New Delhi: In this pandemic situation, many businesses across the automobile industry are thinking about how they can survive and take care of their growth plans in these tough times. Some of the industry’s best minds voiced their opinion on the need to band together and tap into collaborations to bring resilience in their operations.
In an ETAuto CXO Roundtable in association with Siemens, a battery of industry magnates discussed the potential changes in the ways of collaborating and how partnerships will create a recipe for cost effective success in post-COVID era.
OEM should also come forward in supporting the suppliers by helping them in procurement of raw material at a lower priceNitin Seth, COO, Ashok Leyland
In order to develop a sustained collaboration during this turmoil, it is pertinent to adopt a realistic way of forecasting, asserted Nitin Seth COO of Ashok Leyland adding that “this approach will save partnerships and build trust for long-term goals.” Seth further said it is crucial to reduce the number of supply chain partners in order to bring transparency and in turn reduce the overall development cost.
He also insisted that OEM should also come forward in supporting the suppliers by helping them in procurement of raw material at a lower price. “We can help by buying steel, one of the biggest component, for the suppliers at a bulk golbal price,” he said.
“Once you give your partner the transparency of your work to supply it will help the supplier to work in a modular way and design products mauch ahead of its scheduled time,” Seth explained.
In the ensuing discussion, speakers emphasised that there has never been a better time to collaborate with others. Businesses can leverage what they already have besides embracing new techniques such as digital adoption in order to establish a win/win exchange of value.
The primary advantage that startups bring with them is the low-cost solutions, which will become part of the new normal in post-pandemic futurePrabhakar Kadapa, MD, PSA Avtec Ltd
Trends that will shape the nature of collaborations in post-COVID-19 future, according to Prabhakar Kadapa, MD, PSA Avtec Ltd, is increased engagement of startups in developing new designs for vehicle and hi-end tech solutions for mobility. He noted that the primary advantage that startups bring with them is the low cost solutions, which will become part of new normal in the post-pandemic future.
“We can take help of startups in designing specially in high technology areas. They can bring in a lot of new areas that will make the development process very robust,” Kadapa highlighted. He also highlighted that going forward the control of OEMs in product design and development will substentially reduce as the technology and features will increase.
Resonating with Kadapa thoughts on startups, Kailash Nath, Portfolio Development Director of Siemens pointed out “Sometimes OEMs do not have the bandwidth to operate in tech innovations and that’s where joining hands with startups will add value in their operations.”
Talking about reducing product development time, Vikas Marwah, CEO, Lumax Auto Technologies stressed on facilitating interdepartmental collaborations within the organisations. “The interdepartmental collaboration needs to come up very strongly even at the OEM levels so that fast track mechanisms are activated,” Marwah asserted.
He accepted the premise that we are not truly going back to pre-Covid times as far as working practices are concerned. “Besides cash, real time focus review, crisis management and rework on capex will become crucial. All of this will shape the terms of collaborations in the near term,” Marwah highlighted.
According to Manohar Bhat, Head Sales & Marketing at Kia Motors India, the basics will remain the same even after the industry will attain a new normal. “In the post COVD world we have to make sure that we have to make correct technology and partnerships when the time’s right,” he highlighted.
The discussion concluded with the panelists taking questions from the audience. This panel discussion even though was centered around being more assertive than being an alarmist. The panelists discussed a variety of issues and potential solutions that can be quite significant for the automakers and the suppliers who are looking to transition to normalcy and bring some long term advancements in their business operations in order to prepare themselves for the dynamic future.
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