Auto Parts Asia — August 2017

AutoPartsAsia | AUGUST 2017 | 53

The discussion on `Co-Innovation’
was at the right time when India
has unleashed the ‘Make in India’
programme. The strategic advantages
of India is undoubtedly a magnet for
MNCs, owing to the demographic
advantage, infrastructural facilities and
various other initiatives that promote
manufacturing as well as profitable
investment. The panel discussed
Industry 4.0 and responding to clients’
needs while tapping the potential of
India in becoming a manufacturing
hub. At the same time, building
partnerships will enable unity in
moving forward, making sustainable
development more feasible. With

distributive leadership comes a wider
array of ideas, viewpoints and solutions

During the panel discussion, it was
emphasized that the way to move
forward for the betterment of the world
was through collective intelligence.
Changing perspectives to seek a
sustainable future for the generations
to come will be a challenging but
satisfying reward. Dr Francois Bernot
said simplification is the biggest
contributor of innovation. He said
for any organisation to be effective,
automation should be limited to 80
percent and the rest should be manual
operations. He did not favour a fully
automated factory without any people.

Driving his point Rahul Kumar said

innovation must focus on three pillars

• productivity improvement, safety,
  and environment. This is because
  innovation is driven by market forces
  and consumer demand. The challenge
  is in speedily addressing the market
  requirements and therefore, he noted
  that it is better to make the workforce
  more productive than to focus on
  automation.

According to Ranjit Kovilinkal the major

trends that affect innovation globally

are nano particles, 3-D printing and

robotics, and artificial intelligence.

Every stakeholder should be cognizant

of the fact that the epicentre of growth

is consumers, and innovation should

focus on them. Convergence is a

necessary corollary for IoT, and inter-

operability of convergence will lead

to standardisation, said Arya Tripathy.

Karan said innovation in energy sector

is key as it helps manufacturing sector

growth.

Sustainable Mobility

The panel discussion on ‘Sustainable

Mobility’ was moderated by Raghavan

Srinivasan, Editor, The Hindu Business

Line. The panellists included Bharat

Salhotra, Managing Director, Alstom

India & South Asia, Priti Suri, Founder

and Managing Partner, PSA, Atul

Renavikar, Executive Director, Michelin

India, Ludovic Gouere, Deputy Director,

2ASDU, Renault India, and B S Rao,

Managing Director, Mecaplast India.

The discussions opened seeking

the views of the panellists on the

important challenge and larger issues

of sustainability in manufacturing

and economic development. To this

Salhotra said there are two challenges

at the global level – urbanisation and

mobility. Therefore, sustainability

should not be looked only from the

economic standpoint but also from the

environmental standpoint. He added

that “There is no running away from

globalization. Close to 70 percent of

India’s GDP will come from our cities.

If we don’t fix the issues related to

mobility then we will be in a literal and

figurative gridlock.”

Sharing his views B S Rao said

product life-cycle management is key

for sustainability while Atul Renavikar

opined that environment, economy,

social health of workforce are key for

sustainability of the community at large.

Priti Suri said that sustainability in all

businesses has to be a way of life. The

laws need to keep pace with it. France

has always been ahead of the curve

in terms of innovation. Looking at the

automation within manufacturing, the

future does not lie in a battle between

man and machine. Rather man and

machine must work together to attain

optimal results. She said creation

of infrastructure is vital as it will

enable economic and environmental

sustainability. However, the laws need

to change to cope up with sustainable

mobility.

Ludovic Gouere said design should

be linked with simple process for

sustainable manufacturing and mobility.

“Sustainability is a journey and not a

goal,” he added.

On how to create a mindset on

sustainability, Rao said, “Mindset has

to come from top in any organisation.

It should be top down.” Being cheap is

not always cheap, he said.

The panellists also discussed the

importance of implementing integrated

sustainability into corporate policy

along with defining the planning

process and having measurable

and quantifiable goals. The French

companies present in India have made

remarkable advancements in this field

with their expertise and capabilities for

innovation.

Panel discussion on Co-Innovation