Auto Components India Awards 2020

The fourth edition of Auto Components India Awards 2020 held the stakeholders of the components and the allied industry in high esteem. New entrants with disruptive technologies stood out, in particular, this year.

Photos: Mahesh Reddy

A year away from turning half a decade old and honouring the stakeholders of the automotive component and allied industry, the fourth edition of Auto Components India 2020 Awards ensured that it ticked all the right boxes to conclude a powerful edition. In a year where motor shows and awards are trending for being shelved owing to “depleting footfalls” as per industry reports, the fourth edition reflected on its sustained growth. It held the industry in high esteem and witnessed wholehearted participation as a testimony to the awards featuring prominently on the industry calendar. It also hinted at the awards continually evolving and carving out a niche identity in a competitive and crowded space. Drawing its strength from a strong pillar of industry goodwill earned over the years of its existence, it is fair to say that the intellectual property of Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., returned in a stronger avatar this year. Among stakeholders of the components and the allied industry, at the awards, new market entrants with disruptive technologies stood out, in particular.

In his Welcome address, Hoshang S. Billimoria, Founder & Mentor, Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., expressed hope of the industry witnessing a turning point in the near future. Expressed Billimoria, “I’d like to give my congratulations to all the winners at the fourth edition of the Auto Components India Awards 2020 beforehand.” “2019 was a very testing time for the automotive industry as also for the auto components industry. The industry reacted to the slowdown with a great degree of resilience,” he stated. Billimoria opined that in terms of Government help little was achieved by the industry despite seeking intervention proactively. The first glimpse of the scrappage policy which is expected to help the industry in due course of time does not inspire much confidence, he opined. Referring to the coronavirus outbreak, he acknowledged that the industry was yet to gauge the impact on the auto industry as a whole especially the auto components industry when it comes to the supply chain. “In such challenging times, it is hard to forecast the state of the immediate few months as anywhere close to being rosy. I’ll take a chance and say the second half of 2020 should hopefully be a turning point,” he concluded on an optimistic note. Billimoria went on to thank the sponsors starting with Force Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra. He also thanked Shapoorji Pallonji for their rock-solid and unconditional support over the years. Last but not the least, he also thanked the technical partners in Frost & Sullivan and Avanteum Advisors besides the validation and knowledge partner in Mazars for the 2020 edition of the awards.

Ashish Bhatia, Executive Editor, Auto Components India began his address by humbly thanking the stakeholders of the components and allied industry for giving Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., yet another opportunity to honour excellence and best practices that stood out in a challenging 2019. For helping build a platform to award excellence on fronts spanning technology, innovation and best practices that set the ball rolling for winning companies as an outcome of a rather uphill jury process. “Easier said than done when you have products nominated in a particular category belong to different sub-segments. Despite it, the jury was up to the task and ensured everybody was judged on a level playing field,” he averred. Based on the nomination entries received this year that were deemed as a surprise element in the whole process, he touched upon having to drop two categories this year: ‘Auto Components JV of the Year’ and ‘Áuto Components Exporter of the Year’. “Overall the effort has been to stick to broad-based categories this year to avoid overlaps and redundancy,” explained Bhatia. To address the growing spread of electrification, this year a new category was introduced: Innovative E-mobility Solution – Component Supplier Of The Year. This year for the first time the ‘Auto Components Business Leader Of The Year’ was awarded for leading his/her pack against the tide.

Continuing in the same vein as Founder & Mentor, Hoshang Billimoria at Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., Bhatia commended the resilience and determination shown by the industry stakeholders in overpowering yet another business trough. This is not the first downturn that the industry has seen. Narrating an anecdote, he expressed, “You will agree that there is a tendency of looking at Industry reports with all the number crunching in a matter of factly manner. The pesky nature of the downturn hit me in person more so when I had an industry veteran open up to me and share his plight.” “Looking dejected in response to my question on growth, he opened up on the company facing a zero growth quarter and degrowth overall with no near signs of a reversal in trends,” he continued. Sharing the real inspiration to look beyond the slowdown, he credited the pragmatic approach taken by most industry veterans. He expressed that it was crucial for the industry that the OEMs turn the tide given that a majority relied on their returns from the OE exposure. Bhatia added that with BSVI ready for rollout and implementation of safety norms as immediate considerations to chalk out a future roadmap, it couldn’t be agreed upon more that the value-addition from the components industry would only progressively increase. Expecting technology collaborations that took place last year to continue into the foreseeable future and play a catalyst in helping the product upgradations fructify, he went on to express hope of a revival soon. “May you keep building on the higher standards of quality, localisation, costs and the ability to fulfil the customer needs to succeed in this year. Thank you for the support extended to us as we strive to be your preferred industry voice,” he concluded not before pledging support to peers in China and the victims of coronavirus on behalf of the countrymen of China’s leading Asian trade partner.

The Maverick Jurors
You will agree that a jury process is as good as its jurors. The maverick jurors of Auto Components India Awards 2020 constituted of a fine blend of old hands and new this year. Continuing from the previous editions were old hands and technical pillars in VG Ramakrishnan, Managing Partner & MD, Avanteum Advisors, Kaushik Madhavan, Vice President – Mobility, Frost & Sullivan and Bhushan Mhapralkar, Editor, Commercial Vehicle magazine joined by Ashish Bhatia, Executive Editor, Auto Components India. In a shift of venue to Mumbai from Chennai erstwhile, the jurors began with a blank slate, months ahead of the jury meet, case in point the uber low industry sentiment; the fate of the awards dependent on the nature of nominations that would populate the universe of entries. Nomination forms were first published in the December 2019 Issue of Auto Components India followed by rigorous follow-ups. The inflow of entries did not disappoint albeit surprised the jury. Companies were found to nominate themselves in far fewer categories than proposed to them despite eligibility in a greater number of categories. With such a decisive approach, it meant that certain categories did not hold good. They turned obsolete owing to the prerequisite of a minimum of two company nominations required to hold the category good. The challenge to strike a fine balance between the existing pool of nominees and the relatively new entrants in participation was accepted by the jury and well-executed in hindsight. A few companies despite having the potential to be strong frontrunners lost out purely for not complying with the deadline of January 21, 2020, set for submissions. The camaraderie among the jurors at the start of the jury meets ensured a smooth process overall albeit not without each juror having to put up a strong case for their proposed winning component/company. The shortlisted companies that adhered to the nomination process by presenting a comprehensive data compilation to stake their claim were judged on a level playing field taking cognisance of key metrics like technological excellence, business excellence and sustainability excellence. Scores gathered across these heads made for a grand total in each juror’s dossier. Post the jury scores were collated, the company with the highest cumulative score was adjudged as the winner in each of the respective categories. The jury also unanimously agreed to dive deeper into the vendor level efficiencies and overall management process in a bid to make the awards a matter of pride for participating companies for the forthcoming edition. The objective being to acknowledge the product, process and the people involved in the development cycles.

 

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Auto Components Emerging Company of The Year

Winner: Sixth Sensor Technology Pvt. Ltd.
Nominees are:

• Agility India Pvt. Ltd.
• Sixth Sensor Technology Pvt. Ltd.
• Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd.(Steering Gear Division)
• Rama Boards LLP

Emerging companies have become synonymous with driving innovation in the global economy. With many companies on track to become category leaders, or define entirely new categories of products or services, this new category was constituted to honour companies that emphasise on innovation in their businesses and successfully navigate new paths to growth. The winning company was found to deliver on all the fronts with its product 6th Sense – Collision Warning And Avoidance System.

 

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Innovative E-mobility Solution – Component Supplier Of The Year

Winner: Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd. (Steering Gear Division)
Nominees are:

• Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd.(Steering Gear Division)
• Schaeffler India Ltd.

As per the climate change commitments made by Indian Government during the COP21 Summit, Paris to reduce emission intensity by 33- 35 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 levels, it is pertinent to introduce alternative means in the transport sector. Electric mobility is known to be a viable alternative to meet these multi-dimensional challenges including innovative pricing solutions, appropriate technology and supporting infrastructure. The winning company scored high on the front with its product – Integrated Motor Pump Unit For E-bus Applications.

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Green Practice of The Year

Winner: Goldseal-Saargummi India Pvt. Ltd. and Nippon Paint India Pvt. Ltd.

Nominees are:

• Goldseal-Saargummi India Pvt. Ltd.
• Nippon Paint India Pvt. Ltd.
• Detroit Engineered Products (DEP)

As per the United Nations, Climate Change is the defining issue of our times with the world said to be at a defining moment. Shifting weather patterns, greater risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and deemed to be unprecedented in scale. The need of the hour is a drastic action plan. It is well known that any further delay to understand the need to adapt to these impacts in the future would prove to be rather a difficult task not to mention they could bring along severe cost implications. With a clear action plan to adhere to green practices and give back to society, two companies stood out and shared the award.

 

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Components Shopfloor Management Of The Year

Winner: Magneti Marelli Um Electronic Systems Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon (Haryana)
Nominees are:

• Meritor HVS (India) Ltd. Mysore (Karnataka)
• Magneti Marelli Um Electronic Systems Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon (Haryana)
• QAD Inc.

Shop floor management includes preplanning, planning, staffing, directing, monitoring and control of activities to enhance efficiency and analysis. It is here that the best practices play a key role in the process of transformation of materials (inputs) into the desired output (product or services). With a vision to follow World Class Manufacturing (WCM), the winner initiated several strategies enabling it to grow efficiently and sustainably to materialise into a reality with its high-end electronic products, instrument cluster, body, computer module, e-call and Ecu Pcba for both Indian and Global OEMs.

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Auto Components Business Leader Of The Year

Winner: Sachin Lawande, President And Chief Executive Officer, Visteon Corporation.

One of the foremost technology and business thought leaders in the automotive original equipment electronics industry, he championed the need for suppliers of automotive cockpit electronics to evolve, and to meet the demands of the connected car era and, ultimately, autonomous vehicles. He successfully shaped his company into the largest tier 1 supplier focused exclusively on the fast-growing cockpit electronics segment, driving consistent financial performance, introducing next-generation technology, and generating record levels of new business wins with global automakers. His wealth of experience in developing embedded systems and software backed by four patents in communications software ensured that the Bachelor’s degree holder in electronics and telecommunications from Bombay University in India, and a Master’s degree holder in electrical engineering from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville was the unanimous choice.

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Special Recognition For Technological Excellence

Winner: Jamna Auto Industries Ltd. and Schaeffler India Ltd.

Technical Excellence is the ability to foresee and eliminate an issue before it has the potential to jeopardise safety, schedule, budget, quality, and most importantly, client satisfaction. This year two companies compelled the jury to take notice. One for manufacturing each and every product with a clear understanding of the Indian terrains, user needs, suited technology and delivery of a best-in-class product. The latter impressed with its vision to cater to customer needs by elevating EV vehicle performances to the level of IC engine powered vehicles. Its product is backed by strong claims of equipping Battery Equipped Vehicles (BEVs) to realise seamless gear switching automatically besides equipping them to realise an increased range, superior driving comfort, substantial improvement of grade ability acceleration and top vehicle speed. Such is the modular solution that it finds application from a two-wheeler to a city bus.

 

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Auto Components Manufacturer Of The Year

Winner: Borgwarner

Nominees are:

• Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd (Steering Gear Division)
• Neimla
• Jamna Auto Industries Ltd.
• Borgwarner
• Rico Auto Industries Ltd.
• Goldseal-Saargummi India Pvt. Ltd.
• Visteon India Pvt. Ltd

The 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 Original Equipment Manufacturers. The Auto Components Manufacturer Of The Year was awarded to a company that made a significant contribution to India’s drive towards more environmentally friendly and modern mobility by using its global experience to comply with strict emission standards. Helping OEMs to meet the stringent BSVI emission standards, while still improving performance and fuel efficiency, the company stood out for its efforts to cater to modular solutions with local application engineering, manufacturing and validation facilities as a one-stop solution provider. In India, meeting customer needs for EGR systems for both diesel and gasoline engines through the production of EGR coolers and EGR valves at its plant in Manesar, India, the company finds itself to be well-positioned with a robust go-to-market strategy. The vision to shape up a clean, energy-efficient world without compromising on performance held the company in good stead.

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Auto Component Of The Year

Winner: Agility India Pvt. Ltd.

Nominees are:

• Agility India Pvt. Ltd.
• Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd (Steering Gear Division)
• Hella India Lighting Ltd.
• Jamna Auto Industries Ltd.
• Rama Boards LLP
• Inteva Products India Automotive Pvt. Ltd.
• Schaeffler India Ltd.
• Cummins India Ltd.
• Garware Polyester Ltd.

An auto component is at the heart of any vehicle and is what an auto component manufacturer strives to excel at all round the year. The coveted award for that one component which stood out in 2019 creating a disruption of sorts in its segment went to the company that rose to address the challenge of range anxiety and heavyweight of CNG cylinders coupled with a lack of CNG refuelling infrastructure on highways witnessed in the bus market. Committing to green energy fuel solutions globally, the winning company over the last few years put in sustained efforts to create a market for a long-distance CNG bus and first attracted eyeballs at Busworld India 2018. The company successfully overcame a steep challenge to convince the entire Indian ecosystem of OEM’s, statutory agencies, fleet owners, government officials, gas companies that a 70 per cent lighter composite cylinder was safer and more efficient to store CNG. It demonstrated a system design to be both cost-effective and range efficient to give a bus the firepower to travel over 800 kms. With local assistance from Advantek Fuel Systems, Agility India designed the first CNG Bus system in India, tested and validated by ARAI, that stored double the amount of CNG in a current bus system at half the weight (shaving of over 600 kgs).

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