FROM MAGAZINE: AUTO SCM Summit 2018 carves ways to enhance supply chain efficiency

The automobile supply chain stakeholders and regulatory authorities came together to discuss the challenges and their expectations to enable efficiency in supply chain operations.

Nahida Jafferi

Automotive manufacturers, supply chain stakeholders and regulatory authorities came together at the Auto SCM Summit 2018 to discuss the ‘changing landscape of automotive industry and the role of logistics.’ Sponsored by Frankfurt Airport, Europe’s leading cargo airport for third time in a row, the event was held in Chakan, Pune, a premier auto manufacturing hub in India.

In the inaugural address, Subhash Agrawal, commissioner of customs, Jawaharlal Nehru Customs House, urged automotive industry supply chain stakeholders to go for Direct Port Delivery (DPD) scheme, Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status, and eSanchit to save costs and speed up the supply chain processes.

Airports and airlines revealed that they are contemplating operating freighters from the airport in Pune, as there is a good demand from the automotive segment as well.

(L to R) Pradeep Srivastav, Senior Vice President, SpiceJet; Prasanna Madhyasta,
Head - Enterprise Business, KredX; Manunath SR, Associate Director, Industrial supply chain consulting, JLL India; Nandan Borgalkar, Director & Head - Express Division, MRC Logistics; Amit Borkar, GM, SCM, A Raymond Fasteners India

Frankfurt airport, Europe’s largest cargo hub, has been the main sponsor for all the three editions of AUTO SCM Summit. Roland Weil, vp-sales, Fraport AG, said, “There is a lot of automotive business in and around Frankfurt. We are looking at improving connections to India. Frankfurt has nonstop connections to 5 Indian airports.”

SpiceXpress, the dedicated cargo service of SpiceJet, plans to add 22 freighters in future. Pradeep Srivastav, senior vice president- cargo sales, SpiceJet, said, “We are here to address the just-in-time requirements of automotive industry.” SpiceJet is also in talks with the Department of Commerce, Government of India, to create more infrastructures in B and C class cities.

In India, the road is the preferred and dominant mode of transport for goods. Inland Waterways is cheaper, however it only constitutes 8 percent of the total cargo moved in India. Automotive segment has taken the lead here again. It is important for Inland Waterways Authority of India to establish reliability by building infrastructure like jetties, and start scheduled vessels between two Indian cities.

In the first panel discussion on the changing dynamics of auto supply chain, Huned Gandhi MD, Dachser India, stated, “For us as 3PL service providers, it is important to understand where our customers in the automobile industry are heading in terms of technological advancement and meet their expectations. Industry 4.0 talks about IoT, which is setting in.”

Commenting on the whether there will be need for importing new technologies with new emission norms and the adoption of electric cars in future, Prasoon Singh, deputy GM, procurement & logistics, VE Commercial Vehicles, said, “As technologies are evolving the automobile engineering capabilities of our indigenous companies is also evolving. However, we'll see lot of imports coming in by way of new technologies from Europe & Far East.” Singh also urged the industry to provide customised solutions for different products instead of having a one size fit all solution.

(L to R): Nitin Parab, Founder, MyTrux; Suryansh Jalan, President, FarEye Transportation; Mandar Kothawade, Head of Logistics, Benteler; Sudhir Gurtoo, MD & CEO, India, Leadec Industrial Services; Sudhir Gupta, Partner, Blue Ocean Global; Sachin S Kulkarni, Founder & Director, Avancer Technology Solutions

As the industry is betting big in the tech advantage, Mandar Kothawade, head of logistics, Benteler Group, shared, “Our fleet downtime was 52 -56 hours monthly. GPS system reduced downtime to 32 hours monthly. I am supplying to Maruti and Honda, and they always enquire about it. The GPS technology is moving rapidly, but our pace of adoption and training has to also improve.”

The drivers are a bit reluctant towards GPS technology. Addressing this issue, Suryansh Jalan, president, FarEye Transportation, remarked, “The idea is to make the technology an inclusive one. GPS gives the drivers the freedom and ownership of their work. The driver gets to make more trips and collect more incentives, and he feels respected and an integral part of it. This is true for both, developed as well as developing third world countries.

While addressing the panel on aftermarket, Sudhir Gupta, partner, Blue Ocean Global, pointed, “Technology alone cannot solve the problem of counterfeit auto components. Availability of quality components is essential.”

Talking about the impact of GST, Umesh Shinde, GM, commercial, Shilpa Machinery said, “Initially, tier 2 and tier 3 automotive suppliers faced challenges with GST. We faced issues with implementing this change in ERP. Eventually, we understood how GST has made life easy.”

The panelists also discussed that technology and collaboration is key to achieving a successful automobile supply chain. Sudhir Gurtoo, MD & CEO, India, Leadec Industrial Services, highlighted, “How much good data we need or is actually essential? In addition to silos, there is data overload.Data silos is the stumbling block as the ownership of data is different. Do we need all the data that can be shared is the question?”

Organised by the Indian Transport and Logistics News (ITLN), the event saw support from Dachser India, SpiceJet, Indospace and KredX. In addition, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) and Indian Institute of Materials Management were also partnering the event.