are already global in terms of manufacturing.” Edited excerpts.

Q: How is globalisation happening in Indian manufacturing and how do you view it?

Harish: In the automotive

manufacturing there are 2 important aspects that are making it global. One is the operational efficiency in manufacturing and the other is the advent of new

technologies. The automotive industry in the last 30-40 years has been alive and making profits only because of its operational efficiency in manufacturing.

The Japanese taught it to the world. In the 80’s when the Toyota Production System (TPS) was introduced, the Americans and the Europeans understood its competitive advantage.

Manufacturing in the automotive industry, in areas of productivity and efficiency, is at a mature level.

In India, definitely improvements can be made. Many of the Deming companies have good capabilities. The manufacturing efficiency of some of the Indian companies is on par with the European, and American facilities, in some cases even better. On the whole in manufacturing efficiency India is truly global.

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COVER STORY The second change that is happening in manufacturing is because of new technologies that are coming in. India is still implementing technologies that have been there in the US and other countries for a long time.

For example, four years ago Rane was not making airbags and 8 years ago, nobody in India made airbags. Today, that manufacturing capability is here and it is different. Similarly, many new technologies are emerging and now a lot of electronics are involved in the automotive components. With the increasing electronic content in the car, India will be building capability and capacity over a period of time.

Q: How far you have gone forward in taking to digitalisation, automation and Industry 4.0 in your manufacturing?

Harish: India’s manufacturing efficiency is at a mature level and comparable to global standards.

Being very efficient, the ability to extract more efficiency in manufacturing is diminishing. But, Industry 4.0 is driving the change with lots of promise. This is taking the manufacturing into the next level by bringing in automation and data analytics. Even in the US and Europe, Industry 4.0 is increasing dramatically. In India it is not happening to the same extent but India is also catching up with it. For Industry 4.0, the cost of investment is not as high as in manufacturing. The major investment is in sensors and collecting data and processing it for better decision-making.

Adoption is happening at a faster rate and India will catch up with them, though not ahead of them.

Today in India, people are sitting together and analysing an excel sheet, rather than putting sensors into machines. It is a better system

as everything is integrated and has many advantages. From the Rane perspective, we are taking up projects in various plants where we are implementing Industry 4.0 to help our manufacturing.

Currently, Industry 4.0 is very broadly defined and the intensity of automation is not been categorized. In my view, in the Indian context, Industry 4.0 does not mean full automated line, robots and no human beings etc. This level may be relevant in Germany and some other European countries. In India, I think we are far away from the fully automated line in automotive business. In other industries it may make sense. In automotive, the advantage we have is people. So, Industry 4.0 is more converting the data generated in the shopfloor into digital. By doing that, we will have better analysis, uptime, quality, and the way information comes to correlate it with certain conditions. In Industry 4.0 the machines are connected to the computers through different sensors.

Therefore, the engineers can look up to it more holistically.

Industry 4.0 will help in two broad levels. One, the data that gets generated, the deeper analysis on the parameters to understand things that were not in line with expected level and the actions we take to bring improvements. The other is, just the fact that you are automating some of them like gauging etc. you are eliminating manual error.

Q: How the adoption of TQM and TPM helped Rane and what is the way forward?

Harish: Rane started on the TQM journey in early 2000s. This has been a defining period for the

group to transform and compete at global level. In this process, the Rane Group companies have won 3 Deming Grand Prize and 5 Deming Prize. The fundamental philosophy of TQM is continuous improvement. In quality, until the organisation reaches a state of 0 PPM, there is an opportunity to improve. Currently, the adoption of TQM principles are at a high level and the rate of improvement is incremental and narrow. All our plants today, still aspire to achieve 0 PPM. That is the mantra across all our plants. In terms of the analysis, all our people work together to take a CFT-based approach, on data analysis etc.

The TQM tools that we used 10 years ago are relevant today as well and we use it even now and continuously improve it.

The technology application to collect and analyse data has 27 27

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COVER STORY improved. The technology we use is a combination of both building in-house and leveraging technical consultants. We have started working with some Industry 4.0 technology solution providers. Going forward, we have plans to do more and more in-house. The second is bringing productivity improvements in the shop floor, using the Industry 4.0 technologies.

TPM and TQM will continue to be the important operational strategy of Rane. But, we have reached a stage, where the incremental benefit has reduced. Ten years ago, if we were to implement TQM we would have saved around 3-4% in our PBT. That was the level of operational efficiency we could extract. Now, the percentage

is much less. But, that is what keeps us competitive and it is a very important focus area for us.

We do that to stay competitive, rather than make any significant improvement. At Rane, we are already at the global benchmark level. Now, we work to maintain and keep improving on it. The ultimate thing is productivity.

We are able to do more in less space, with less people and less investment. That is the key driver.

Q: To increase localisation companies has to invest heavily, how do you plan to increase localisation with less investment?

Harish: In the past 2 years, there was a significant development in the manufacturing of some of the advanced technologies like

airbags, ABS. Earlier, most of the new technology products were imported and only a little was made in India. Now, a significant amount is made in India. Most of the MNCs in India have started localising significantly. India is cost-competitive and localisation is advantageous. But localisation does not happen with labour alone. It comes from relevant capital expenditure. During the initial set-up of the production line and technology transfer, the machines are imported for the first line. But the second line to ramp up the production, we do it in India. This helps to save 30% in capex. There is a saving in both manpower and capex. This brings the competitiveness of India.

Even multinational companies are experimenting with it. ACI

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Bosch India modernises manufacturing to create Factory of the Future By: Dr. Andreas Wolf, Joint Managing Director, Bosch Ltd., India

M

anufacturing is under rapid transformation in terms of technology and systems.

Digitalization, Industry 4.0 and Artificial intelligence are changing manufacturing plants into smart factories. Machines and people are connected.

Within our manufacturing strategy for the local plants, in 2015 itself we had identified Industry 4.0 as a key enabler. Since then more than 160 projects have been successfully implemented, many of them developed in India with our Engineering and Business entity.

This includes artificial intelligence for vision systems, digital twins for optimization of our manufacturing lines and a device bridge for connecting old machines to the Internet of Things.

In order to be prepared for new exhaust gas and safety legislation we have implemented new process technologies as well as high precision machining and precision assembly. With these technologies we are able to produce state of the art technology in India, e.g. BS-6 fuel injection, exhaust gas sensors etc. Bosch is focusing on electromobility as well. This requires different and new competencies like Power electronics and Battery management system.

We do these activities together with partners in the Bosch network as well as external partners. It is important to focus on increasing automation level in manufacturing.

technology globally are transferred to us, and also vice versa.

Collaboration with local partners (e.g. for automation and robots) is getting more and more important.

We have implemented in our plants complete solutions for automation together with local vendors very successfully.

Joint ventures will play an important role for us in future. This will allow us to limit the risks, to be more agile and to have access not only to new technology, but to data as well.

Data is becoming more important than hardware; it is the “new crude oil�.

We have initiated 44 projects, of which 26 are for smart automation and robots, including co-bots (collaborative robots). Through these projects we could improve our productivity significantly. In order to support these activities we have implemented a center of competence for smart automation.

We have special departments that help manage manufacturing. They include: Simultaneous engineering team (Manufacturing + Technology + Development + Purchase), connected industry team, Bosch Production systems team and Lean project team.

Most of the technologies we apply are sourced through direct transfer and from in-house R&D. We are a member of the Bosch IPN (International Production Network) as well. Standard solutions for

q Skill development

For skill development of the human resources in Bosch India we focus on the following key topics.

Learning of Basics: Technologies, Front line manager empowerment programme.

Methods training: Q and problem solving, Scrum and agile methods.

New skills: Connectivity, IoT, AI, programming.

Behavioural skills: Coaching, Collaborating We have set up multiple academies across the plants in India on Safety, connected industry and quality. In 2018 in Bosch Limited alone we spent more than Rs 47million and had 65,804 manhours for up-skilling our teams. The

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TQM, TPM

TPM goes hand in hand with Quality and Operational excellence. In order to accomplish our ambitious growth and profitability targets we need to use systematic methods and involve as many employees as possible in continuous improvement activities.

The Key focus areas are: n Problem solving methodology: We have trained more than 121 problem-solving specialists and completed 70 projects in 2018, leading to substantial amount of savings. n Continuous improvement: In most of our plants we have initiated daily CIP. As an example, this approach has delivered almost10,000 improvements/year in a single product line. In the entire organization we received over 39,000 suggestions in 2018. n Maintenance: Both preventive and predictive maintenance using Industry 4.0 technology.

For example spindle monitoring

and oil monitoring help to come from preventive to predictive maintenance. n 5S in shop floor: With this we could go to almost zero reportable accidents in the entire organization in the past 3 years. n Faster response time on shops for higher customer satisfaction. In one of our value streams we have reduced the lead time by almost 50% in the last 3 years. n Focus on KPIs like Internal Defect cost, MTTR, MTBF, change over time, standardized work, TQM, Q mindset campaign, systematic problem solving and value stream improvements which have almost 33% less customer related incidents over last year.

q Digitalisation

We have a Bosch India connected industry strategy and a smart automation strategy. From 2016, we have increased both the number of projects and their maturity.

There are more than 300 projects implemented in our plants, and these are solutions made in India for

India and the world. The use case depends on the business case and return on investment. Smart copy between plants is encouraged to cocreate the Factory of the Future.

In terms of Industry 4.0 we are definitely one of the leading solution providers as well as users in India.

To date 40% of all our machines are connected. By 2020 this will go up to at least 60%. This number is considering the fact that not all of our machines and production lines are new. This shows what is possible even with limited investment budgets.

In some projects we have seen significant productivity improvement through smart automation, co-bots, ergonomics and lean line design.

In some other projects we have seen 10% productivity gain through connectivity. This has helped us gain more volumes and market share. In 2018 Bosch India has outperformed the market growth. For the upcoming years we have many more of these projects in the pipeline. ACI

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COVER STORY

Automation has leading edge in Fiem

By Rahul Jain, Director, Fiem Industries Limited

F

iem Industries Limited is one of the leading manufacturers of automotive lighting, signaling equipment, rear view mirrors and other plastic molded components/ sheet metal components and frame assemblies. The company’s products are being used by leading OEMs. .

Fiem is an IATF 16949:2016, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 & OHSAS 18001:2007 company and has received COP certification from RDW / the Netherlands for manufacturing E certified products.

The products manufactured by Fiem conform to DOT, FMVSS, CMVSS, VSCC, CCC, ADR, AIS, etc. It is the first automotive lighting company to get accreditation from NABL for its photometric Lab as well as LED Luminaires.

J K Jain Chairman & Managing Director of Fiem Industries Limited made use of the opportunity for foreign direct investment (FDI) provided by the economic liberalisation in India. He invested heavily in the transformation of the company through several joint ventures. It was a paradigm shift for the company.

Fiem established joint venture (JV) companies with AISAN Industries co., Ltd and Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan, to manufacture Fuel Pump Modules and I C Connector Assy at its plant in Salarpur Industrial Area, in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan. The company also signed Technical Assistance and License Agreement with AISAN Industries to manufacture Canisters (An Emission Control System) at its Tapukara Plant.

Fiem has Technical Assistance Agreement with the Japenese

in India for the supply of OE Parts to them. Fiem developed India’s first (40mm Dia.) smallest Headlamp with Low/High beam duly patented world-wide with Yamaha and started supplies to Yamaha Thailand and Indonesia.

companies Toyodenso Co., Ltd, and Toyota Tsusho Corporation for a JV proposal in India to manufacture Bank (Lean) Angle Sensor.

The company has has set up Fiem Research & Technology s.r.l, a wholly owned subsidiary company, in Italy for strengthening its design capability.

The company has entered into an agreement with Kyowa co., Limited, Japan, and formed a 50:50 JV Company in Hong Kong named as Fiem Kyowa (HK) Mold company Limited, to manufacture molds, tools, and jigs fixtures etc., The company has adapted the state-ofthe-art technology in terms of process and products. With these initiatives the company could increase its sales from US$ 67 million in 2009-10, to US$189 million in 2017-18, a growth of 300% in less than 8 years.

q New Products With the incorporation of the latest product, process and designs, the company became the first choice of major two-wheeler manufacturers

The company has developed LED Head Lamp, Tail lamps and other signalling equipment for automotive applications. It has also developed Integrated passenger Information System using LED for the public information to be displayed at Airports, Railway stations and Buses, and the state-of-the-art Luminaires for domestic and industrial applications.

Fiem Industries has installed 11 SMT lines for the production of PCB’s assemblies in-house. It has also added equipment for ensuring the reliability of LED lamps.

q Skill upgradation The Fiem management is seriously concerned and passionate about the training of the labour force. In order to continually upgrade their skills an annual training calendar is prepared by the HR Department. The Department gets the request from the respective shop floor manager on the basis of the evaluation of individual’s training requirements.

Fiem has developed a strategy for training the trainers. With this approach the company has set up a cross functional team which is trained by the internationally-renowned trainers and certified to train the labour and other members. This CFT is responsible for providing training through board room teaching and

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COVER STORY subsequent shop floor guiding of the labour to achieve the desired skill-set.

The people are assessed after the training and accordingly they are given responsibility on the shopfloor.

equipment to create ownership. The objective finally is to identify, prioritise and then eliminate the causes of the losses. That is done by self-motivated teams that solve the problem.

q TPM/TQM story

Total Quality management (TQM) consists of organisation-wide efforts to install and make permanent climate where employees continuously improve their ability to provide on demand products and services (JIT) Just in Time. It can be very commonly explained as keeping customer focus on top, continuously improve the process and product quality, which can be measured accurately with the help of total employee involvement.

Fiem is working on TPM and TQM in all plants. Total Productive maintenance (TPM) is a system of maintaining the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). TPM focuses on keeping all equipment in top working condition to avoid breakdown and delays in manufacturing process. The goal of TPM is continuous improvement of equipment effectiveness through engaging those that impact on it in small group activities (SGA). For TPM to be effective, the full support of total work force is required. It should enhance the morale of the employee, job satisfaction besides enhanced volume of production. TPM addresses the cause for the accelerated deterioration while creating the correct environment between operators and

Small group activities are given priority and encouraged at Fiem Industries to achieve the goals mentioned in the Quality manual of the company. It has yielded results in terms of improved product quality, JIT deliveries to the customer thus exceed customer delight. Enhanced business volumes are the result of our team

efforts under the leadership of our Chairman and Managing Director.

q Automation Automation has got leading edge in our company. It has been our endeavour to automate the processes wherever significant characteristic are required to be maintained. PokaYoke (Mistake proofing) has been done wherever an opportunity to improve has been identified in the process resulting in reduced customer complaints. Also the company is spending large amount of money to make automatic/semiautomatic assembly lines to increase the productivity with limited human interface.

Fiem has gone digital by working and transferring information electronically using SAP. Various new OEMs and new export markets were added to our business due to continuous improvement taking the leverage from the globalisation. ACI

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COVER STORY

Magna India sets operational standard By: James J. Tobin, Chief Marketing Officer & President Magna Asia, Magna International Inc.

I

n our world-class manufacturing journey at Magna, employees and management work in partnership to achieve operational excellence based on the principles of employee focus; safe and healthy work environment; pride in craftsmanship and total quality; integrity and respect; operational effectiveness; scrap and waste elimination; operational availability; communication; and recognition and rewards.

The employee focus is in recognising that all the employees are stakeholders in the business, motivating, energising and empowering them by reinforcing the values of the Magna employee’s charter, and achieving employee satisfaction by focusing on people and taking actions to improve employees’ quality of work life.

In order to create a safe and healthy work environment we ensure that all employees have such an environment, that all equipment and the work environment comply with applicable laws, regulations and policies. We constantly work toward our target of zero incidents and zero lost days.

Pride in craftsmanship and total quality is to be customer driven and to understand and meet or exceed customer expectations, maintain focus, accountability, and discipline in every process to promote a culture of total quality

improvement and the company’s targets. We ensure that all teams are accountable and participate in the achievement of operational goals and objectives. We use operational creativity before making any capital expenditure decisions and use lean methods and employees’ process knowledge to simplify and maintain flexibility.

and to use simple, effective error proofing to support our zero defects objective. In every job we perform, we do not accept, produce or pass-on any defect.

We act with honesty and integrity in all dealings with employees, customers, suppliers, government officials and others. In all activities, we respect both the letter and the spirit of Magna’s Code of Conduct and Ethics and applicable laws, and use common sense and good judgment to determine what constitutes fair and ethical business practice.

We achieve operational effectiveness through focus on efficiency and by meeting production standards and output requirements. We clearly display operational goals, objectives and performance on the shop floor so that everyone is aware of them and all activities are aligned to their

For us the inventory levels, lead times and material flow are Key Operating Indicators (KOIs) to improve working capital. We follow the “Go and See” principle to solve problems where they occur – operational problems cannot be solved in the office.

Through lean methods and Magna’s in-house production system, we ensure every step of each process is value-added and prevent defects and eliminate waste with tools such as Value Stream Mapping (VSM), standardised work, quick changeover, visual management, 5S and other lean tools within Magna’s production system. We focus on identifying and eliminating the seven forms of waste – waiting, motion, material movement, corrections, over production, inventory and processing – and strive for gains in efficiency, floor space availability and inventory reduction.

For operational availability we follow a total productive maintenance programme and ensure that equipment is available 100 percent of the time when needed. In order to improve

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COVER STORY process capability and reduce maintenance costs we always do change-over of production lines, dies, moulds, etc.

Respectful, open, honest and timely communication plays an important role in Magna. Regular departmental meetings are held to give employees direction and to share information about projects, improvements and daily performance. Feedbacks are encouraged through frequent interaction with everyone in the facility, Magna’s problemresolution process and other communication methods. Magna recognises teams and individuals for jobs well done and rewards them for operational improvement ideas.

We employ the latest technologies to keep the operation efficient and optimised, and to foster an environment of craftsmanship and world-class manufacturing. Our Magna Factory Concept (Mafact) Assessment helps ensure our manufacturing operations have the best baseline standards and

controls in place. It focuses on management, health, safety and the environment, manufacturing excellence, material control and logistics, design engineering and APQP as well as human resources.

q Skill development

Magna believes in employees’ skill development in order to cater to India’s business needs. Magna India divisions have adopted the NEEM scheme introduced by the central government. The objective of NEEM (National Employability Enhancement Mission) is to offer on-the-job practical training to enhance the employability of a person either pursuing their postGraduation/graduation/diploma in any technical or non-technical stream or has discontinued studies after grade 10 to enhance his or her employability. This programme enables the company to develop the shop floor technical skills and shape NEEM trainees for the organisation’s culture.

Magna has joined with a reputed tool-and-die making institute to certify tool-and-die diploma

candidates and induct them as tool trainees based on their performance. They become tooland-die makers for Magna. Magna also develops robotics skills in order to run the robotics-based machines on the shop floor.

Magna in India further focuses on developing engineering skills by inducting Graduate Engineer trainees and also offering upgradation programmes such as PPAP, FMEA, and various customer audit standards training.

In summary, Magna understands and makes use of various skill development programmes to meet future requirements.

q Industry 4.0

Many of Magna’s 348 manufacturing facilities globally have started to implement aspects of Industry 4.0. Big data and advanced analytics, the internet of things, robotics, digital modeling, 3D printing, and computer-integrated manufacturing are a few examples.

Magna’s vehicle assembly plant in Graz, Austria, has been an early adopter. Within the 100-year-old Graz plant, Industry 4.0 has been rebadged as ‘Smart Factory by Magna.’ Automated guided vehicles, collaborative robots, big data, knowledge management and intelligent racks are all part of a holistic strategic approach to digitalisation, in order to be prepared for future challenges.

As plants such as Graz and other early adopters gain more experience and improve their Smart Factory practices, Magna is able to share best practices across its global manufacturing locations and selectively implement components of automation and Industry 4.0. ACI

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Your Partner in the Automotive Industry

TYROLIT in India | +91 80 23121811 | sales-metalprecision@tyrolit.co.in

A Company of the SWAROVSKI Group www.tyrolit.com

COVER STORY

Implementation of new manufacturing technologies, systems and processes in Indian companies By: Prem Prakash Gajpal, Chief Operating officer, Advik Hi-Tech Pvt Ltd.

I

n this globalisation era, industries face tense competition in attracting both domestic and international customers. On the other hand, customers increase their expectation on quality and service delivered. Customers demand high quality products, shorter delivery and more flexible services. Unavoidably, industries need to improve their manufacturing technology. One of the choices is applying Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT). Potential advantages of adopting AMT are enabling earlier penetration of market, prompt response to market needs, high quality and reliability of products. The companies which have adopted the technology have increased domestic and global market shares.

The need for advanced manufacturing technology in automotive industries has become more relevant with the new environmental and safety regulations. Time for development to meet these regulatory requirements has become very short. In India Euro-IV norms were implemented in 2017 and now Euro-VI is mandated before April 2020. Other major disruptions are coming as autonomous driving, higher level of electronics parts, and emergence of electric vehicle.

The changing environment in the automotive sector makes it

always been at the forefront in taking a holistic and agile approach in exploring new and upcoming paradigms. This has helped AHPL to implement them to expand its global footprint with the clientele including all leading Automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the 2W, 3W, 4W, LCV, MCV& HCV & stationary engines space and exports which contribute to 20% of turnover and 25% growth rate last year.

very important for the automotive component manufacturing companies to implement advance manufacturing technologies, systems and processes to remain relevant in future.

Globalisation and new set of technologies have always had profound impact on the manufacturing systems and processes of Advik Hi Tech Private Limited (AHPL). As a global leader and preferred manufacturer of critical and value-added automotive products like Lifter Tensioner, Oil Pump Assembly, Combi Brake System, Water Pump Assembly, Fuel Pumps, Fuel Pumps, Fuel Feed Pumps, Fuel Cock Assembly, Decompression Units, Drum Gear Shifter, Starter Gear Reduction, Kick Shaft Assembly, Gear Shifter Assembly and Precise Machined Components, the company has

q Operational practices, systems in AHPL

n Common QMS(Quality Management System) and IATF system deployed across all plants; n EMS-14001 and OHSAS-18001 standards with each plant having its own EMS and OHSAS manual ; n VDA 6.3 to meet quality system requirements of European customers; n Daily Work Management from top to bottom including first line supervisors in shop floor; n Company objectiveis being deployed across all levels of staff using Management For Objective (MFO) system; n Structured reviews of operational performance like PQCDSM and Horizontal Deployment (HD) through cross learning amongst plants; and n Flow manufacturing model and visualisation of plant for improved material efficiency

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COVER STORY q TPM for manufacturing excellence

TPM or Total Productive Maintenance is regarded as one of the finest systems for ensuring the enhancement of volume of the production, employee morale and job satisfaction while improving core business processes. Aligning with this goal, AHPL constantly strives for achieving operational efficiency with participation of each individual in the organisation.

q Supply chain management

Invoicing, Traceability, and FIFO system are executed through Bar Code system for material inflow and issuing to shop floor to ensure smooth functioning and transparency from supplier to customer. n Auto generated planning and supply of material through ERP. n Enterprise-level data management with all key data available on SAP system. n

q Skill upgradation of operators, supervisors

Dedicated Dexterity Centres are present across the facility for skill development of operators and supervisors; n The staff is effectively trained across three categories: i) Fundamental ii)) Technical/ Functional and iii) Behavioral using 70:20:10 principle; n 50% training is conducted internally while 50% is carried out by external trainers; n Training of team on mechatronics and emerging technology processes. n

q Traditional and new manufacturing technologies

With advent of globalisation, Indian manufacturing industry has undergone massive disruptions.

Industries and businesses are now

required to blend the existing and emerging technologies and all their potential applications and competitive implications to sustain in this highly competitive market.

AHPL’s continual focus on groundup innovation and optimising manufacturing capabilities has enabled the organisation to offer tailor-made solutions for the customers’ requirements and remain their preferred supplier.

It has been heavily investing in Precision Machining instruments keeping in mind the need that shall arise from the BS-VI norms, electrification, fuel alternatives and stringent safety norms and standards.

Various sources of information exist in internal and external environments that help to plan, predict and strategise for the best approach to achieve business goals. Some of them which AHPL has been relying so far include: Research and development with qualified researchers: This includes in-house R&D and fullyequipped testing Cell for design, development and validation of new products as well as innovating the existing products.

Experiential learning, cross-training, new personnel: Trainings take place across various departments ensuring smooth knowledge transfer. New personnel are recruited who are specialised in the respective domains of products of 3 D printing for rapid prototyping; Knowledge consultants, technical consultants; Visits to Trade shows, Auto Expos and overseas visits; Subject journals, internet, and subject magazines; Informal networks of customers, suppliers, social groups; and continuously looking at VA (Value Addition) / VE (Value Engineering) opportunities in our product / processes.

One of the most important steps undertaken by AHPL for agility of Project Management is unveiling PLM i.e. Product Lifecycle Management software called PTC Windchill in November, 2018. This software takes care of entire Project and Design Data management.

Other steps include Machine Data traceability and executing SCADA along Assembly lines.

q Industry 4.0

The other fields which AHPL is ambitious about and looking forward to incorporate in its organisation are Digitalisation, Automation and Industry 4.0. The company has clear roadmap to implement the Industry 4.0 solution to enhance Quality, Productivity and Efficiency. Our Industry 4.0 model not only works around developing connected machines but also integrates with supply chain and people in the company.

Application of simple automation in manufacturing has been the integral part of our engineering improvement activity for the past 4-5 years.

Now with the availability of affordable solution in the field of Robotics, Cobotics etc, we are exploring these ideas for enhanced productivity in our operations.

In the era of globalisation, companies need to upgrade their quality, delivery and services to meet the growing customer expectations and also remain competitive. The companies need to adopt emerging technologies, invest in innovation and R&D and leverage solutions of digital transformation for agility and enhanced business results. ACI 43 43

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COVER STORY

Industry 4.0 is going to be a game changer By: R.Jayaraman, Professor, Operations Management, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research

“A

ano bhadra krtavo yantu vishwatah’’(1.89.1 rigveda) “Let noble thoughts come to me from all directions”

odds, and could do little. But the next gen of CEO’s, including the illustrious V. Krishnamurthy, Suresh Krishna, Dr Jamshed Irani, were cut from a different cloth. They heeded the call to ‘opening up’ of the Indian economy, given by leaders like JRD Tata, by starting the preparation.

The ‘preparation’ began with visits to Japanese companies, to see what TQM had wrought. And their eyes were opened.

I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any…………..Mahatma Gandhi These words describe the India that we know. The cobwebs of colonialism were swept away in 1991 by dismantling the licence raj. A few years prior to that, Indian industrialists were becoming increasingly clear that the road ahead lay in embracing technology, and in breaking out of the industrial isolation created by the licencing regime prevalent then.

What is ‘global’? The seeds of globalization were sown in the 1930s when Dr Edwards Deming saw the transition from the sellers to the buyers’ market, leading to severe competition, and, consequently, ‘differentiation’. This differentiation should be done through total quality, instead of the specifications-driven production and manufacturing quality. In 1950, in a series of lectures in Japan, he convinced the Japanese industry and government that TQM was the way forward.

The Japanese companies heard the message, acted on it, and went on to build an economy of USD 5 trillion in the next 30 years. They became

‘industrial terrorists’, as their fierce competing abilities put others on the run.

By 1987, the Americans realized the Japanese onslaught was due to technology, discipline and transportation. They decided to hit back, and thus was born ‘globalization’. This term is an inclusive look at the world. Goods from one place can travel to another, persons from one place can work in another, factories in one place can make and supply to another, technologies from one country can be transplanted successfully into another, and so on. In essence, the concept of ‘vasudaiva kutumbakam’ was becoming a reality.

Indian industrialists started their ‘tryst with global destiny’ from around 1980. This began by the visits to Japan by several delegations of CEO’s. No doubt, Aditya Vikram Birla, Jamshedji Tata and some others could be considered the pioneers in global operations.

However, they faced tremendous

By installing modern systems of management, like TQM, TPS (Toyota Production System), Performance Excellence (exemplified by the Malcolm Baldrige Model for Business Excellence), they built up, brick by painful brick, the Indian edifice of modern industry. History was being created in offices and factories all over India. The TVS group headed the efforts in south India, the SRF group led the efforts in north India, Tata Steel did so in the east and the Aditya Birla group followed suit in the west.

Many others took up the gauntlet too, particularly, PSU’s like BHEL, BEL, NTPC and SAIL, as did L&T, many Tata group companies like Tata Motors, and the RPG group companies. Thus, the ‘globalization’ movement was born in India.

What followed was a dramatic shift in the fortunes of Indian industry.

New markets were explored in many foreign countries. The fact that the forex reserves were down to about USD1.3 billion, enough for about 4 weeks of essential supplies, in 1991, was a scare which no Indian

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COVER STORY was willing to go through again.

The elimination of the licensing system removed the brakes form the Indian industrial wheel, which then accelerated at a frenetic pace.

q Several dimensions

Globalization has several dimensions in India. To begin with, adoption of ‘management methods’ like TQM, TPS, balanced score cards, Business Excellence, lean management, were given priority.

From the toolkit of TQM, techniques like 5S, 5 Whys, TPM, Hoshin Kanri, X matrix were all imbibed by many Indian companies in the organized sector. The SME sector got busy with exporting goods and services to a growing world market. For example, the garment industry, from places like Tirupur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Chennai, developed and captured huge swathes of markets in the US and Europe. Exports surged.

Exports hit a figure of USD 310 Billion in 16 years, a CAGR of about 15%. This is high performance.

Imports also grew, much faster than exports, in volume and in rates, showing that the country was at last getting back into the global economy. According to the World Bank, India’s industrial manufacturing GDP in 2015 was the sixth largest in the world on current US dollar basis ($559 billion), and the ninth largest on inflationadjusted constant 2005 US dollar basis ($197.1 billion).

What factors have enabled this significant globalization performance of Indian manufacturing industry? Primarily it was led by investments, acquisitions of companies abroad, exportsdriven growth, changing work and management methods to include global developments and a positive entrepreneurial energy, characteristic of a millennial civilization.

Productivity improved, profits and

profitability grew, mainly due to the improvements brought about by TQM, TPS, lean management and an enlightened industrial leadership.

In a research that the author is currently involved in, it has been found that the adoption and intensity of lean management in leading Indian companies has improved by over 8% in the last five years.

Lean management is a bundle of many front leading manufacturing concepts like waste reduction, production leveling, kaizen for continuous improvement, Gemba walks for bringing management and workmen together to jointly strive for superior results. 5S leads to clean and efficient factory floors, while TPM is the foundation for continuous, faultless working of equipment. The eight pillars of TPM enable manager – workmen cooperation on the shop floor. Waste reduction leads to ‘more for less’ and higher output for lower resource utilisation.

Over the years, with the adoption of the latest technologies, the Indian companies have upped their standing in the international arena, leading to many foreign companies relocating their R&D facilities to India. GE, Shell, Walmart, Cybertech are some of the examples. The march of Indian IT has been significant, mainly due to the proven software prowess of the Indian techies. The revolution in Indian telecom industry is there for all to see. We have reached the 5G stage along with many others in the world almost simultaneously, and are the second largest telecom using nation in the world. Tata Communications is a global giant, as is Airtel, with operations in Africa and other countries. The world’s largest single location oil refinery is in Jamnagar.

The spread of management education among the Indian engineers is another reason for

the globalization. Many of the US universities are flooded with Indian engineering students.

They distinguish themselves in academics and contribute significantly to the local economy.

They also enable connections back to the home country, from where business and economic transactions flow. They are a conduit for tracking and monitoring what the latest areas of research are. For example, currently there is a great buzz about AI. IOT has already taken roots in India, and the e-commerce revolution which has been witnessed so far in India, would not have been possible without the advancements in IOT. Net banking, on-line electronic payments, electronic transfer of data are all being increasingly used by Indian companies and individuals. The mushrooming of KPO’s and call centres has pushed up the demand for IOT type of infrastructure.

In a recently-held annual summit of the Indian Society for Quality, many Indian companies showcased their developments in Industry 4.0.

Their presentations demonstrated that Indian companies will do very well in adopting Industry 4.0 in their day to day operations. For example, Sona BLW presented a case study where it improved the process capability from a Cpk of 1.0 to 2.6, which is from 3 sigma to 7.8 sigma!

With such processes, defect rates will plunge to zero and productivity and production volumes will zoom.

I am quite convinced that Industry 4.0 is going to be a game-changer.

And India will play a leading role in this new, already beginning to happen, next industrial revolution. It is appropriate that we get ready with quality 4.0, production 4.0 etc., in order to deal with the changes that will be upon us. Indian industry will soon be busy with Industry 4.0 in a big way and we are in for exciting times. ACI

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COVER STORY

Companies follow Industry 4.0 mainly for manufacturing excellence, communication By: Manav Kapur, Executive Director, Steelbird International

A

mong all, the Indian automobile industry is regarded as one of the largest contributors to the national GDP accounting for 7.1% of the overall growth. Especially, the two-wheeler industry, which has surpassed the benchmark of 20 million units by selling 20,192,672 units in the fiscal year 2018, is fuelling the growth of tyre-making companies in India.

Around 50% of the tyre production in India is for two-wheelers. During the initial two months of FY19, the mass market of two-wheeler tyres registered 13% y-o-y growth. Adding to this, the rapid globalisation is increasing domestic and export demands for two-wheeler tyres from auto manufacturers and aftermarket players. With dynamic economic activities and mobility spanning across the country, the demand for replacement has also started gaining momentum. The market players have started expanding their manufacturing capacity and improving the facilities to cater to the snowballing demands in an optimal manner while foraying into national and international markets.

The phenomenon of globalisation enables the new entrants in the sector to establish a position of repute in the newer markets. The industry giants get a competitive advantage over the rest with low operating costs and raw material from different parts of the world. The simplified policies and advanced technologies spearhead the globalisation process and international commerce. The technological innovations not only bring agility to the production process, manufacturing practices, operational and organisational excellence, but also facilitate the seamless flow of information across the countries. The ongoing economic trends and diverse investment opportunities are no more a matter of concern thanks to digitalisation. It is important to note that digitalisation is here to stay.

As globalisation and digitalisation result in increased competitiveness, the market players have been turning up all kinds of technological innovations to stay ahead of competition. One such player in the auto component manufacturing sector is Steelbird International, which focuses on attaining operational excellence by following industry 4.0 disruptions. Growing at a rate of 22.7 % CAGR, this renowned auto components brand in Asia and Africa makes heavy investments in world-class infrastructure at its manufacturing plants to offer the market the best and long-lasting automotive components. Companies need manufacturing plants equipped with the latest machinery and technology and compliance to all the international standards of quality control.

Where adherence to the quality measures is a must, the companies should also educate their prospective clients about the quality of each of the products offered. As the trade of counterfeit products in the auto industry is the major threat posed by the integration of low-income countries in the labour market, the awareness and education regarding the quality among the companies as well as the customers are very important.

Steelbird International has been technology-oriented in the standard operating procedures quite earlier by implementing SAP across all the systems. Industry 4.0 technologies

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COVER STORY and IoT-enabled sensors are also installed in the machines to electronically generate notifications in case of errors. The company also uses digital technology to remain connected with its widest distribution network of around 5000 distributors in the different states of India. It also has strategic tie-ups with various international players whose core philosophy remains technology development and innovation and are advanced in R&D capabilities. This helps the company to remain abreast of the competition in both domestic and international markets.

Besides technological advancements, it is the capabilities of the workforce and labour that make any business successful. Globalisation in the Indian manufacturing sector has amplified the capacity of market players to open new and ample

opportunities for production and work. As Indian auto component industry is proactively adopting newer technologies in a market, where the market dynamics keeps shifting, OEMs need to change and evolve regulatory and trade environment. There has to a spike in the skilled labour force that can adapt to changing needs by themselves.

At Steelbird International, workforce improvement and skill enhancement lie at the core and therefore, the company largely focuses on improving the technical secondary education of its workers.

Various in-house employee training programmes are organised in order to empower the workforce by improving their technical skills and educating them about all the latest policy and regulatory frameworks,

and consequently, minimise th skills mismatch, if any. Labour efficiency and productivity are also kept under minute monitoring at the company using digital technologies.

For Steelbird International, the adoption of technology in TQM and TPM has proved to be of immense success as presently it has over 5000 retail points and 5 zonal warehouses in India.

And, expanding the network to foreign economies tops the list of future plans of the company in which technology is definitely going to help. This is the reason why Steelbird International, one of the leading auto component manufacturers in India, is focusing on bringing innovation to its products and manufacturing practices and planning to invest more in R&D activities. ACI

Statement about ownership and other particulars about AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA, as required to be published in the first issue of every year after the last day of February.

Form IV (See rule 8) (Press and Reg. Of Books Act, 1867) Place of Publication : Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E), Mumbai - 400 013.

Periodicity of Publication : Monthly Printers Name : Mr. Marzban Jasoomani, Nationality : Indian, and printed at Uchitha Graphic Printers Pvt. Ltd., 65, Ideal Industrial Estate, Mathuradas Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400013, India.

Publisher’s Name : Mr. Marzban Jasoomani, Nationality: Indian, Address: Next Gen Publishing Pvt.Limited, Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E), Mumbai - 400 013 Editor’s Name : Bhargav TS, Nationality: Indian, Address: Next Gen Publishing Pvt.Limited, Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E), Mumbai - 400 013 Names and addresses of individuals who own the newspaper and partners or shareholders holding more than 1% of the total paid up equity capital: Next Gen Publishing Pvt.Limited, Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E), Mumbai - 400 013

Details of shareholders of Next Gen Publishing Pvt.Limited who are holding more than 1% paid up equity capital of the company as on January 31, 2019.

i. Shapoorji Pallonji & Company Pvt Limited, 70, Nagindas Master Road, Fort, Mumbai 400023 ii. HDFC Limited, 5th Floor, Ramon House, H. T. Parekh Marg, Backbay Reclamation, Mumbai 400 020 iii. Rajpal Singh Sethi, Green Gate, 693, Flat 702, Perry Cross Road, Bandra, Mumbai 400 050 iv. Zubin N. Kamdin (Executor of Estate of late Sam Nariman Polishwala), 29/A, Naoroji Seth Street, Thakurdwar, Mumbai 400 002 v. Aditya Chitale-(Executor of Estate of late C.N.Mistry), F-19,0-1, Bridge View C.H.S.Ltd., Sector-10, Airoli, Navi Mumbai 400 708 vi.Hoshang Billimoria, B-221, Grand Paradi, 572, Dadyseth Hill, August Kranti Marg, Mumbai 400 036

I, Marzban Jasoomani hereby declare that all particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Sd/

Marzban Jasoomani Date: February 14th, 2019 Signature of the Publisher 49 49

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ACI AWARDS 2019

ACI Awards 2019

Recognition for auto component industry leaders who made outstanding technological innovations in 2018

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uto Components India and its publishers, Next Gen Publishing, made the evening of February 19, enthralling and fabulous for the Indian auto components industry. The captains of the automotive and auto components industry made the ITC Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai, to bustle with activities and serious discussions on who have excelled and how have they done it. The occasion was the presentation of the 3rd ACI Awards, which has in three years become the most coveted recognition for the auto components industry. A grand jury selected from a large group of outstanding contestants who were perceived as the most outstanding in 12 categories based on well-defined parameters.

Hoshang S Billimoria, Chief Executive Officer, Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd, told the august gathering that, “The auto components industry in India is flourishing and we are happy to be part of this exciting achievement both in the domestic

Photos: Mahesh Reddy and international markets. I thank the eminent jury members for their hard work, objective assessment and judicious selection of the winners from among a group of winners on several other counts.

I like to congratulate and thank all the winners, especially the winners selected by ACI. I would also like to express the gratitude of Next Gen Publication to Shapoorji Pallonji, Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board, Force Motors, and Mahindra Truck and Bus for their excellent support for this event.”

Bhargav TS, Executive Editor, Auto Components India said, “India is emerging as a global hub for auto component sourcing. A cost-effective manufacturing base keeps costs 1025% less than in Europe and Latin America. The total value of India’s automotive exports increased to US$ 13.5 billion in 2018 from US$ 10.9 billion in 2017. Along with the widening horizon of the industry, we have introduced 3 more categories

of competition taking the total to 12. This year we received more nominations than last year in the categories of Technology, Quality, and Shopfloor and manufacturing excellence. This indicates that the industry is working hard to beat the uncertainties and scale new heights by taking to the latest technologies to excel in the highly competitive Indian and world markets.”

The ACI team is thankful to the companies for choosing to send in their nominations for the proposed 12 categories. The nomination call for the awards was made in the December 2018 issue of Auto Components India. In order to reach out to as many stakeholders of the industry as possible, nomination forms were sent to all the component makers through e-mail and other communication media.

The response was overwhelming.

The award selection jury met in Chennai on January 24, 2019. The decision-making process was like a game of tennis with equal hits and fluctuations and the ball was in the jury’s court. Finally, the decision

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ACI AWARDS 2019

was made with utmost accuracy and objectivity. Such a selection was made very successful by the jury members: Kaushik Madhavan, Vice President, Mobility Practice, Frost & Sullivan, V G Ramakrishnan, MD of Avantem Technologies, Bhushan Mhapralkar, Editor, Commercial Vehicle, and Bhargav TS, Executive Editor, Auto Components India.

There were genuine observations by each jury member on the case study as nomination; the extent of details some nominees went into; the subject matter that was shared

with the jury; the activity of the companies in addressing client requirements and in the process of attaining frugal engineering targets.

Some companies even shared the case studies of the best processes and technologies that they carried out last year.

Many complexities evolved as the decision-making process progressed. The process involved long debates, strict tentative rounds and discussions. It was after a considerable effort that the results were arrived at based on parameters

like technology, engineering, market performance and relevance to the industry. The innovative components in the competition were those made available during the calendar year 2018. The jury decided to present 13 awards to do justice to all the constituents. Owing to the tough competition, in the Shopfloor & Manufacturing Excellence category, 2 companies were selected for the award.

The following is the list of the Third ACI Award Nominations and Winners.

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ACI AWARDS 2019

Welcome address by Hoshang S Bilimoria, Chief Executive Officer, Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., on the occasion of the Auto Components India Awards held in Mumbai on 19 February 2019

Bhargav TS, Executive Editor, Auto Components India, addresses the gathering on the current edition

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ACI AWARDS 2019 SME of the year

Winner: KKR Metal Components

Nominees are: KKR Metal Components Able Spring Manufacturers

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MEs make 70% of the Indian auto components industry. They have always been a strong element of the Indian auto industry, and continue to be so. Keeping up with the change, they have been successfully addressing the changing requirements of their clients.

Girish Mallaya, Publisher, T3, Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., (right) presents the award to KKR Metal Components.

Automotive start-up of the year

Winner: Zygor Energy Systems

Nominees are: Zygor Energy Systems Croyance Automotive

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he auto industry is undergoing a massive shift as it ushers in the technologies behind new emission norms, electric and autonomous vehicles and onboard tech designed to improve or enhance the driving experience. To drive this change and support these changes startups are playing a major role. The fact that startups are nimbler and less bogged down with bureaucratic decision-making than larger corporations. Startups are also more willing to experiment with new territory, which tends to result in innovative thinking and radical new solutions.

Ashish Bhatia, Web Editor, Auto Components India, presents the award to Inder Sharma, Founder & President, Ibos Incubating.

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ACI AWARDS 2019 Technology Excellence

Winner: Rane TRW Steering Systems - rt75 with ccv

Nominees are:

NGK Spark Plugs (India) Pvt. Ltd - CNG Spl spark plug Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd. - RT75 with CCV FIEM INDUSTRIES LTD. - Optical filter technology Lucas Indian Service Limited - CARPLUS Dongle Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd. - Dual Displacement Tandem Pump Valeo Motherson Thermal Commercial Vehicles India Ltd. - Revo E Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd. - Electric Motor Driven Pump WebNMS Fleet Management Solution Zygor Energy Systems - Intelligent spark plug

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echnology drives the Indian auto components industry. Without it, there would be no components, and no automobiles. Technology is at the core of the competitive auto industry as component manufacturers and automakers work together to bring out exciting new automobiles that are safe, sound and comfortable.

Friend of Environment

Dr. RM Thirupathi, Senior Vice President, Product Engineering, Rane TRW Steering Systems receives the award from Gianenrico Griffini, Chairman, International Truck of the Year; Editor, Vie & Trasporti, and Member, Society of Automotive Engineers.

Winner: Valeo India Private Limited, Sanand

Nominees are: Jamna Auto Industries Ltd. Fiem Industries Ltd. Valeo India Private Limited, Sanand Rane TRW Steering Systems Private Limited

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o be a friend of environment is no exception. It is the need of the hour, and in the interest of a better tomorrow. It also reflects on the responsible behaviour on the part of an auto component manufacturer.

His contribution adds to the auto industry’s effort to care for the environment.

Bushan Mahpralkar, Editor, Commercial Vehicle magazine, (centre) presents the award to (L-R) Sayyad Badesahab Plant Manager, Valeo Sanand, Kumaran Natesan Site General Manager, Valeo Sanand, Seetharaman Vijayan - SSC Manager - Valeo India and Jitendra Ravat - Health Safety Environment Manager , Valeo Sanand.

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ACI AWARDS 2019 Winner: Tenneco Automotive India Pvt. Ltd.

Quality Excellence Nominees are: Jamna Auto Industries Ltd. IAC International Automotive Components India Pvt. Ltd. Tenneco Automotive India Pvt. Ltd. RSB Transmissions India Ltd Valeo India Private Ltd.

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uality is at the root of the auto industry the world over. As auto components manufacturers work closely with their clients, it is quality that takes precedence.

G Manoharan, Operation Head, Clean Air India, Tenneco Automotive, receives the award from Cyriac Jacob, Senior GM, Marketing, Force Motors.

Winner: IAC International Automotive India Pvt. Ltd.

Shopfloor & Manufacturing Excellence

Nominees are: Comstar Automotive Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Jamna Auto Industries Ltd. Lucas TVS Ltd IAC International Automotive India Pvt. Ltd. Magneti Marelli UM Electronic Systems Magneti Marelli Powertrain India Private Ltd Fiem Industries Ltd. Amalgamations Valeo Clutch Pvt. Ltd. RSB Transmissions India Ltd

Pranav Chari from Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (second from left) presents the award to Yogesh Salunke, Operation Manager, IAC, Ranjit Nambiar - Director India Operations, IAC, and Sandeep Deshmukh, Production and CI lead, IAC International Automotive India.

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he quest for technology and quality has made auto component manufacturers excel in shopfloor and manufacturing. They are no longer manufacturers of components but partners in equal measure to the OEMs.

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ACI AWARDS 2019 Shopfloor & Manufacturing Excellence

Winner: Magneti Marelli Powertrain India Pvt.

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he quest for technology and quality has made auto component manufacturers excel in shopfloor and manufacturing. They are no longer manufacturers of components but partners in equal measure to the OEMs.

Pranav Chari from Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (centre) presents the award to Ashish Srivastava, Head - CSR and Corporate Communication, and Ashish Popli, Director- Manufacturing, Magneti Marelli India Private Limited.

Export Excellence

Winner: FIEM INDUSTRIES LTD.

Nominees are: Lucas TVS Limited KOSTAL India Fiem Industries Ltd.

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here is no local today about the auto industry. This also applies to the auto components industry. India is a hotbed of Indian born components makers and those that have invested here. Both are enriching the auto industry the world over.

D Ghosh, Marketing, Fiem Industries, receives the award from VG Ramakrishnan, Managing Director, Avantemm Technologies.

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ACI AWARDS 2019 Winner: Jamna Auto Industries Ltd.

Excellence in Operation Nominees are: Mann and Hummel Filter Pvt. Ltd. Jamna Auto Industries Ltd. Comstar Automotive Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

E

xcellence in operation is evaluated with 360 degree approach factoring all the critical parameters in manufacturing and finally the winner is carved out who showed consistency in every move of the process.

Stephen Dlima, CFO, Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., (centre) present the award to J. J. Mohan, GM - TPM & Quality and Ashish Shukla, Jamna Auto Industries Ltd.

Winner: JT Special Vehicles (JTSV)

Joint Venture of the year Nominees are: Jamna Auto Industries Ltd. JT Special Vehicles (JTSV) Valeo India Private Limited

A

joint venture is a common way of combining resources and expertise of two companies. Joint venture can help business grow faster especially to access to new markets and distribution networks and access to greater resources, including specialised staff, technology and finance.

Gubbi Nagbhushan, CEO, JT Special Vehicles, receives the award from Kaushik Madhavan, Vice President, Mobility Practice, Frost & Sullivan.

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ACI AWARDS 2019 Excellence in Automotive E-commerce

Winner: TVS Automobile Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Nominees are: TVS Automobile Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Ashok Leyland Ltd.

T

he automobile industry has seen some major changes over the past decade, thanks in large part to the rise of social media and the internet. Automotive e-commerce is changing traditional marketing and integrating physical and online shopping experiences is critical, especially now that consumers are making more purchases decisions online.

Natarajan Srinivasan, Chief Technology Officer, TVS Automobile Solutions, receiving the award from Marzban Jasoomani, Publisher, Automotive, Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd.

Component maker of the year

Winner: Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Nominees are: Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt Ltd. Faurecia Interior Systems India Tenneco Automotive India Valeo India Private Limited

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omponent maker of the year is about the good work done by an auto components manufacturer. It is about the tough task of addressing the often conflicting requirements of its clients. It is about employing technology, delivering quality, and driving excellence in all walks of life.

Bhargav TS, Executive Editor, Auto Comoponents India, (centre) presents the award to Dr RM Thirupathi, Senior Vice President, Product Engineering, and Vinod Ramesh Patil, Deputy Manager – Marketing, Rane TRW Steering Systems.

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ACI AWARDS 2019 Component of the year

Hoshang S Billimoria, CEO, Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd (centre) presents the award to Gowri Shankar, Asst Manager Engineering, N Vijaya Krishnan, Asst General Manager – Marketing, and M Murugappan, Asst Manager -Marketing, Lucas TVS Ltd.

Winner: Lucas TVS Ltd - SGM25 lightweight starter motor

A

Nominees are: Faurecia Interior Systems India - Instrument Panel Fin A and B Finisher; Lucas TVS Ltd - SGM25 lightweight starter motor; KOSTAL India’s Steering Column Switch; Mann and Hummel Filter Pvt. Ltd. - Charge Air Ducts; Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd. - RT75 with integral bevel; Zygor SR Motor & Controller technology; Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd. - Variable Displacement Pump

n auto component is at the centre of all that an auto component manufacturer does. It is what reflects upon the abilities and achievements of its manufacturer. Without it there would be no automobile.

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ACI AWARDS 2019

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ACI AWARDS 2019

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EVENT

ACMA Automechanika New Delhi 2019 gives big boost to Indian aftermarket Story by: Gunjan D. Bidani

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ndia’s leading exhibition for auto components and automotive aftermarket, ACMA Automechanika New Delhi 2019, showcased new aftermarket developments and innovative products and technologies supplemented by insightful seminars focussing on market opportunities and Industry 4.0, all under one roof.

For the fourth edition of ACMA

Automechanika New Delhi during February 14-17, had 515 exhibitors.

The show was spread across 11 halls in 19,500 sqm showcasing an array of automotive parts and components, electronics and systems, accessories and customising, repair and maintenance, management and digital solutions and car wash, care and reconditioning. The four-day event kept the exhibitors and over

13,200 business visitors focussed on sourcing, networking and gaining knowledge.

ACMA Automechanika New Delhi 2019 was inaugurated by Leena Nandan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, the Government of India.

“I congratulate the organisers of ACMA Automechanika New Delhi

L-R: Vinnie Mehta, Director General, ACMA; Olaf Musshof, Director, Automechanika Frankfurt; Michael Dehn, General Manager – Sales & Marketing, Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India Pvt Ltd; Leena Nandan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India, Ram Venkataramani, President, ACMA; Deepak Jain, Vice President, ACMA. 62 62 auto components india n march 2019

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EVENT 2019 for putting up an encouraging show targeting the Indian aftermarket industry. It is overwhelming to witness that the organisers have brought the message on safety with the ongoing exhibition. The Government is concerned on the number of road accidents and has initiated a three ‘E’ Safety Policy primarily including Engineering, Education and Enforcement. The government is also closely working with industry associations for introducing Standards for aftermarket parts to help address the counterfeit market leading to road fatalities and injuries,” she said.

Ram Venkataramani, President, ACMA; Deepak Jain, Vice President, ACMA; Vinnie Mehta, Director General, ACMA, Olaf Musshof, Director, Automechanika Frankfurt and Michael Dehn, General Manager, Sales and Marketing, MesseFrankfurt Trade Fairs India Pvt Ltd, and several other distinguished members from the industry were present at the inauguration.

The Indian automotive aftermarket, estimated at Rs 70,000 crore in 201819 is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.5% for the next few years and register Rs 98,000 crore by FY2023.

The key growth drivers for the Indian aftermarket include the growing vehicle parc, enhanced average life of vehicles, improved road infrastructure and better sourcing of components by global auto giants.

About the future trends in the aftermarket industry, Ram Venkataramani said, “The future vehicles will become more complex and challenging for the aftermarket industry. With the increasing electronic content, penetration of IoT (Internet of Things), DMS (Dealer Management Services) and self diagnosis through online guides and shift to online, consumer behavior will accelerate the change in the

industry. It is therefore imperative for the manufacturers, local garages, technicians and the mechanics to upskill and remain above the curve.”

The event also saw the unveiling of ACMA’s Buyers Guide 2019, the much sought-after compendium with details of Indian auto component manufacturers.

With 15 foreign contingents showcasing their best technologies, the event also had 4 international pavilions from China, Korea, Taiwan and the UK. The show also displayed a gamut of innovations and live demonstrations from leading companies and brands. Airboss Air Tools, Herrmann-Lack-Technik GmbH, Mato Industries, Oetiker India Pvt. Ltd, Atek, YamanEngitech Pvt Ltd, and Silkaans Electrical Manufacturing Company Pvt Ltd. were among the many companies that launched products and displayed the latest advancements. Other notable exhibitors included Mansons International Pvt Ltd, ACDelco India, Ample Auto Tech Pvt Ltd,

Bosch, Liqui Moly GmbH, Delphi Automotive Systems, Elofic Industries Ltd, Aisin Seiki Co. Ltd, Minda Distribution and Services Ltd (MDSL), Him Teknoforge Ltd, Bosch Ltd, Valeo India, ZF India among others.

ACMA Automechanika 2019 commences with a ribbon-cutting ceremony

A Knowledge Forum was lined up alongside the show on the second day. It touched upon important and pertinent topics related to the industry. The session was themed “Indian auto component industry – Staying competitive with innovation and business transformation”.

Siemens was the official ‘Knowledge Partner’ for the seminar. The one-day seminar highlighted the importance of digitalisation for smoother operations, insights from big data analytics and use of artificial intelligence. Some of the areas covered by the seminar were, Indian automotive aftermarket – fast tracking the growth, Indian auto component industry – staying competitive with innovation and business transformation and a panel discussion on the roadmap for Industry 4.0.

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EVENT A conference, along with International Purchasing Office (IPOs) Forum, on ‘Aftermarket Global Trends and Opportunities’ at Hotel Shangri-La, New Delhi, was hosted on the same day. The conference shed light on the sourcing strategies of global OEMs for aftermarket as also aftermarket opportunities in the US, Latin America, Europe and Africa.

Michael Dehn, General Manager, Sales and Marketing, Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India said, “In the first edition, we started with only nine thousand square meters and today it’s 19,000. We had only 200 exhibitors then. This year it was over 500. The number of visitors also has doubled.”

Automechanika around the globe is known for fostering genuine products causing disruption with its initiative ‘Messe Frankfurt against Copying’. With the help of ACMA’s initiative called Safer Drives, the organisers together campaigned against counterfeiting in the industry and promoted the use of genuine products. A conference by the All India Automobile Workshops Association (AIAWA) was also held during the show.

q New products on display

Raj Manek, Executive Director and Board Member, Messe Frankfurt Asia Holding Ltd. shared, “India is slated to become one of the most significant shareholders in the global automotive industry.

With notable strides with every edition, ACMA Automechanika New Delhi has become synonymous with ‘genuineness’. The show, once again, has successfully attracted the automotive market leaders from all around the globe, reinforcing our commitment to promote genuine and quality products.”

ZF Car Connect which offers telematic solutions for passenger car fleets; A unique Air impact wrench with twin hammer mechanism

by Airboss Air Tools; A one-of-a-kind IONSTAR anti-static pistol for painting workshops or body shops that requires no power supply via cable, no batteries or battery packs by Herrmann-Lack-Technik GmbH; Rivets & Riveting Systems introduced by Silkaans which replaces the traditional chisel and hammer method for repairs; Newly launched technology for Common Rail Tester by Mato Industries; Highperformance biking chains by Makino Rk Takasago that offers specialised lubrication and noise free operation; Augmented reality based training concept for car repairs by Bosch; and Heavy duty V-profile clamps for commercial and industrial vehicles by Oetiker India Pvt Ltd.

q Event for the aftermarket

On showcasing the latest and best in technology at the fair, Vinnie Mehta, Director General, ACMA said, “I think Automechanika, New Delhi is the only of its kind of an event that focuses on the aftermarket.

So, we are the nodal trait helper in it and we are very happy the way the trade fair has grown over the last three editions. This is the fourth one and a highly successful. We can gauge the growing eminence of the event from the quality of the displays that has become much better than what it was when we started. Right now we are constrained by the fact that there is no more room to grow. We do not have a venue.

Pragati Maidan with its limited number of halls is only what we can use and we are 100% occupied.”

With the growing demand from OEMs for components, there would be a growth in the aftermarket sector, Venkatramani said.

He is confident of the growth of the industry and highlighted the challenges. “There are 2 aspects where automotive components have a direct impact – safety and pollution. MoRTH is committed to have standards for safety which will soon be followed by standards on pollution.” Condemning the use of spurious parts, Venkatramani added, “ACMA is interacting with MoRTH to ensure that there is a reduction in the usage of spurious parts.

Messe Frankfurt has a programme on anti-piracy. So, I think there is a lot of effort being done to bring awareness among the users to ensure that they only fit original parts and a discouragement not to fit spurious parts. I think with increase in duties as well as the awareness coming in among the mechanics and customers, there may be a reduction in spurious parts. We have already seen reduction in the sale of spurious parts over the last few years due to better awareness, he said.”

Market leaders and innovators such as ACDelco India, Ample Auto Tech Pvt Ltd, Bosch, Delphi Automotive Systems, Elofic Industries Ltd, Mansons International Pvt Ltd, Minda Distribution and Services Ltd, HIM Teknoforge Ltd, Bosch Ltd, Valeo India, ZF India were among the leading brands who were seen at the fair. They showcased an interesting line-up of new products. The key highlights were:

Bosch Ltd: The advent of stricter emission norms set to be implemented in April 2020 may pose a threat to the aftermarket component industry, specially unorganised players such as workshop or garage owners who deal with most services for vehicles after their lifecycle of free services or warranty expires. To cope up with the upcoming norms which would involve more electronic components and revised maps for ECUs in the vehicles of the future, Bosch Limited showcased their workshop concept, BCS (Bosch Car Service). A unique concept, it deals with modernising of the unorganised workshops using electronic equipment and augmented reality.

In the BCS, the technology showcase included AC servicing machine, nitrogen tyre fillers, however, the centrestage was taken by the VCI (Vehicle Communication Interface) and handheld devices.

The latter devices, according to the exhibitors, speak to the vehicle’s ECU in order to understand the problems in a vehicle, enabling a workshop mechanic to pin point the exact problem. This will also

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EVENT for passenger cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles. With its guiding principle, ‘see. think. act.’, ZF has secured a strong global position by mastering the interaction of sensors, control units and vehicle motion control. The Aftermarket Division of the leading automotive supplier is fully involved in developing tomorrow’s mobility and from this derives the appropriate agenda for the future of the aftermarket.

result in rectifying the problem without any errors, according to a BCS representative. BCS will also upskill the existing mechanics, irrespective of the organised or the unorganised market. As the current skills would not be able to cope with the electronics, BCS’ workshops would ensure optimum usage of its products. Augmented Reality (AR) would be a part of the workshops in the future wherein it would enable a mechanic to take a more informed and error-free decision on a problem with a vehicle. These vehicles will include all BS-VI emission norm compliant models which include fourwheelers, two-wheelers and commercial vehicles.

ZF Aftermarket: The transformation of the automotive aftermarket is in full swing with alternative drive concepts, digitalization, connected cars, autonomous driving and changing customer expectations. These are just some of the huge challenges faced by market participants. With its innovative products and individual service concepts, ZF Aftermarket has established a successful position as both architect and pacemaker for tomorrow’s mobility, and a reliable and competent partner for customers.

To ensure that vehicles move efficiently, safely, dynamically and reliably, ZF products are the first choice in driveline, chassis and safety systems

Vijay Khorgade, Head of the ZF Aftermarket India, explained how the opportunities offered by digitalization can be realized: “On one hand, it requires a readiness to question familiar business models, identify the potential of vehicle and user data, derive attractive business opportunities and implement them. On the other hand, market participants have to align even more strongly with customer expectations by offering more individualized mobility services.

Here, comprehensive understanding of the systems and technical know-how remains the most important foundation.”

With its tailor-made solutions for the after-sales market and established product brands ZF, Lemförder, Sachs and TRW, ZF Aftermarket is wellpositioned. At ACMA Automechanika, New Delhi, a particular product highlight was the fleet management tool ZF Car Connect, and the Sachs CDC shock absorbers for high-end European passenger cars which was introduced in India for the first time.

Pacoline Industries: The Pune based component manufacturer, Pacoline Industries, which supplies Tier I safety products to OEMs is now gearing up in the aftermarket sector as well. At the display, innovative mirror assemblies and side repeater lamps for CVs were showcased. With a stake of over 80% with OEMs, the company’s focus is to triple their aftermarket share in the next four years from 10% in the domestic market to 30% and from 5% in exports to 15%. The aim of the company has been to de-risk itself from the cyclic nature of the OEM space and in order to do that, Pacoline has been rigorously working towards increasing its products in the aftermarket space. “Over the past three years, we have focussed to look beyond OEMs to have a suitable balance in our business by expanding to other segments including aftermarket and export,”

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EVENT Highly successful event, says Vinnie Mehta Manufacturers Association, to understand how ACMA Automechanika has grown and what are the benefits for the exhibitors.

The fourth edition of ACMA Automechanika has witnessed a larger list of exhibitors from the aftermarket component sector. Pragati Maidan was packed with visitors as well as exhibitors tapping on potential customers for their business at this platform. We got into a conversation with Vinnie Mehta, Director General, Automotive Components

Q: What is the growth of ACMA Automechanika as a business platform for the aftermarket player over the years?

Mehta: ACMA Automechanika, New Delhi is the only of its kind of an event that focuses on the aftermarket. So we are the nodal trait helper in it and we are very happy the way the trade fair has grown over the last three editions. This is the fourth one and a highly successful.

We can gauge the growing eminence of the event from the quality of the displays that has become much better than what it was when we started. Right now we are constrained by the fact that there is no more room to grow. We do not have a venue. Pragati Maidan with its limited number of halls is only what we can use.

Now we are 100% occupied. So, we just hope that for the next edition in 2021 Pragati Maidan will be fully ready and we will be able to have a much bigger show, maybe 25% bigger than this edition.

Muzammil Shaikh, Director, Pacoline Industries, said.

This move will also introduce a wider portfolio in the aftermarket sector making it more profitable for the company as well as introduce quality products in this sector.

ARB Bearings: The Delhi-based ARB Bearings displayed its extensive portfolio of products at the ACMA Automechanika. Catering to the aftermarket, OEs, direct consumers and exporting to 22 countries, ARB Bearings has four manufacturing facilities and is producing more than 1,500 sizes of bearings in India. The company is primarily manufacturing bearings, industrial grease, clutch and universal joint cross. For a longer bearing life, the company displayed their newlylaunched Red Gel Grease which protects the bearing against the rust and enhanced resistance to water wash-out.

Q: How is the partnership with Messe Frankfurt?

Mehta: Great. What’s very interesting is that we are the only organisation anywhere in the world where Messe has a formal tie-up.

So, the show is co-branded with us, you know, where in the world you have a cobranded show so we feel very happy to be growing together.

Q: So, is there any specific theme in this current edition?

Mehta: Well, you know one aspect has been that we wanted to see the Indian industry is not a very matured industry if I were to compare it to the automotive industry in other parts of the world, especially if you look at the US, Europe, Japan or Korea.

Mostly, aftermarket is a very matured industry for Europe and the US, because it is backed by what is called as right to service and the market is grown as big as the OE market for Europe and for the US. In India, we are just a small fraction. We are just about 20% of the overall market.

So why we got this show is to vindicate that the auto aftermarket was attaining a critical mass and it justified a show and we wanted

This year, we have changed the theme and we wanted to show the market what we do and the entire idea of our display is to make it interactive.” said Arjun Rangar, Executive Director -Business Development, Stork Rubber Products. Catering to passenger cars, two-wheelers, commercial vehicle, and the farm segment, Stork Group has four manufacturing units in Gurugram and Manesar, Haryana.

Stork Rubber Products: Focussing to expand its aftermarket business, Gurugram-based Stork Rubber Products displayed control arms, control arm bushes for premium cars, anti-vibration parts, air-springs, leaf spring bushes, mounts, exhaust parts and mechanical control cables. “This year, our focus is to demonstrate our capabilities. We’ve displayed a very comprehensive range.

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EVENT to tell our members that apart from the OE supply, there is another option to be worked on, and another market opportunity to be tapped. I think we have delivered well for our industry. Though we do not have a specific theme, the show is more technology-oriented and the new technologies that will be coming in the market are showcased. So, the show has found its own people by itself without as mandating it.

Q: How is ACMA promoting the drive to improve quality of products and services from the aftermarket manufacturers?

Mehta: It is a huge effort in terms of the quality drive as a lot of it comes from the consumers and because at the end of the day the consumer pays based in the sense, not just the money part of it, he also faces the consequence of buying a spurious or a non standard component. So, to that level ACMA, SIAM, and MoRTH, together are running this huge campaign `Sadak Suraksha Jeevan Raksha’. That’s a big campaign that’s going on and sometimes it is in terms of 1,000 crore footsteps or sometimes in terms of human chains.

That is how we are trying to reach out to the common man and give a message on

safety and when a common man goes to the shop and says, I don’t want to compromise on safety, he isn’t going to buy spurious components. So that’s one way of driving standards and better quality product in the industry.

Secondly, we are working with the government to mandate standards for products sold in the aftermarket. And once you have standardised standards declared, then it will help you check a lot of this spurious and sub-standards imports. Once you have standards and they are implemented, mandated standards and their implementation mechanisms will make sure that these standards are implemented and then the substandard items are not sold anymore. So, it’s a time-consuming process, but, I guess we are making that effort and making standards.

It is not an easy thing. It requires a lot of stakeholders engagement and involvement.

Q: We are getting lot of Chinese components, which are also affecting the Indian manufacturers in terms of both cost and quality. What are the efforts

Mark Exhaust Systems Limited: One of the key suppliers of exhaust components to major OEMs such as Maruti Suzuki India Limited, Honda Scooters and Motorcycles India Limited and Suzuki Motorcycles, Mark Exhaust Systems Limited made its presence with Mark Xtralife, a two-year old aftermarket division of the parent company. The Mark Xtralife brand has a portfolio in suspension components such as ITR, OTR, SBJ, controller arms, boot lifters and stabiliser joints. At the ACMA Automechanika 2019, Mark Xtralife was focussed on gaining a sizeable market share in the aftermarket component industry. Looking beyond suspension parts, Mark Xtralife is also entereing into aftermarket water pumps for petrol and diesel engines. Between one and 1.25 litre engine capacities for both engine options, the water pumps will be available in the high-volume, mass-market segment, Brij Malhotra, Senior Vice President, Mark Exhaust Systems Limited, said. The acquisition of the UK-based Quinton Hazell has enabled Mark Xtralife to make this move. The company is already supplying its oil pumps to Maruti Suzuki with current production capacity of one lakh units annually.

Mark Xtralife is also planning to increase the production of this oil pump provisioned in the K12 petrol engine by four times by 2020 spending Rs 20 crore.

being made in these directions?

Mehta: I think when we are mandating standards, the customs are empowered. If the products are not meeting the standards they cannot allow that import. So, a better implementation is a right way of going about. Secondly the consumers should go and ask for genuine quality product. So that more often than not we are the ones who actually say that how would it matter. It is our callous attitude that needs to change.

I think the number of deaths in road accidents, if I am not mistaken, is the highest in the world at four lakhs.

That is a matter of huge concern with the government. We need to take that extremely seriously.

Q: How Tier II and Tier III players will be benefit out of this platform?

Mehta: This is an aftermarket show, and aftermarket does not make distinctions between Tier I or Tier II and Tier III players.

If you have a product which meets a customer expectation, you are there. To that level, the aftermarket is a very equal opportunity industry.

Bhargav TS

Valeo India: Primarily focussing on potential customers visiting from neighbouring countries at ACMA Automechanika 2019, Valeo India displayed its import range. The company deals in powertrains, thermal management, vision systems, comfort and driving assistance 67 67

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EVENT systems. It supplies from the comprehensive portfolio to players in the Make In India programme ranging from entry-level products to premium vehicles. This is the second time that Valeo Service is participating at ACMA Automechanika. The last time when Valeo participated, it received a very good response. This year the focus of the company has been in the aftermarket sector and is expected to grow with its R&D staff project to increase to 5,000 engineers by 2023.

Elofic Industries: “The one product that we are showcasing and has taken centre-stage is our Elofic Raahe car air purifier. This is our latest product which was introduced last year and has gone through 2 seasons. It has been receiving good response and Elofic’s core business is filtration. This air purifier had to be a natural extension of our product portfolio. This is a patented product which gets installed on the dashboard of a car and one sees a very drastic

Interview

ACMA Automechanika will scale new heights, says Michael Dehn, General Manager Sales and Marketing, Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India Pvt Ltd. Q: What are your thoughts on ACMA Automechanika 2019?

Dehn: The First edition, we started with only 9000sqm and today it’s 19,000 sqm, we had only 200 exhibitors then and this year we have over 500. The number of visitors has also doubled.

For us this is the true measurement of success.

Q: So how do you compare the Indian edition with other Global editions?

reduction in the PM 2.5 levels,” asserted, KD Sahni, Vice Chairman and Joint Managing Director, Elofic Industries, said. “Filtration is

What is the strength and also the areas for improvement?

Dehn: For us the world is our market.

We try to be active and successful in every major market. I am very glad that in India, we are with a very strong partner, ACMA. From the global perspective what is very interesting to see is the changing trade relationships around the world. India is set to benefit a lot from the global events in terms of trade. I believe the Indian industry is ready in terms of quality to play a bigger role on the global stage and events like this facilitate trade. Many companies from the developed markets visit ACMA Automechanika to source products. Obviously that’s the true purpose of this event. The international buyers come here. They find Indian suppliers, they need to compare the quality, compare the conditions the commercial conditions and so on and after the show, they will have selected one and we’ll start the business. We facilitate this and also business within India.

Another important aspect of what we want to achieve is to have visitors from every part of India, even remote areas.

For us it’s very important as they bring a lot of value to the table. They open the access to areas that companies may not be able to go by themselves. So we try to bring also those buyers here and they

are harder to reach, harder to convince to come but over time, you will see that all of these numbers will grow and that’s something that I think also adds to the quality of the event and at the end the satisfaction of the exhibitors.

Q: So if you said you wanted to bring lot of people from the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where spurious parts a major role especially the availability of genuine parts is a concern. So how do you plan to reduce the usage of spurious parts in those areas and educate them?

Dehn: Well, when we look at the sale of fake parts, then I think first of all we have to distinguish between 2 different types of buyers. There’s one buyer, who knows what he’s buying and the second, the one who doesn’t know what he’s buying. So first of all, let’s take the buyer who doesn’t know who thinks he’s buying original but he’s actually buying fake. Let’s look at this buyer, I think because it’s a very difficult area.

The industry has provided new solutions that make it easier for anyone to check.

There are a lot of digital solutions that make it possible for anyone in the entire value chain or even in the supply chain to check whether this part is original.

QR codes and so on where you can actually check on the website of the manufacturer whether this box that you

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EVENT our core business and we want to be in every field where filtration is required,” M B Sahni, Chairman and Managing Director, Elofic Industries, said.

Being the pioneers in the filtration industry and catering to automotive, agriculture, earth moving, industrial, heating, petrochemical sectors. The company is planning for new investments including expansion of their manufacturing capacity and R&D. Currently, Elofic has 6 manufacturing plants located in Faridabad, Hosur and Nalagarh. The company is also looking at a further penetration in the commercial vehicle segment apart from its large presence in the passenger vehicle and the two-wheeler segments.

Trends that would be witnessed is higher grade of filtration with the introduction of BS-VI emission norms however, according to the company, there would be no negative impact for them. The filtration sector will continue to witness growth due to its high

just purchased or that you are about to purchase is original or not. We also communicate, educate and train to make sure that people know what they’re buying.

Now coming to the other side, those people that know what they’re buying, that is a bit harder part because here people commit a crime when they’re buying counterfeit. And that is the hard part to address because they know what they’re doing. And so you have to convince them somehow not to do that and that area is harder to address.

If you buy fake brake pads that you are more likely to have an accident because they fail. They have to be told such things. But I think that is a harder route to changing behavior. But it will also change and make people change.

Q: Is it not possible for you or the manufacturers to tie up with an insurance company and if a vehicle fail or meet with an accident because of spurious parts, and if it is proved, the insurance company can deny the claim?

Dehn: I think this is something the manufacturers’ association would be able to do. As an organizer, we are not in that relationship which is more on the commercial end where we are not active.

consumption as well as requirement. In order to de-risk itself from the cyclic nature of the OEM sector, Elofic Industries is also looking at diversification into multiple segments and is keen to maintain its 30% OEM, 30% export and 40% aftermarket stakes in this segment.

Rico Auto: Auto component manufacturer Rico Auto displayed clutch assemblies, break shoe and oil springs at ACMA Automechanika. At the launch, Abhishek Kulshrestha, Vice President, Corporate Materials and Aftermarket Business, Rico Auto, said, “Clutch Assembly is our USP. Other companies are not producing high-quality assemblies which we make because we are the masters in the assemblies and we have invested a lot of quality parameters for this. For the aftermarket exclusively, we have purchased approximately Rs 5 crores of testing equipment for assemblies.” After having supplied in the Indian market since 35 years, Rico Auto has forayed into the aftermarket business in August

Q: In general the Indian component industry has its unique challenges and disruptions. What would you like to say on that?

Dehn: The industry is known to satisfy the demands of the Indian market first and foremost. They also look for international markets. As you said the Indian market has its very own characteristics and challenges. There are already a lot of players in India that are at a level to supply to anyone. There are some new players in the market that are growing into that level. We hope that in the next few years we can assist and help to raise the bar for the industry.

Automechanika, hopefully, is going to help them not only to reach the level but also to demonstrate what level they have reached and make that known to the international audience.

Q: As the automotive industry is moving towards electric or hybrid, the number of components are going to reduce. Will that affect your trade fairs across the globe?

Dehn: There are quite a few different views on that. Of course the most extreme view would be in 10 years time, the entire vehicle parc will be changed. I don’t believe in that as it may not be feasible, Therefore, that extreme scenario is not going to happen. In fact, there are not enough raw materials to build so many batteries. So there are limits to that. What

will happen is clearly the electric vehicles will become part of the fleet and they will become certain percentage part of the fleet.

Of course, there are parts that will not be used in electric vehicles. But there are many others that have to be used. So there are certain areas that might not be in demand as much as the remaining parts but I would say the impact at this point as far as I can see is not going to be that dramatic.

Q: Is there any gap still in ACMA Automechanika?

Dehn: Oh, well, certainly. We are never complete with a growing industry. You always have areas that you don’t cover. The challenge this time was that the venue was limited. So we could not put everything into the show that we wanted to.

Q: You’ve been seeing the Indian tradition of Automechanika. So what kind of new things that we can expect from the next edition?

Dehn: The next edition is in 2021.

I always say that as organisers we know nothing about the market. Our exhibitors and visitors are the source of wisdom and knowledge for us and we always listen to them and let them guide us on what we need to introduce and what technology we need to focus on.

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EVENT 2017. On the response from the aftermarket, “This is the first year actually of our business in aftermarket. Having initiated around

Operating for 62 years, the company caters to both domestic market and exports to more than 63 countries. The company has 7 manufacturing locations which are certified under the ISO:TS16949 standards. The product range includes more than 8000 parts for Indian, Japanese, European and American Truck and Trailer market.

Minda Silca: At this year’s ACMA Automechanika New Delhi, fully owned subsidiary of the Spark Minda group, Minda Silca introduced a shop-in-shop concept. Under this method, making duplicate keys or locksmithing work, which is currently extremely unorganised would be offered proper skill sets and training to enhance their method of working, according to a company official. The overall benefit to a person who is being trained will be a better value addition of skills to them. The company also introduced two new machines, one of them

14-15 products now we have more than 500 products that too with the 62 distributors. Plus, we have the system to establish distributors in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh and we are expecting revenue of Rs 25-30 crore in the first year itself. I always feel very happy and blessed that Rico has been treated as a premium brand.”

Going forward, Rico Auto projects revenue of over Rs 100 crore by 2020.

Mansons International: Headquartered in Mumbai, Mansion International is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of components for OEM, Tier-1 and independent aftermarket.

At ACMA Automechanika, Mansons focused on components for NVH, Driveline and Cabin categories. Gautam Khanduja, Director, Mansons International, said, “ACMA Automechanika New Delhi allows us to meet most of our customers and discuss new product developments and showcase our plans for the coming year. We can communicate with our entire customer network with focused meetings which are fruitful for both parties here.” The company manufactures and supplies components predominantly for the Commercial Vehicle segment apart for supplies for the Bus and Van segment.

automatically duplicates a key, while the other station is for fine side cutting of the key. Minda Silca also introduced their four-wheeler, three-wheeler, two-wheeler and commercial vehicle locks.

In order to increase their brand recognition and brand visibility, Spark Minda is working towards better marketing strategies and new mergers. Apart from showcasing their products in which are mainly supplied to OEMs, the company also has a sizeable share in the aftermarket sector. At the ACMA Automechanika New Delhi, the company’s focus while showcasing its products was on getting better visibility in the aftermarket.

Marathwada Auto Compo Pvt Ltd: In partnership with the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Marathwada Auto Compo Pvt Ltd. (MAC) has developed Electronic Power-Assisted Steering (EPAS) for A-segment cars and small commercial vehicles in India. This marks as the first product for the passenger cars segment as the company is into manufacturing front suspension for two-and three-wheelers.

The product is expected to launch in India by early 2020 in

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EVENT the aftermarket itself. Currently, EPAS is being manufactured by foreign players like ZF Friedrichshafen (Germany), Nexteer Automotive (U.S), NSK Ltd. (Japan), TRW Automotive (U.S), and JTEKT Corp (Japan) and now MAC (India).

its 200 distributors and 12,000 retailers in the country. Remaining as a majority stakeholder in automotive filters, the new entry of lubricants would cater to entry and mid size two-wheelers. The

Highway Industries: A Hero Motorcorp group company, the Ludhiana-based Highway Industries is all set to target the

Indian and global automotive aftermarket with its forged and machine parts. Presently, the company manufactures for the OEMs of two-wheeler, passenger car, commercial vehicle and farm equipment segments. Producing from three plants in Ludhiana, Highway Industries has monthly production of over 3,000 tonnes of forging. The company aims to cross Rs 1000 crore revenue by 2021. The company is planning to foray into Electric Vehicles’ components. The company makes steering, precision forging, transmission, and suspension parts for two- wheelers, PVs, CVs, white goods, farm equipments and primarily catering to Hero Motor Corp, GKN, Magna and Bosch.

Ample Auto Tech: A manufacturer and exporter of steering and suspension parts Ample Auto Tech launched a control arm range along with our new-generation vehicle range for the Indian market. Within 10 years of the inception, the company has established themselves as a brand that prides in excellence in quality. With a range of over 4000 products, Atek caters to over 30 countries with steering and suspension parts that are adaptable to numerous models of buses, cars, trucks, tractors & SUVs. Currently, Ample Auto Tech supplies automotive parts for European, Japanese, Korean, Indian & American applications.

Lumax India: Expanding its footprint in the aftermarket sector, UK Jain Group, Lumax India introduced a new range of lubricants for the two-wheeler market dedicated to be sold only in the aftermarket. The company will sell these new lubricants through

engine oils in Lumax’s portfolio are offered in mineral and synthetic formats complying with API/SN and JASO MA2 standards. The lubricants will be sourced from the company’s vendor in Mumbai who will also take care of bottling the products. “The two-wheeler maintenance segment forms a huge chunk of the Indian aftermarket and hence, we would only be relying on organic growth over the next six months before going ahead and striking any marketing strategies for this new product line,” Ashok Shukla, Business Head, Automotive Care Products, Lumax India, said.

ACDelco India: One of the most popular component trader in the Indian automotive component industry, ACDelco India, showcased its existing line of products. The centre-stage for the company was taken by its tropical, glycol-based coolant apart from its popular product range. As one of the pioneers in trading, a company official said that none of the goods anywhere are manufactured by them. That stated, there are specific programmes which ACDelco deals with in order to train suppliers. The new range of coolant has been upgraded from erstwhile specifications.

Him Teknoforge Limited: Into various products for commercial as well as passenger vehicle applications, Him Teknoforge Limited was present at the ACMA Automechanika New Delhi.

The company showcased its latest addition, the Swaraj 855 Bevel Kit for 22 tonne category vehicles. According to Mrinal Aggarwal, Director, Him Teknoforge Limited, “Only one percent is doing good at all structured level. So we’re doing some sort of a technology transfer through an overseas firm.

The samples of the new products are almost ready and we are speaking to an OEM. After full swing, the cost of manufacturing will come down considerably. It is a superior quality product.

We keep adding about 5 or 6 parts every month.” ACI 71 71

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SIAT 2019: India bridging the technology and regulatory gap The 16th edition of SIAT 2019 organised by ARAI proved to be a catalyst of change. Based on the theme of ‘Empowering Mobility - The Safe and Intelligent Way’, the biennial event brought to the fore innovative ideas and solutions in automotive technologies aimed at meeting future challenges.

Story & Pictures: Ashish Bhatia

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he 16th edition of Symposium on International Automotive Technology 2019 (SIAT 2019) was organised by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), in associationwithSAEINDIA,NATRiPand SAE International (USA), at Bavdhan, in Pune between January 16 and January 18, 2019. A biennial fixture in the automotive industry’s calendar, SIAT 2019 lived up to its tag of being reckoned as a catalyst of change in the global automotive circle. Serving as a widely acclaimed forum, this year too, it facilitated a constructive

exchange for the stakeholders of the automotive industry. This was validated by the participation of eminent worldwide experts from across the automotive spectrum. With the theme of ‘Empowering Mobility - The Safe and Intelligent Way’, SIAT 2019, ensured attention on diverse array of subjects including ‘Harmonisation of Regulations’, ‘Transportation Systems’, ‘Manufacturing’, ‘Simulation and Modelling’, ‘Structural Reliability’, ‘Testing and Evaluation Techniques’, ‘Tyre Technology’ and ‘End of Life and Recycling’. With a focus on recent advances in various automotive areas, such as safety, emissions, engines, noise, e-mobility, electronics, intelligent

transportation, vehicle dynamics, materials, and alternate fuels, the forum brought to the fore innovative ideas and solutions in automotive technologies aimed at meeting future challenges.

At SIAT 2019, like in the previous editions, the technical papers continued to be a big draw. During the symposium, over 200 technical papers were presented as a future repository. In all 40 keynotes, on various subjects, were presented. Apart from the symposium proceedings, technical reference bulletin, containing technical articles, case studies and product information were also published.

The inaugural day began by stating how the Indian government was poised to bridge technology and the regulatory gap in the future. ARAI representatives assured full support to the ministry and the government.

According to Vikram Kirloskar, Vice Chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. 73 73

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EVENT Ltd. and President ARAI, “Given the potential contribution, the automotive industry is the biggest growth driver of GDP. Over the last decade, significant gains have been made. Going forward, dealing with complexities, the automotive industry requires the highest level of innovation to satisfy the customers.”

Lauding ARAI for having built the requisite competence and infrastructure, Kirloskar called for innovation at an affordable cost.

He also drew attention to product development cycle times being compressed given the backdrop of increasing disruptive changes. “The new avenues opened up by crash norms, new safety requirements, the call for e-mobility, have all opened up a global set of requirements,” he explained. Citing disruptive changes as a big challenge for the industry, Kirloskar apprised his audience of the rising need for skilled manpower and resources for the automotive industry to be able to sustain the growth momentum.

Rashmi Urdhwareshe, Director, ARAI, drew attention to a panel discussion titled ‘Çollaborative R&D for Futuristic Mobility Solution’, on the agenda this year which she said would bring all the stakeholders on a common platform. Urdhwareshe announced a joint development programme on seats with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). About selection

of the technical papers, she said that a total of 236 manuscripts were selected for publication, including 40 invited papers and keynotes from India and overseas, making for a valuable repository.

Bringing a perspective from the aviation space, Dr Bala Bharadvaj, Managing Director, Boeing Research & Technology India, and President SAE INDIA, urged the industry to look at the classification ‘Automotive’ as one that looks at not just surface vehicles but those flying in the air.

He opined that it would widen the horizon of the industry on the whole.

Bharadvaj cited the example of hands-free driving in planes, referred to semi-autonomous in the automotive parlance, as a ready to adopt solution.

Traffic manoeuvres in aeroplanes in the 3D space, air traffic vehicular management, he opined, had attained a high degree of advancement.

Bharadvaj urged the industry to look at ways to think beyond just the cocoon of the automobile industry and borrow technology from the aerospace industry especially in areas like shaping and structuring of the vehicles. “I request the industry to think beyond the set boundaries and blur them especially since both the industries require a similar scale of effort to graduate to the next level,” he said.

David L. Schutt, Chief Executive Officer, SAE International, said the

society has 130,000 members from 100 countries. He reiterated the Society’s commitment to help advance mobility.

Chief Guest Dr A R Sihag, Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India, lauded the auto industry for having come a long way since the early decade of Independence.

Speaking of the Indian auto industry as ranked among the top 5 globally, Dr Sihag, highlighted the technological strides made by the industry in relation to environment, safety and affordability. Citing the automotive mission plan for the next decade (2016-2026), he said that the industry aimed to graduate to rank 3 globally.

From the present contribution of 8%, the industry will look to contribute an estimated 12% to the GDP, and result in direct and indirect employment for 65 million Indians, he claimed.

“NATRIP Implementation Society (NATIS) will implement the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP),” he explained.

Highlighting the Government’s role in promoting electric vehicles through FAME-I, Dr Sihag lauded the latter’s efforts in helping the industry to localise the manufacturing of e-vehicles. He cited the launch of 450 vehicles under a pilot project relating to public transport and shared mobility across 9 cities. Fame-I with

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1. Dr A R Sihag, Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India 2. C V Raman, Senior Executive Director, Engineering, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., and Vice-President ARAI.

its outlay of Rs 10,000 crore, he exclaimed, would take over from the FAME-I scheme that expires in 2019. On the need to have the requisite infrastructure for electric vehicle homologation testing, he said that the latter would be sanctioned sooner than later in a bid to help manufacturers override any constraint going forward. “We expect it to be functional later this year,” he stated.

Cognisant of the need for charging infrastructure, he added that the government was actively looking at building 300 charging stations with a focus of taking e-vehicles out of the city limitations, on to highways like the Golden Triangle which connects Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. Dr Sihag concluded by urging ARAI to engage the industry to commit to R&D projects funded by the Department of Heavy Industries (DHI).

C V Raman, Senior Executive Director, Engineering, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., and Vice-President ARAI, drew attention to the increasing consumerism, with households in the upper-income category (aspirers and above) pegged to have grown by 2 times as per a Boston Consulting Group study, from 3.1 million in 2005 to 6.5 million 2016.

He opined that the progression towards the digital economy was disrupting the conventional approach. A study pegged the share of smart phone users among mobile

users to have reached 36% in 2018 from 22% in 2014. “Because of all these changes mobility has gone through a transformation.

He pegged the use of public transportation in India at 18% with private transport accounting for 15% (two-wheelers at 12% and four-wheelers at 3%) as per a TERI study. “I urge stakeholders to look at India’s requirement of affordable mobility solutions,” he said. Speaking on high congestion and the impact of vehicle speed on carbon emissions, Raman invoked a Japan Automotive Research Institute study which stated that as vehicle speeds drop from 40 kmph to 20 kmph, carbon emissions increase by 40%. He additionally blamed the pre-BSI vehicles (till the year 2000) amounting to 9 million as a major cause of high pollution levels in the country.

“Stricter emission norms with old vehicles will not solve the problem,” he quipped. Citing the world’s most polluted cities to be in India, a study from the World Health Organisation (WHO) had Kanpur, Faridabad and Varanasi listed as the top 3 polluting cities globally. He urged the government to facilitate the scrappage of old vehicles if it was actively considering reducing carbon emissions. India needs a Scrappage policy and a Scrappage Center,” he said. He additionally called for the

need to implement practical and feasible solutions to reduce fuel consumption. A PPAC, Nomura 2018 study pegged 85% of crude oil imported in India as accounting for 20% of India’s import bills. “India requires environment-friendly and energy secure mobility,” he said. New car sales between 2018 and 2030, at a CAGR of 8%, are expected to burden the country’s roads with 70 million cumulative vehicles. With the next phase of future safety regulations to be built on Indian accident data, he urged the industry stakeholders to consider technology development modelled on Indian customer requirements.

3. Dr Bala Bharadvaj, Managing Director, Boeing Research & Technology India, and President SAE INDIA

Drawing attention to mobility solutions in the global context, Raman made comparisons between Tokyo and Delhi for instance where he cited an example of a similar route length boasting of a higher ridership in the former. Tokyo boats of a 3.5 times annual ridership compared to Delhi according to a study. “Delhi lacks the last mile connectivity and affordable solutions,” he said. Calling for integrated mobility solutions for boosting last mile connectivity in the country, the case study of Integrated one-stop Mobility solutions (USA) was referred to in the presentation. Raman summed up as he urged the industry to look at affordable, connected and shared, environment-friendly and energy secure, and safer mobility as the need of the hour. ACI 75 75

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report

Saint–Gobain opens three new facilities, invests Rs 1200cr

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aint-Gobain, inaugurated 3 world class facilities set up with an investment of over Rs 1200 crore to meet the growing demand of the domestic and international glass markets. They were dedicated to the nation by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

With this the cumulative investment in the World Glass Complex, Sriperumbudur, has exceeded Rs 3000 crore. The projects are the third float glass plant, Advanced Magnetron Coater and Glass Solutions Line and second rainwater harvesting reservoir.

“As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India is an important market and investment destination for Saint-Gobain. As a global leader in the construction industry we see immense opportunities in India to utilize our expertise in sustainable building solutions to enhance human habitats and promote well-being in living spaces. Over the past 2 decades we have consistently invested in developing new markets, in building new world-class manufacturing facilities, in technology and in human capital. We are an innovation driven company and our investment in SaintGobain Research India, our world-class Research Centre in Chennai, is aimed at developing innovative solutions for India and for the world. India has consistently encouraged and supported us and our products are well accepted; our businesses have leadership positions; the brand recall of Saint-Gobain in India is as good as that in France. Indeed, we are as much an Indian Company as we are French,” PierreAndré de Chalendar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Compagnie de SaintGobain, France, said.

“India is amongst the best performing regions for Saint-Gobain and it has been our constant endeavor to develop the markets in India by bringing the best technologies and building world-class

manufacturing facilities, in line with the Government’s ‘Make in India” mission.

Over the years, we have made significant investments across all our businesses – glass for buildings and for automotive, Gypsum Plasterboard and Plasters, Abrasives, Ceramic Materials, Performance Plastics and so on. Since our entry into India in 1996, we have invested about Rs 7500 crore. Today, we have built a panIndia manufacturing presence and have developed strong market positions in all our businesses. About 95 % of our local sales are of products manufactured at our plants in India,” Anand Y Mahajan, Chairman, Saint-Gobain India Private Limited, said.

“We strongly believe in India’s future and have consistently invested ahead of time in Capacity, Capability, Technology and Innovation. The World Glass Complex at Sriperumbudur, Saint-Gobain’s largest investment in a single location worldwide is set to welcome the largest and most advanced glass manufacturing plant in India along with advanced magnetron coater and glass solutions line. This new expansion will accelerate Saint-Gobain’s momentum in realising the Vision of being the Clear Choice for Glass Solutions in India and the adjoining region,” B Santhanam, Managing Director, Saint-Gobain India Private Limited, said.

Third float glass plant: The third float glass plant will be the largest in India and the region, and is equipped to manufacture a wide range of complex products that cater to the needs of sustainable habitats and affordable luxury. It is an automated, energy efficient, scalable and flexible, state-of-the-art integrated glass facility. The plant features several innovative processes that are being deployed for the first time in India and the region. It is a modern plant with advanced robotic technology, 3.5 MW roof top solar power generation facility as well as 1.2 MW electrical power generation

from the waste heat of the furnace meeting almost 100% of its electrical energy needs.

In line with Saint-Gobain’s commitment to sustainable development, the facility will incorporate several innovations contributing to sustainability. The energy efficiency measures on the float-line make it one of the most efficient furnaces of SaintGobain and will be a benchmark for glass manufacturing facilities worldwide.

Advanced Magnetron Coater and Glass Solutions Line: Keeping in mind the global trends, Saint-Gobain invested in a second magnetron coater facility. With this, the World Glass Complex will have the capacity to manufacture 140 million sq ft of High-Performance, High-selective, Energy-Efficient Glass catering to entire Africa, Middle-East, ASEAN, and Oceania region. It will accelerate Saint-Gobain’s vision to develop the World Glass Complex at Sriperumbudur as a regional hub for catering to the needs of international clients.

The Glass Solutions line that got inaugurated, manufactures advanced insulated and laminated glass. The line is equipped with the state of art cutting & grinding facilities, tempering furnaces, screen printing, lamination and insulated glass unit production lines - with capability of handling Jumbo glass sizes as well. The solutions facility will serve as a one stop source for servicing the requirements of mega and super-mega projects in India and around the world.

Second Rainwater Harvesting Reservoir: A second rain water harvesting reservoir with a capacity of over 72 million liters in the World Glass Complex will have an overall capacity of 130 million liters and would meet a significant part of the water requirements. ACI

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BOOK YOUR BOOTH

An exhibition on technologies for automotive manufacturing 4 – 6 July 2019 Hall no. 1, Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai www.aes-show.com

Display exhibits from these profiles: • Automotive design and R&D • Automotive inspection and quality control • Automotive paint and finishing • Automotive plant equipment and system For bookings, please contact: Rahul Ganjapure Tel: +91 22 6103 8424 M: +91 9820796183 rahul.ganjapure@india.messefrankfurt.com Supporting associations

All India Council for Robotics & Automation

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IMTEX 2019 showcases host of new manufacturing technologies and tools

Photography Sricharan R

ACI Bureau

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he 19th edition of IMTEX and the 21st Tooltech, organised by the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) that concluded recently at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) brought technologies, innovations and new products under one roof to cater to the growing needs of various industrial sectors. IMTEX is the flagship event of the Indian metal cutting industry. It is South and South East Asia’s apex exhibition showcasing the latest trends as well as technological refinements from India and other global players. IMTEX has crossed a major milestone of 50 years. In its five decades’ journey, IMTEX has supplemented the growth

of Indian machine tool industry and also aided the development of the manufacturing industry by bringing technology advancements to its doorsteps.

Tooltech presented machine tool accessories, metrology and CAD/ CAM cutting tools, tooling systems and current trends in the tooling industry. This attracted visitors from different spectrum of manufacturing and ancillary industries.

IMTEX 2019, the largest so far, was inaugurated by the Karnataka Chief Minister, H D Kumaraswamy, RV Deshpande, Minister for Revenue, government of Karnataka, KJ George,

Minister for Large & Medium Scale Industries, government of Karnataka, Vikram Kirloskar, VicePresident, Confederation of Indian Industry, and Ram Venkataramani, President, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA). Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman, Exhibitions, IMTMA, P Ramadas, President, IMTMA, Indradev Babu, Vice-President, IMTMA, and V Anbu, DirectorGeneral and CEO, IMTMA, were also present at the inauguration.

The Chief Minister said the event has been a gateway for attracting investments to Karnataka since the it was first held in Bengaluru 12 years

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EVENT ago. To give impetus to aerospace vertical Karnataka has announced an aerospace policy that has identified investment potential of around 10 billion dollars in the sector during 2013-2023 which is expected to give a boost to the manufacturing industry in Karnataka, he said.

R V Deshpande said, Karnataka has always laid out a red carpet to investors wanting to do business in the State. “It has a pro-industry policy, which has helped industries to thrive,” he said. Adding to his points, K J George said, the State has been in the forefront of many ventures such as setting up the world’s largest solar park, launching booster kit for startups, setting up an exclusive machine tool park, etc.

Kirloskar said, “exhibitions will never become obsolete as machines will always be required in the manufacturing industry. Technologies are needed to enhance productivity.

Large-scale exhibitions such as IMTEX will provide all this in one place.” Venkataramani said, “ACMA and IMTMA will continue to work to understand and provide solutions to the ever-growing demands of the auto component industry.”

familiarised the manufacturing fraternity with the techno-commercial advantages of additive manufacturing.

The pavilion on Industry 4.0 was a platform to see and experience all facets of its implementation.

Seminars on `Factory of the Future: Industry 4.0’ and on Additive Manufacturing were held during the 7-day event. IMTEX and Tootech 2019 had 122 exhibitors and 91, 446 visitors from 26 countries. There were also 7 country pavilions. More than 150 trade delegations attended the exhibition. Some of the exhibitors are featured below.

q CERATIZIT Group

CERATIZIT Group presented its new cutting tool competence and unified brand structure for the first time at IMTEX 2019. Under the umbrella of the Group, the four competence brands of cutting solutions, CERATIZIT, KOMET, WNT and KLENK exhibited machining applications andtailor-made solution packages for industries such as automotive, aerospace and heavy

metal cutting. “We took advantage of KOMET’s takeover, and completely restructured our cutting tool division to serve our customers even better by providing comprehensive solutions for all fields of application in cutting,” Board Member, Thierry Wolter, said.

CERATIZIT attaches great importance to the local production of its cutting tools in India. With a production site in Kolkata and two plants in Bengaluru and more than 630 employees throughout India, the group is now able to produce the entire range of cutting tool solutions in India, from indexable inserts and tool holders to solid carbide and PCD tools.

“For the current business year, we expect a sales growth of 20% compared to the previous year,” Ashwani Sareen, Managing Director of CERATIZIT India, said. The Indian subsidiaries of the group are continuing the successful course of recent years. Turnover has increased more than five-fold over the last

“The current edition of IMTEX showcased advanced technologies like 3D printing, internet of things, automation, robotics, and Industry 4.0. India is witnessing a significant growth in the manufacturing space.

Industries, however, need to invest more in R&D and innovations as well as explore these technologies for improved profitability and sustainability. IMTEX provided an apt platform to witness these technologies closely and adopt them,” Ramadas said, For the new technologies IMTMA introduced 2 pavilions for additive manufacturing and Industry 4.0. The pavilion on Additive Manufacturing 79 79

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EVENT decade due to organic and strategic growth. “The goal, however, is quite clear: to continue to grow over the next few years,” he added.

The foundation for this growth has been laid during the recent years.

The new location in Kolkata was inaugurated in 2013 and a modern CVD coating plant was added last year. CERATIZIT also continues to invest in Bengaluru. Once the expansion at KOMET India has been completed, more than twice as much space will be available. This will also see an addition of new machines and new employment opportunities.

q Sandvik Coromant

Sandvik Coromant showcased how customers could achieve significantly higher productivity levels, more flexible machining processes and more sustainable production under the theme ‘Shaping the future together’. The company presented Innovative digital machining solutions designed to reduce waste and increase efficiency for customers.

These included CoroPlus, Process Control which helps avoid premature failure of tools, ensure consistent quality of components and a reduce damage due to collisions.

CoroPlus ToolGuide, provides fast and precise tool recommendations for the specific operation and material type, as well as CoroPlus ToolLibrary, which enables users to integrate tool assemblies directly into their digital machining environment.

Along with the software that helps improve design and production planning, the company showcased networked tool and process-control solutions.

Another tool, the CoroPlus MachiningInsights will not just monitor system but will also gather data, calls attention to issues and provides the insights required to take action. It is an easily attainable step

for manufacturers that are looking to reduce waste in production and make a smooth transition into a digital way of working.

q Bharat Fritz Werner

In order to empower MSME segment for further growth, Bharat Fritz Werner Ltd (BFW), a leading machine tool manufacturer in India, in association with Universal Robots, pioneers and leaders of Collaborative Robots (Cobots), presented new and affordable automation solutions.

The partnership between the Danish robot manufacturer and BFW will leverage the productivity in the MSME segment by the integration of collaborative robots in manufacturing processes. This aims to disrupt the traditional production set-up of the MSME segment with top-notch automation solutions and will dramatically impact productivity, quality and working conditions.

BFW and Universal Robots aims to redefine the production processes by deploying the robotic arms through modular, flexible and user-friendly integration solution platform – Arjun. Advanced user-friendly and light industrial robotic arms will dramatically impact productivity, quality and working conditions in MSME segment as it will automate and streamline repetitive industrial processes efficiently thus empowering the shop floor for higher value creative activities.

The contract between Universal Robots and BFW regarding this collaboration was signed at Odense, Denmark in the presence of Ravi Raghavan, MD, Bharat Fritz Werner (BFW), Praful Shende, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, BFW, Jurgen von Hollen, President, Universal Robots A/S, Klaus Vestergaard, CFO, Universal Robots A/S, Esben Østergaard, CTO, Universal Robots

A/S and Pradeep David, GM, Universal Robots South Asia.

Ravi Raghavan, said, “Universal Robots and BFW strategic partnership will bring collaborative robot technology on a modular flexible platform to MSME shop floors to enhance their manufacturing competitiveness significantly.”

Praful Shende, said Deployment of collaborative robot technology will help Indian organisations to realise the creative potential of their teams by engaging them in higher value creation activities. BFW and Universal Robots alliance will act as a major catalyst for these initiatives.

“We are pleased to be working closely with BFW as their CNC machines and Automation Services are well respected throughout the country, along with a solid sales & support network of over 40 offices. It will surely help evangelize this “Top 50 disruptive technology of 2018” called cobots, among the “Job Shops” in India similar to what Universal Robots has succeeded to do in the rest of the world as the largest global cobot manufacturer, by far,” Pradeep David, said, BFW also announced its partnership with WIN Automation Solutions to jointly offer to customers modular scalable and comprehensive factory automation solutions with most comprehensive range of offerings in Milling, Turning and Special Purpose Machines. These solutions consist of smart machines, intelligent material handling/automation systems synchronizing the material flow to manufacturing/assembly needs, providing data analytics to maximize OEE, productivity, quality, inventories etc.

Announcing the partnership, Raghavan said, “In sync with our purpose to “Enable Progress” through

80 80 auto components india n march 2019

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EVENT solutions, we aim to comprehensively address the future of our clients by deploying digitization. For this purpose, we will pursue collaborative approach and partnership with WIN Automation which is an important step in this journey.”

Pratik Kumar, CEO, Wipro Infrastructure Engineering (WIN), said, “Industrial automation for manufacturing is US $ 150 Billion opportunity globally and India is a nascent market. It is expected to grow rapidly and exponentially. With WIN Automation Solutions, we are in the right place at the right time to capture this market opportunity.”

q VL Series from EMAG

EMAG showcased its modular standard machines this year at IMTEX. VL machines are part of EMAG’s modular standard series. As the term suggests, these machines are built on a common machine base but allow the use of an extremely wide range of technologies, similar to the modular platform systems seen in the automotive industry. There are now modular machines available for turning, gear hobbing, and chamfering processes; for grinding (chucked parts and shaft parts); for induction hardening; and also in special designs for laser welding or PECM technology. Essentially, they are available for virtually all the technologies offered by the EMAG Group.

The vertical pick-up turning centers of the VL series were developed particularly for the production of precise chucked parts. There are now five versions of the VL machine to cover the widest possible range of parts. The smallest machine is the VL 2, designed for chucked parts with a diameter of up to 100 mm.

It is followed by the VL 4, VL 6, and VL 8 machines which allow for an increase of 100 mm in diameter with each model increase.

q Precision Technologies Group

The UK-based Precision Technologies Group (PTG) presented the capabilities of its Powerstir range of friction stir welding (FSW) machines. “Our Powerstir friction stir welding technologies have long been recognised as providing an innovative way of creating superior high-strength joints, with proven weld quality, excellent mechanical properties, virtually no porosity and the opportunity for reduced wall thickness in many applications,” Steven Benn, Regional Sales Director, PTG Holroyd, said.

He added, “The recent, rapid growth in the development of BEV (battery electric vehicle) and PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) technologies has seen us receive increasing number of enquiries from organisations involved in the manufacture of electric vehicles (EVs). As such, we have developed FSW techniques specifically for the fabrication of lightweight, robust and highly aesthetic battery trays and housings, coolant units and vehicle body panels.”

developments in the Speed Viper series at IMTEX 2019.

Klingelnberg also showcased a measuring machine made for just this type of Closed Loop process: the P 40 precision measuring center stands for future-proof quality management of gears and features a compact footprint suited to a workpiece diameter range of up to 400 mm. The machine and software concept is optimised for the measurement of complex drive components using a technology that replaces up to six conventional measuring methods: gear measurement, general coordinate measurement, form and position measurement, roughness measurement, contour measurement and optical measuring technology. This guarantees maximum measuring accuracy and reproducibility. ACI

q Klingelnberg India

Klingelnberg India Pvt Ltd showcased its extensive line of products and services including the company’s Höfler Speed Viper2 180 cylindrical gear grinding machine with dual-spindle concept and Koenig Automation at IMTEX 2019. The Speed Viper cylindrical gear generating grinding machine was developed by Klingelnberg with a special focus on highproduction generating grinding.

The innovative machine concept was unveiled for the first time at the EMO 2017 exhibition in Hanover, Germany, and was presented to a large international audience the following year. Klingelnberg introduced additional new 81 81

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