Summary of Automotive Roundtable – SAE INDIA – SIEMENS – Chennai

Topic: RFQ to Cash – PLM advantages – solutions

Venue: Chennai

The event started remarkably with Industrial Leaders being a part of the evening and hosted by Mr.Prem from Siemens. Mr. Seshadri, SAE welcomed the patrons followed by Keynote address from Dr. Arvind S Bharadwaj, M&M. The Keynote speech threw good light on the Indian Automotive expansion into the Global market and various approaches in M&M – MRV perspective. The key points that were comprehensive of the address

• First time right & Every time right
• Manufacturing and Supplier to work in unison
• Scope creep

The speech set the stage for the Core Panel discussion that followed with reputed Industrial Patrons. The concentration of the discussion was towards RFQ to Cash.

• Sharma, Ashok Leyland
• Nageshwara Rao, TAFE
• Sundar, Rane Madras
• Anirudha Takle, SIEMENS

The key points of panel discussions were

• Design Efficiency reduces with increasing iterations- Mr. Sharma
• Ability of Design /scope change without timeline change – Mr. Nageshwara Rao
• Importance of PLM tools in budget monitor – Mr. Nageshwara Rao
• Deployment of Design standards & Lean Engineering approach- Mr. Sundar
• Golden Thread approach (Design to Cost) – Mr. Anirudha

The Panel discussion was complemented by a healthy audience discussion with points explaining the need better. Key points were

• RFQ to cash might not be the right approach (RFQ is too late already) – Lucas TVS personnel
• Engineering Capacity understanding of the company – Lucas TVS personnel
• Stopping re-inventing of the wheel in a company – Mr. Anirudha
• Importance of Change management – Mr. Meenakshi Sundaram, Hinduja Tech Ltd
• ‘Product Capability analysis by the Designer’ approach – Mr. Meenakshi Sundaram
• LMS – Learning in Management system – Mr. Sundar

Summary of Automotive Roundtable – SAE INDIA – SIEMENS – Pune

Topic: RFQ to Cash – PLM advantages – solutions

Venue: Pune

The SAE Automotive Roundtable happened in Chennai received applauds and appreciations from the audiences. The second roundtable event in Pune attracted a much bigger gathering of delegates from various industries. The panelists were introduced to the gathering.

• Panelist I – Devajeet Sarkar, VP, Sourcing supply chain, M&M Trucks & Buses division
• Panelist II – PK Banerjee, Head, Product evaluation, Tata Motors
• Panelist III – Sanjay Kulkarni, Head, Vehicle engineering, Eaton

Mr. Gautam Gupta, Senior director, Marketing, Siemens started the discussion stating the future challenges for automobiles and sophistications through electronics in automobiles.

The panel discussion was followed then focusing on RFQ to Cash conversion. The following were the key points discussed during the panel discussions

• Product management across all technical centers across globe – PLM importance
  • Devajeet Sarkar
• Regulation driven industry – Modular design to cater different market segments and regulation; Complexity    in    program     management    and    supplier    management
  • PK Banerjee
• Defined system/ process for collaboration/ engagement – Mr. Sanjay Kulkarni
• Fool proof data sharing to supplier to avoid manufacturing failures; early involvement of suppliers in OEM product development for innovation – Mr. Gautam Gupta
• End of life of vehicle and fleet modernization – Mr. PK Banerjee

The costing methodology, innovation vs cost variables were discussed. Supplier management for minimizing risk in product development. The panel discussions provoked good responses from the audiences. The views and queries shared by the audiences were answered by the panelists which made the event much more interactive.

The following were the key points from audience discussions

• Reusability and recyclability of working parts from expired product
• Link between costing and supplier capability
• Estimated cost vs actual cost, change management

Summary of Automotive Roundtable – SAE INDIA – SIEMENS – Gurgaon

Topic: Enable new product management to efficient cost management

Venue: Gurgaon

Mr. Sandeep Bhatia introduced his team from Siemens to the gathering which registered renowned industrial persons and delegates. Mr. Raman from Maruti addressed by giving a brief note of the challenges and pressures the Indian auto industry have to face in the next decade due to the fall in average customer age and the corresponding rise in expectations, safety, emission and the fuel regulations from the government in the next couple of years.

He then took the audience through a couple of examples from Maruti to highlight the importance of value for money of a product. He then finished by giving a brief note on how a cost of a product at shop is visualized in the RFQ, planned, controlled during the entire product development stage.

Mr. Sandeep then introduced the panelist and the moderator for the discussion after which the round table discussion began

• Panelist 1: Mr. Naveesh Garg
• Panelist 2: Mr. Shrinivas
• Panelist 3: Mr. P.K Acharya
• Moderator: Mr. Gautama Dutta

Mr. Gautama Dutta began the discussion by highlighting the top expectations from the suppliers and the need of the transformation of current costing practices. The key discussion points are as follows

• Tracking operational and material cost simultaneously; Capability development and reduction in outsourcing; Maximal reuse – Mr. Naveesh Garg
• Proper visualization of customer requirements before quotation process; Accounting factors that would affect product cost at the time of launch in the RFQ; Challenges in-costing for advanced engineering projects which require lots of costing assumptions – Mr. Shrinivas

• Requirement of an organized costing group; Need of trust between suppliers and OEM’s involving better transparency – Mr. P.K Acharya

The moderator took the discussion more interactively which provoked good responses from the audiences. The views and queries shared by the audiences were answered by the panelists which made the event much livelier.

The following were key highlights from audiences

• Understanding the future requirements of the customer and setting the cost targets is necessary
• Enhanced transparency in costing considering profitability of both OEM’s and suppliers is required

Mr. Shreenath gave a small presentation on how to build transparency between suppliers and OEM’s. He touched upon the need of integrating the schedule management to the PLM for creating transparency, tool costing reduction, product cycle time reduction.

Finally Mr. Sheshadri summarized and gave the vote of Thanks.