CC-Link Partner Association × Maruti Suzuki (India)

Vol.45Special Interview

CC-Link that Supports "1 vehicle Every 26 Seconds" Vehicle Manufacturing
Expand the Application as a Base of the Largest Automobile Maker in India

The industries all over the world are watching the emerging markets. Especially, India is of great interest to the countries all over the world for its economic growth and continuous increase in population, in addition to its large population. Among the manufacturing industries in India that Indian government is supporting for expansion, the automobile industry is especially showing a strong presence. Maruti Suzuki, which has the largest share in automobile industry in India, has incorporated CC-Link Family for the base network in their plant to meet the lively automobile demand in India and realize a flexible production system. We had an interview with Mr. Rajeev Gandhi, the executive director of Maruti Suzuki, and other executives about the current state of the automobile industry in India and how CC-Link Family contributes to automobile production.

(Interviewer: CC-Link Partner Association Executive Director, Naomi Nakamura, CLPA India,Chairman, : Sunil Mehta)

NakamuraThe Indian government is putting effort into strengthening the manufacturing industry proactively such as setting forth "National Manufacturing Policy" in November 2011. Among all industries in India, could you tell us where does manufacturing stand? Mr. GandhiManufacturing is surely showing a strong presence in India. In India, manufacturing accounts for 16% of the GDP. The Indian government came out with a policy to improve this figure to 25% by 2022, through National Manufacturing Policy. In conjunction with this activity, the National Skill Development Council is strengthening human resource development to support manufacturing industry. The aim is to create 100 million jobs by expanding manufacturing industry. For India to grow continuously, the development of manufacturing industry plays an important role. SunilAmong the manufacturing industries that the Indian government is focusing on, the expectations toward automobile industry are especially high. Mr. GandhiThe automobile industry in India contributes 7% of India's GDP. In other words, it comprises about half the manufacturing industry. This has a significant impact on employment, and the automobile industry employs about 19 million in the workforce, including the people who are indirectly involved in the automobile industry. It is natural for the Indian government to place an emphasis on the growth of automobile industry to further develop manufacturing industry.
On the other hand, dissemination of automobiles is not making much progress in India. The dissemination of automobiles in other emerging nations is about 500 to 600 vehicles per 1000 of the population, but in India it is merely about 15 vehicles per 1000 of the population. However, to put it the other way, Indian market has a potential to grow that much. One of the obstacles of disseminating automobiles is the road infrastructure. The government is working on domestic road improvement, aiming for 20km per day.

To deliver 14 models with 150 variants across the nation line downtime is unacceptable.

Maruti Suzuki plant located in Gurgaon, a suburb of Delhi

NakamuraIndia's automobile industry has a tail wind, and the competition must be very severe with the entry of other automobile makers from all over the world. Under the circumstances, what do you think is the reason that Maruti Suzuki continues to maintain the largest share in India? Mr. GandhiMaruti Suzuki has played a leadership role for about 30 years in automobile industry in India. In 2013, compared to the previous year, the sales volume decreased by 6.1% in the overall Indian domestic market, but the sales volume of Maruti Suzuki increased by 0.5% and achieved 42% of market share. In the first quarter of 2014 (April ~ June 2014), the domestic market increased its sales volume by 1.5%, but Maruti Suzuki went beyond significantly, with a 10% increase and share up to 45%.
One of the reasons why Maruti Suzuki is able to maintain a large amount of share is that Maruti Suzuki has the vehicle lineup that covers all segments, from small vans to large luxury vehicles, and an extensive sales network that covers the entire Indian nation. Maruti Suzuki has sales network in 1034 large and small cities and service network spanning over 1449 cities and towns domestically, and the structure has been developed to facilitate the delivery of new vehicles to our customers even if they live in a very small town. As a matter of fact, about 20 to 25% of Maruti Suzuki sales result came from the sales in such small towns. Mr. ChaturvediMaruti Suzuki offers 14 models, total of 150 variants. In order to deliver a wide variety of vehicles to our customers in every city, our production line must be trouble free for continuous operation. Should the production line be stopped for some reason even for a short period of time, the loss would be significant. This is because Maruti Suzuki continues to roll out a completed vehicle every 26 seconds.
To pursue continuous production, FA plays a vital role. FA enables the expansion of production volume while enhancing production efficiency, and in addition, human error can also be avoided. FA reduces operation time while preventing human errors, and its effects also enable collection and management of critical parameters that occur during assembly process. In this way, Maruti Suzuki has been able to produce a wide variety of vehicles in large volume continuously. NakamuraMaruti Suzuki incorporated CC-Link Family at an early stage in its main Gurgaon plant. Was that because Maruti Suzuki determined it would be effective in pursuing the policy to continue building a wide variety of vehicles? Mr. SarkarWhen building a wide variety of vehicles in the same production line, it must be capable of handling large amounts of data, in control layer and information communication layer, respectively. Especially today, to ensure production traceability, the data that the production line is handling keeps increasing.
CC-Link IE has 1Gbps broadband performance with Ethernet base and is capable of processing control system and information system in one network. The CC-Link IE is the network that meets our requirement. By integrating the network, equipment downtime potential due to cable interference or loosening was also reduced.
The Gurgaon plant incorporated CC-Link at an initial stage, but to make full use of 1 Gbps broadband and other benefits, CC-Link IE was introduced starting from the new diesel engine production line. In addition, starting from last year, the Manesar plant's assembly process has also incorporated CC-Link IE. These plants established the network using CC-Link IE to connect processes or process and server. CC-Link IE offers various topology options such as star and ring type that facilitate building flexible networks.

CC-Link that contributes to energy saving Utilize support to train technicians

SunilOn the other hand, not only automobile industry but all manufacturing industries are requested to practice energy conservation activities. Especially in India, where electric infrastructure is not necessarily sufficient, energy conservation is one of the biggest challenges. Could you please tell us what kind of energy conservation initiatives that Maruti Suzuki has implemented? Mr. VermaMaruti Suzuki is implementing energy conservation activities in every way in our plant, not only achieving fuel-efficient vehicles. We have been working on reducing energy consumption in our plant. For example, we have changed lighting equipment from conventional fluorescent bulbs to LED, and the pumps used in water treatment facility and turbine cooling water system are replaced with energy saving pumps. We also incorporated a gravity system to transfer parts and vehicles and an air washer in place of high pressure water washing process.
Introducing CC-Link Family also contributes to energy conservation. We have established the system to optimize power distribution by connecting SCADA and power meter to CC-Link to collect energy consumption data of each process. This not only clarifies if any waste of energy exists in the process but also shuts off power supply automatically during non-production time. To pursue energy conservation, CC-Link plays a vital role. SunilTraining of personnel who actually utilize the CC-Link Family will be critical, when the CC-Link Family is utilized in various purpose. Mr. VermaWe are making effective use of the seminars that CC-Link Partner Association is offering and the new solution demo for service technician training. It is important to train personnel to become CC-Link experts to enable prompt analysis of troubles and reduction of equipment downtime. CC-Link Partner Association's support is indispensable to develop such human resources. We are also utilizing the training facility that Mitsubishi Electric offers in Gurgaon. Based on the information there, we select appropriate CC-Link compatible repeaters etc. to help develop new systems. Mr. GandhiIncluding support, CC Link Partner Association that promotes CC-Link and Maruti Suzuki have established good communication. Currently, there is no policy in India to execute recall, but we expect that Indian government will establish a legal standard soon. Once it is legally mandated, automobile makers must retain the tremendous amount of traceability data involved in manufacturing. CC-Link IE Field, with unprecedented 1Gbps broadband characteristics, is suitable for modern society that manages large amounts of data with networks. We are considering expanding the application even further. NakamuraIt is an honor to realize that CC-Link Family and the activity of CC-Link Partner Association are supporting the business of Maruti Suzuki. Thank you very much for sharing it with us today.