HUF expands expertise and availability in India

Huf Group is a unique automotive supplier in the world, specializing in car access and authorization systems, which includes a wide range of products such as car keys, door handles, locking systems, kick sensors, and other passive entry systems. In an exclusive interview with Auto Monitor, Mr. Dirk Fischer, the COO of Huf Group, shares exciting details about their new tech center in Pune, India.

Being the member of the management board of a German Multinational and as a German Entrepreneur, what is your thinking about Indian Economy?

The Indian economy is constantly on the rise. This holds especially true for the automo-tive industry that is massively growing. For good reason, the shareholders of Huf have decided more than 15 years ago to invest into a production plant that rapidly expanded.

India’s economic data show growth above proportion and this year, it has a bigger BIP growth rate than China. I am convinced that once the challenges in the infrastructure are overcome, the growth rates will be even higher.

It is amazing what development India has taken as the hot spot for software develop-ment and global IT services. So once more India is the place to be for Huf as we are shifting our portfolio towards mechatronics and software solutions.

“With our new Tech Center India, we are taking another important step and leverage the excellent expertise of highly skilled engineers in Pune. It will become our global center of competence for the development of classic lock sets and door handles, and also support hard- and software development within our global network,” Dirk Fischer, Chief Operations Officer (COO), Huf Group

What are your thoughts on the Indian automotive sector?

The Indian passenger car segment has doubled in the last decade. With 5 million cars per year, it has grown into the fourth largest in the world. India is exporting one million cars. This alone is an impressive fact.

The big Indian automotive players like Tata and Mahindra – both customers of Huf – have risen from niche players to be among the top five in India.

Regarding the automotive supply industry, growth has even been more remarkable with a CAGR rate of over 15% and a volume of over 35 Billion US-Dollars, with an ex-port rate of more than 30 %. This too, is a clear proof of the tremendous success of the Indian automotive industry and at Huf, we are happy to be a part of this in this success story.

What role does India play in the strategy of Huf?

Definitely a very important one. Seeing the great market potential, Huf came to India in the 1990s, first entering a joint venture partnership. In 2008 Huf India started operations as a 100% subsidiary of Huf Hülsbeck & Fürst.

First in rented premises, then as of 2011 in our own building, we established a state of the art facility in Chakan. In 2015 we already expanded the plant.

This vertically integrated facility with inhouse moulding, die casting, robotic paint line and semi-automatic assembly lines enables us to serve our customers in India and around the globe with top quality components.

Our high level of investments in the production facility and now with our new Tech Cen-ter show our commitment towards the growing Indian market. Our activities resonate with the philosophy of Indian Government which is emphasizing “Vocal for Local”. We are taking care that our engagement is beneficial for all stakeholders.

In terms of Manufacturing footprint, what role does Huf India plays for Huf group?

• Our production site in India fulfills a decisive role in our global manufacturing net-work. We do not only produce components for the growing Indian market, but also supply for other regions.
• For instance, from Chakan, we are delivering the lock sets for Europe’s best-selling pick-up produced by a US OEM. Also, we are supplying door handles for a high running midsized Korean sedan.
• Under the lead of Sandeep Chaudhary, who took over the lead of the Huf India team three years ago, our plant in Chakan has become in many ways a best prac-tice example for highly efficient operations.
  • It is fully in line with the principles and processes of our Huf Production Sys-tem which is based on the philosophy of the Toyota production system and the principles of lean management.
  • Regarding the introduction of lean management throughout Huf group, Huf India is a real front runner.
  • Overall, it shows how great a team can perform when everybody is enabled to take responsibility – in the classic sense of the TPS.

What are the future plans for Huf India with respect to the Indian market?

The Indian subcontinent plays an important role in our growth strategy. To address the needs of our customers best, we are stepwise bringing our expertise on future devel-opments to India. Our new Technical Centre is an important factor here.

Could you share with us the significance of establishing the Technical Centre India and how it aligns with the company’s overall vision and strategy?

• The corporate strategy of Huf is directed at leveraging the company’s expertise in car access and authorization to offer to all customers and markets exactly the products and solutions needed.
• With our Indian Tech Center, we will serve our big Indian customers, like Tata Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki. In addition, we are also providing top quality ser-vices to our global customers in the Asian region and even beyond.
• The Indian Tech Center will be a strong pillar in our global development net-work.

What specific objectives and goals do you hope to achieve through the Tech-nical Centre India, both in the short and long term?

As leading specialist for secure car access and authorization, the development of customer-oriented solutions to support the OEMs in fulfilling the needs of future mobility is key for Huf. Therefore, we are expanding our global development net-work with centers of competence, of application engineering and of support.

India is fast emerging as a global powerhouse of development centers and Huf is tapping that potential. The employees here are talented, highly skilled, hardworking, flexible, and committed. Indian Government is pushing initiatives like “Startup In-dia”.
As Huf is one of the most innovative firms in Germany (being rated among the top 20 by the renowned business daily “Handelsblatt”) our strategy is to harness the young potential innovative Indian brains who want to generate cutting-edge ideas advancing car access and authorization.

With the new resources of our Indian Tech Center, short-term we are able to in-source projects now supported by external providers. With our own committed, highly qualified personnel we are ensuring high quality at optimum cost.

Mid-term, the Indian Tech Center will become our center of competence for locksets and doorhandles.

Can you share any specific initiatives or projects that the Technical Centre will focus on initially, and how they will address the evolving needs and demands of the automotive market?

• We will be working on global projects for renowned German and Korean OEMs, mainly regarding locking systems and classic door handles.
• As the market is developing in the direction of advanced authorization systems, in the long run our engineers in the Indian Tech Center will also be included in these projects.

In what ways will the Technical Centre India contribute to sustainability and environmentally friendly practices in the automotive sector?

• We have set the target at Huf to be carbon neutral until 2030 as sustainability is one of our core values as a company.
• In line with the requirements of the OEM and overall environmental legislation, environmentally friendly product design is key for us. This includes integration of new, re-usable materials, light-weight design, reduced energy consumption of certain product features and the like.
• All project managers, developers and industrial engineers at our Indian Teach Center will focus on developing products which are manufacturing friendly and are as carbon neutral as possible when compared to the conventional products and manufacturing processes.
  • Globally we are also working on European Union’s End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) Directive 2000/53/EC which has defined the target for reuse and recycle of components.
• As our Indian Tech Center will be the global competence center for lock sets and classic door handles, the search for even more environmentally friendly materials will be key.

Could you elaborate on the role of the talented engineers and experts at the Technical Centre and how they will contribute to the organization’s growth and success?

• With our new Indian Tech Center, we will be able to further improve our perfor-mance as we have all functions under one roof – from hard- and software de-sign via industrial engineering and quality planning, testing and validation, includ-ing project management. Our top-notch digital equipment is allowing highly effi-cient workflows.
•  Overall, our new Tech Center will ensure an optimum of resource utilization and an increase of productivity.