Scaling up for Global Excellence - 1

Theme: Scaling up for Global Excellence

Location: September 8, 2006,Taj Palace Hotel, Sardar Patel Marg, New Delhi

Presentations: By Sunil Bharti Mittal (Group MD, Bharti Enterprises), Rajiv Bajaj (MD, Bajaj Auto) and Anant Talaulicar (MD, Tata Cummins and CMD, Cummins India Ltd.).

Event: 46th Annual Session of the ACMA (Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India)

Kick-Off: A K Taneja, President, ACMA kicked-off (there was no football, however) the proceedings with some "India Shining" statistics (like 8% growth, demographic profile of 50%+ below 25 years of age, 300,000+ engineers being churned out, etc) and saw huge potential for growth in the Automotive industry - we have only about 7 passenger vehicles per THOUSAND persons, one of the LOWEST in the world, even lower than Thailand and Pakistan.

Due to severe cost pressure, the global OEMs and large tier 1 players in USA, Europe, etc are increasingly looking at emerging economies such as Brazil, East Europe, ASEAN, China and India for sourcing of cost competitive components. India is one of the most attractive destinations and the industry is looking at a growth rate of 20-30% per year.

So, to reach about USD 40-50 billion by 2015, Automotive Component Manufacturers in India face the challenges of scaling up. What are some of the challenges?

1. The challenge of attracting and retaining talent. Skilled manpower is the OXYGEN of this industry and Talent Transformation is the goal!

2. The challenge of managing Partnerships and Alliances. Collaboration! Collaboration! Collaboration!

3. The challenge of Implementation. Relentless flawless execution! Systems, Procedures, and Internal Processes!

4. The challenge of Free Trade Agreements. Trade/Compete with China!

So, what "mantras" did señors Sunil Bharti Mittal , Rajiv Bajaj and Anant Talaulicar throw back at the Automotive Component Manufacturers? Watch the space.