Electronics Era: Explore the role of AI in driving the growth of Automobile Manufacturing & its impact on automotive industries? According to you how AI / ML redefining Automotive Industry? What are the potential benefits you are looking for future?
Sebastian AnanthaSwamy: Since I am from a production background, I can give you a perspective of AI and ML use case in a manufacturing context.
AI has brought significant changes in the manufacturing industry. Various technologies like machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics have helped manufacturers build technologically advanced vehicles. While robotics helps in taking care of repetitive tasks, insights from AI and ML help in smart maintenance, quality improvement, market adoption, and better product development. Thus, these technologies are opening up new possibilities for the automotive industry. As per McKinsey Report, with the help of generative AI, there can be a reduction of 10 – 20 percent in the development timelines for auto parts.
AI is one of the cutting-edge technologies that industries need to take advantage of in order to stay ahead of the curve. It has resulted in better inventory management, smart manufacturing, dynamic logistic systems, and real-time delivery controls. Incorporation of AI with self-learning systems is helping to make complex tasks both safer and simpler. It offers various benefits and will continue to offer more benefits in future like reduction in operating costs, improved visibility by offering real-time data analytics and monitoring. It will also transform the overall customer experience by providing faster delivery as well as by offering greater transparency and communication.
We as a company are at the forefront of embracing these technologies to enhance our products and services. We have been making efforts in our industrial engineering design area. Today, we have our in-house industrial engineering design team seated at Technical Center India (TCI). The team is highly skilled with end-to-end capabilities to design futuristic assembly lines complying with Industry 4.0 practices.
We are also digitalizing the entire production process for automotive components. Till now, we have partnered with a total of eight renowned IT and process optimization companies, universities, and specialist start-ups. we have initiated a project which is being led by our User Experience business area called, “Digitalization of the Industrialization Process in the Automotive and Supplier Industries” (or DIAZI). It is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The project aims to transfer production plants into the digital world. The results of the DIAZI project will make the industrialization of the automotive industry much more effective – and thus contribute to sustainable mobility as a whole.
Overall, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gradually transforming all the sectors and the automobile manufacturing industry is no different. It is also revolutionising the value chain and will completely modify the future of mobility and manufacturing.
Electronics Era: Along with other Electronics segments in this rapid tech changing era what are the skillsets that engineers need to adapt to this rapidly changing landscape?
Sebastian AnanthaSwamy: In today’s ever-evolving landscape, there is a growing need for individuals who possess a unique combination of technical and soft skills. To thrive in their respective industries, organizations should prioritize the development and upskilling of their workforce, ensuring they are equipped with the essential skills. Engineers must cultivate a profound understanding of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and Robotics. This knowledge is imperative for effectively harnessing these technologies in manufacturing processes and product development. Moreover, the importance of data cannot be overstated, as it has become the new cornerstone of industry. Proficient individuals should be well-versed in data analytics, enabling them to analyse vast datasets and extract valuable insights. These insights, in turn, empower organizations to streamline their operations, reduce expenses, and enhance overall productivity.
In addition to technical competencies, engineers must also master the art of automation and robotics, encompassing skills related to programming and operating automated systems, including robots and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, knowledge related to cybersecurity becomes an indispensable asset. Moreover, soft skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, and adaptability take on paramount importance. These abilities enable engineers to operate effectively in dynamic environments, collaborate seamlessly with cross-functional teams, and seamlessly adapt to the rapid changes that technology and processes continue to undergo.
Apart from this, India is a hub for some of the most renowned and prestigious institutions that help prepare individuals with relevant skill sets. The Indian population is English speaking, and the people are equipped with STEM skills along with competency in coding.
At Continental, we believe in continuous and lifelong learning. Thus, we introduced the Software Academy, a learning platform that aims to cater to all technology related learning needs of the software engineering community of the company. We provide our engineers with continuous learning and upskilling opportunities that are aligned to the dynamically changing automotive landscape.
Electronics Era: What are some of the digitalization practices at your manufacturing facility?
Sebastian AnanthaSwamy: Over the past few years, the automotive sector has tremendously evolved. The major driving force of growth has been the coming together of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and the Internet of Things (IoT).
At Continental, we strongly believe in using technology to make our lives simpler and safer. One of the strategic focus areas for our operations is to implement smart factory concept in our organization. We are enabling Smart Factories, which are efficient, optimized, accountable, sustainable, and automated. For example, our smart factories use COBOTS extensively. Cobot, or Collaborative Robots, are complex machines that conduct complicated mechanical operations and are designed to work alongside and together with humans. They are employed to perform tasks that can result in being repetitive, burdening, hazardous, or unergonomic, such as assembly, carrying heavy components, and quality inspection. At present we are using 1,600 cobots globally that are working hand-in-hand with their human colleagues.
Apart from this, we have Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) that operate independently and are self-propelled vehicles that are guided along defined pathways on the floor. AGVs are deployed to drive performance gains in logistics through reduced labour costs with fewer employees needed to operate materials handling units. They free up employees to perform higher-value work.
Augmented Reality supports remote diagnosis and assists in carrying out preventive maintenance by helping technicians at the Bangalore plant perform real-time repairs with remote guidance from experts. For example, a technician wearing AR glasses can stream, in real-time, what they see and hear to a subject matter expert watching on a computer screen from anywhere in the world. Leveraging AR technology, the Bangalore plant has reduced production time by 25 percent and managed to bring down the error rate to zero.
A low-cost automation concept called Chaku-Chaku has also been adopted to help us improve the efficiency of our production lines. The use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in Supply Chain Management Processes (SCM) has helped us expand the value of an automation platform by completing tasks faster, allowing employees to perform higher-value work thereby driving performance gains in logistics. The vision is to have an autonomous supply network by adopting smart factory solutions and implementing AGVs, automatic replenishments, MES, and big data analytics.
Some of the other tools like TOMS (Transport Order Management Systems), increasing EDI & ASNs based supplies in our inbound logistics and using only GPS enabled vehicles in outbound logistics, and using Data Lake and Continental Cloud services, have helped progress the digitization journey of our SCM function.
Electronics Era: How important are sustainable practices at your plant?
Sebastian AnanthaSwamy: Traditionally, the manufacturing industry has had an image of consuming valuable resources and generating industrial waste. Today, most manufacturers recognize and acknowledge their environmental and social responsibility.
Continental looks at sustainability from an all-encompassing perspective, therefore, we consider it important to factor in sustainability at all levels of the production cycle, and the life cycle of our products as well.
The factory of the future is always designed for ecologically sustainable production, including the efficient use of energy and materials. We have several successful examples of positive change at Continental.
For example, since 2020, we have been purchasing green electricity for all plants globally. Further, we rely on self-generated energy, specially designed green power purchase agreements, and energy attribute certificates (EACs). These certify from which sources and from which locations the green electricity originates. In India, we have adopted various measures to take us closer to our goals. 97 percent of the energy used in Bangalore plant is from renewable sources.
The green electricity initiatives also align with our global targets. By 2040, we aim to make the processes at all of our locations, numbering more than 500, Carbon-neutral through massive investments in energy efficiency, zero-carbon technology, and the use of green electricity. The entire value chain will also be carbon-neutral by 2050.
Continental is also taking decisive steps to increase workforce diversity. After all, a sustainable society has equal representation from all ethnicities, gender, and demographics. For many sectors, workforce diversity might not seem like a challenging goal. But manufacturing in India has typically had fewer women. This is one of our core commitments, and we have achieved this over the last few years in some parts. We also strive to hire all our workers, especially on the shop floor, from local communities. While we provide them with standard facilities like canteen, recreation, transport, there are also skill development programs that enable them to upskill and look at better opportunities. We are also ensuring more women representation at all levels of hierarchy.
Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) have presented new opportunities to unlock process innovations to develop sustainable, environmentally friendly materials, decarbonize energy, tap digital innovation, and extend the cycle of goods within a “zero waste to landfill” framework. These initiatives also contribute to Continental’s global roadmap to become carbon neutral.
Electronics Era: How Continental Automotive drives the future of mobility solutions through innovations for a safe mobility?
Sebastian AnanthaSwamy: Continental is committed to the Indian market and aims at increasing the safety of the vehicles by developing and innovating new technologies that cater to the demands and needs of the Indian market. We follow ‘In the market, for the market’ approach as localization is at the core of company’s strategy in India, creating an end-to-end value creation starting from marketing, R&D to production and sales. Through this, we aim at fulfilling ‘Vision Zero’, a future with zero crashes, zero fatalities and zero injuries to improve the overall safety architecture. The engineers at our Technical Center in Bangalore support R&D across all automotive businesses.
As per the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ report published in 2020, around 37 percent of those killed in road accidents in 2019 were 2-wheeler riders. Since 2019, the legislation mandated ABS (Anti-lock Braking Systems) for 2-wheelers above 125cc. This has aided better controllability, stability, and steerability for the riders to support safe braking on roads.
To further improve the overall safety scenario for 2-wheelers, Continental introduced the Optimized Curve Braking (OCB) feature. It helps riders apply brake in curves or turns where there is a high tendency of fall due to wheel lock. Apart from this, the Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) helps to prevent wheel lock while providing good braking and steering, thereby improving vehicle handling in curves, making the braking process safer. Continental also introduced MiniMAB specifically for cost-sensitive markets like Asia with a focus on scooters and motorcycles with moderate engine displacement that only have one hydraulic disk brake on the front wheel.
Apart from this, the Road Condition Observer uses the systems already present in the vehicle, such as the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and camera systems, to classify the road conditions as dry, wet, risk of hydroplaning, snow-covered or icy. It continuously transmits the coefficient of friction data in real-time to the Continental cloud, where information from other vehicles and weather data, such as temperature and precipitation, is also collected. Additionally, we use artificial intelligence to create models which can detect road objects and predict hazardous situations.
All these technologies aim to improve the safety architecture of the vehicle. In a way, they are linked and related as they aim to make the vehicles safe and offer comfort and convenience to the driver as well as to the passenger.
