O P Singh, AVP-IT, Sona Koyo Steering Systems, in an exclusive chat with BW CIOWorld, talks about automation in the auto industry, innovations they have come up with and why they want to leverage M2M.

How is the current status of automation in the auto component industry? For every industry, including auto component, automation is a must given the increasing competition and the entry of new foreign players. OEMs, especially the suppliers of safety-critical components, are shifting to robotic line for assembling the car and getting them completely automated. We have introduced robotic welding for welding of the components. All our new plants are of Fishbone line format to ensure better material flow, space utilization and quality. Over the past couple of years, we have also embraced plenty of automated machines to automate various processes. Our IT systems in place have helped optimize our manufacturing cost and increase efficiency. Right from concept design of product to delivery of product to customer, role of IT is critical for our business. Can you give me an overview of your product lines? Why do you restrain yourself to steering product alone? How are you doing in term of business? The business strategy of our founder chairman is different. He always wanted to do something out of the box. In early 80s, he thought of manufacturing safety critical components much ahead of others, to create a difference in the world of automobile. Started with the print to manufacturing, the group has now developed capabilities to design and develop new products. Today the group supplies all components of steering systems including driveline, transmission, and forged and bevel gears of PV industry along with others. Driven by the futuristic thought process of our founder chairman, the Group today is the world's largest precision forging enterprise and India's largest steering systems manufacturer. Auto component industry is a dependent industry in terms of performance. We do well when our OEMS perform well and similarly we face the turbulence when they underperform. While many of the global OEMs are increasing their designing focus in the Indian market, most of the launches in the Indian market are global successful models! This is no doubt that the India is an ocean of knowledge and creativity in all aspects from IT to automobile industry and from design and development to manufacturing. India being the third largest car manufacturing country is also the big selling market. So global OEMS find it favorable to take the advantage in terms of cost and quality. Plus, the Indian market also offers them the advantage of test-driving their products.