Regional Activity

SOUTHERN REGION

Our Southern Region Branch Office Colleagues have packed a flurry of activities into their slotted time! The months of November and December, also, included the all important programme on Environment Management and Implementation. Other programmes were

MEMBERS’ MEET NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT: CHENNAI,
14 NOVEMBER 2000

Remaining with the tradition established over the years of introducing the newly elected President and Vice-President to each Region, a meeting was organised between the Members and ACMA President Mr. L Ganesh and Vice-President Mr. K Kejriwal. The participation, both in terms of numbers (exceeding 40) and level of interaction, was excellent.

Mr. C Narasimhan, Chairman ACMA (SR) welcomed Members. Proceeding with highlighting the activities of ACMA during the year, a broad outline of the Work-plan was presented.

Mr. Ganesh spoke of the Government’s new Auto Policy in which ACMA has been actively involved. Most of the discussion was on the state of Industry and the impact of WTO. There is a concern amongst the membership on Import of second-hand Cars. This may now not be of major concern as the Government was planning to adopt stringent measures, curtailing second-hand imports.

PRESENTATION BY GENERAL MOTORS, USA: "MANAGING CHANGE IN INDUSTRY @ WEB SPEED" CHENNAI, 14 NOVEMBER 2000.

Coinciding with the Members’ meet with ACMA President, Vice-President, a presentation on "Managing Change @ Web Speed" by Mr. Michael Tsou, Former Director, General Motors, USA, was organised. Mr. Tsou, has been working with G M in various Departments , starting with R&D. He put 30 years of service in the Company, before retiring in 1993 as Director of Engineering, Manufacturing and Text. His presentation was based on the challenges in Managing Change that faced the manufacturing industry world-wide and which was being precipitated by rapid advances in Technology. Mr. Tsou, also, mentioned that by the year 2005-2010, there would probably be 15 "Assemblers" (presently known as OEMs), with perhaps 4-5 Mega Assemblers, 150 System Integrators and 1500 Parts Suppliers.

ACMA (SR)-JETRO PROGRAMME ON AUTOMOBILE CASTINGS: 14-25 NOVEMBER 2000

The ACMA (SR)-JETRO project for automotive castings had 2 Japanese Experts with more than 50 years of experience, visiting seven member companies who had applied for the Project. They spent a full day with each of the companies in order to assess their potential. The two Experts, also, provided valuable inputs for improvement. Of the seven, 3 to 4 companies would be selected for assistance under the 2nd phase of the Project.