If innovation is the mantra for the survival and growth of any industry, for one it would mean leveraging technology and applying the ‘right’ levels of automation to reduce costs and shrink model/variant turnaround time. Among the various manufacturing verticals, the automotive industry is one of the front runners in technology deployment and undertaking innovative measures.

The Indian automotive industry has kept itself abreast to cater to the needs of a maturing domestic market by offering products exclusively designed for Indian consumers. When the market was opened to global companies, automotive companies launched old and sometimes obsolete models, ‘adopted’ or homologated for India. The last few years have witnessed global auto majors developing new models keeping in mind specific requirements of the Indian market. These are termed as “Developed for India” automobiles. Automotive companies leveraged the government policies favouring the growth of the compact car segment, thereby making India an important regional and global hub for manufacturing compact cars. The past decade has also witnessed an ‘across-the-spectrum’ development of commercial vehicles and two-wheelers to meet the changing market demands.

Growth in auto component space

Another segment that has witnessed growth is the auto component segment. With practically all major multinational original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and multinational auto component suppliers setting global sourcing outfits in India, the tier I and II component manufacturers in India have matured into serious global players. Growth in volumes and stringent quality norms has fuelled the need for higher levels of automation.

‘For developing products exclusively for the Indian market, it is essential to adopt processes that are feasible to be undertaken in the country. This means new models will have new challenges for equipment builders. Indian equipment suppliers are increasingly met with the challenge to innovate in order to meet changing customer demands, optimally use manpower and keep operating costs under control.

Automotive manufacturing processes fall broadly under two categories - batch or continuous type processes and discreet processes. Examples of batch or continuous processes are sheet metal stamping or car body painting, while assembly processes are discreet in nature.

Product testing and validation form an important part of the overall product development activity. Regulatory requirements mandate automotive companies to subject vehicles and components to rigorous testing to certify them as ‘road worthy’.  Although innovation in software tools has reduced the number of samples to be tested, auto companies that are working towards improving product reliability at component/aggregate level, need automated/customised test rigs with data acquisition and reporting capabilities.

With the world now preferring ‘greener’, cleaner and fuel-efficient automobiles, the Indian auto industry is uniquely poised to become a global leader in manufacturing compact cars. With more development activity migrating from high cost destinations, India is all set to become the hot bed for innovation and technology development in product and process.

The growth in automotive industry presents business and growth opportunities to engineering services and solutions companies in computer aided engineering (CAE) and manufacturing automation. In addition to large greenfield opportunities, a large understated potential will be in the brownfield. The automation and equipment industry is also bracing itself to an exciting orbit shift. 

Sagar Arjunwadkar, head of business development, NextFirst Engineering Technologies Private Limited, an engineering solutions company providing assembly and testing solutions to the manufacturing industry, headquartered in Bengaluru