REGIONAL ACTIVITY

SOUTHERN REGION
Three catch phrases:

These were the key points on which, Mr S. Seetharamaiah, Chairman ACMA (SR) based the regional activities.

Following, a brief outline of activities organised by Southern Region in the months of January and February 2002.

23 JANUARY 2002, CHENNAI :
"ONE-TO-ONE MEETINGS" WITH THE CANADIAN DELEGATION

The first ever, delegation from Canada visited Chennai after Delhi and Auto Expo 2002. The 7 member delegation, visited with the objective to see the capability, strength and potential of the component industry with a view to developing business linkages between Canada and India.

ACMA organised one-to-one meetings for the Canadian delegation with Sundaram Brake Linings, Rane Brake Linings, Mando Brakes, Wriston Polymers, Taylor Rubber, MRP AutoRub, NTTF Industries and Susira Industries.

ACMA, also, arranged factory visits to OEMs and member companies : Ford, Visteon, Sundaram Brake Linings, Brakes India and Susira Industries.

Feedback from the delegation said that they were very impressed by the excellence in Management and Leadership and the rapid advancement made by the Indian auto component industry in terms of Quality and Productivity.

4-15 FEBRUARY 2002 : ACMA - JETRO PROGRAMME ON AUTOMOBILE
CASTINGS - FOLLOW-UP VISIT BY JAPANESE EXPERTS

Auto News has, previously, carried the information of ACMA working closely with JETRO on various programmes for the Castings and Forgings Manufacturers in the membership. These projects were implemented region-wise, starting first with the Northern Region members and onto the Southern Region companies.

To re-cap:
The objective of the programme was to help Indian companies improve their productivity, quality and repeated trouble shooting at the shop-floor, thereby leading to enhanced export capabilities.

There were three phases to the programme : the 1st phase had Experts Tamura san and Myojin san visit 7 companies (ferrous & aluminium casting). Of these, 6 companies were selected for the 2nd phase. Companies received in-depth inputs from the Experts

The 3rd phase, in the months of October/November 2001, JETRO arranged for one representative from each of the selected companies to visit the foundries (ferrous & aluminium) in Japan in order to get first hand exposure.

In February 2002, the Japanese Experts did a follow-up visit to these companies. All companies, say the Experts, have shown improvements by implementing the suggestions made and by what they saw in Japan. So much so, that ACMA (SR) has requested JETRO for similar programmes for the benefit of other casting member companies.

9 FEBRUARY 2002, CHENNAI :
INTERACTION WITH NSIC ON THEIR PROPOSED PROJECT FOR AUTO COMPONENTS

In the continued effort to assist SSIs in the membership, ACMA had yet another meeting with NSIC. They are in the process of restructuring-lending total support to SSIs through the sectoral approach. A total package of technology, marketing, finance, etc, will be extended to each sector.

The session was interactive with ACMA suggesting how best to implement this project. NSIC will revert with their proposal as soon as they are ready.

11 FEBRUARY 2002, CHENNAI : 3rd MEETING OF THE CORE GROUP ON EXPORT POTENTIAL FOR AUTOMOTIVE CASTINGS

Last year, a Core Group was formed to enhance the export of Castings. Mr Jois Suresh, President, PHC Manufacturing Company is the Convenor of the Core Group that meets every month at the ACMA (SR) Office, to discuss the potential marketing strategy - mainly for exports. During these meetings, presentations on relevant subjects are organised e.g., at the 2nd monthly meeting, a presentation on tool and die pattern making from Makino Asia Pvt Ltd. was made. Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) from Bangalore, also, made a presentation on "Energy conservation - Foundry". This group will be giving its inputs to the CII (SR) Export Sub-Committee, chaired by Mr V A Raghu.

21ST FEBRUARY 2002, BANGALORE :
VISIT TO DENSO KIRLOSKAR INDUSTRIES AND NTTF INDUSTRIES

As a part of a continuous effort in learning and sharing, a visit to Denso Kirloskar and NTTF Industries was organised to coincide with the 2nd Meeting of the ACMA (SR) Committee. The objective of the visit was to see and learn some of the Best manufacturing Practices.

At Denso Kirloskar, the delegation was able to see and understand Kanban and 5S.

At NTTF, the delegates saw a live demonstration of SMED, where they had achieved remarkable changeover time, from 20 minutes to 4 minutes. They, also, had an excellent 5S.

21ST FEBRUARY 2002 : 2ND MEETING OF THE ACMA (SR) COMMITTEE, BANGALORE

The 2nd Committee meeting of ACMA (SR) was held at NTTF Industries where the Bangalore and Hosur based members participated. Some interesting points to surface during the discussions were :

a) Excellent potential for the ACMA membership, in view of major OEMs like, TVS, Ashok Leyland, Toyota Kirloskar, Volvo, Tatra, having their manufacturing base in and around Bangalore

b) Need for more ACMA activities in Karnataka

c) ACMA to reach out to more members in smaller towns and cities.