ACMA 56th Annual session focuses on ‘Winning with Quality and Innovation’

Emphasising on the road map for the auto component industry, Arvind Balaji said, “The Indian Auto Component industry is at a point of inflection, quality and technology will be the key differentiators for industry’s competitiveness. Globally, the automobile landscape is undergoing a rapid change with the integration of digital and intelligent technologies in vehicles, much higher consideration for environment protection, reduction of fossil fuels, enhancement of safety features and changing user preferences. Additionally, concept of digitization of the manufacturing sector is fast emerging. Changes such as these and others will have to be addressed by the auto component industry by investing significantly in R&D and creation of new products.”

Expressing optimism, Rattan Kapur said, “we as an industry have to graduate from one that merely ‘builds from print’ to one that ‘innovates and experiments’. To achieve this, the component industry needs to strengthen its relation with its customers’ i.ethe OEMs to become co-development partners. This calls for ‘sharing-risks’ in new areas especially those related to technology and product development.”

In his keynote address, RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, emphasised, “the auto component manufacturers need to have a singular focus to scale up their businesses with quality and technology as the bedrock. The industry needs to invest in design and capability, as also in world class testing and manufacturing facilities, improve profitability of operations to order to become integral to the global supply chains.”

Speaking on the theme of Quality and Innovation, at the 56th ACMA National Conference, Guenter Butschek noted, “The Indian auto industry is going through a very dynamic phase and is witnessing a dramatic shift in landscape for the auto components industry. Quality and Innovation are the cornerstones for success in today’s business environment and at the core of Tata Motors’ new mission and vision, along with a continued focus on R&D investment in design and engineering. We at Tata Motors are looking to streamline our supply chain operations and focus on suppliers with comprehensive capabilities and high performance levels in areas of technical know-how, quality, cost, delivery and financial health. We will be rolling out a new supplier capability assessment process with the intention to bring synergies and efficiencies in the whole ecosystem and create win-win situations for both, Tata Motors and the supplier fraternity.”

McKinsey’s research shows that Culture is the most critical dimension of quality wherein 30 percent of quality outcomes are linked to culture. Contrary to popular belief, culture of quality can be created in all organizations regardless of age and size. However, culture shifts are not possible without leadership’s commitment to quality.