Power List – Schaeffler India

The cyclic nature of business enables Schaeffler India to learn and unlearn many things in a period of time. Most of the time, the business scenario and the external factors drive business strategy and approaches. But there are certain attributes or factors that must be cohesive within the leadership team and that is what gives one a competitive edge. Being agile is one of the key differentiators along with innovation. So, putting things in perspective and in a situational context he gives an example experienced lately. Most of the industry was expecting 2020 to be the year of slowdown but it came in 2019 itself. Now in a scenario like that it helps to be agile. Agility and innovation have played a pivotal role in creating a difference one needs to show in the market place. Agility in managing costs, and agility in reprioritising projects. Agility is responding to changing customer needs. Increased levels of innovation will complement the agility effort. Innovation towards new business models to grow profitably, innovation in solutions, offerings, and innovation in processes. Schaeffler has always been at the front runner in terms of understanding market trends and future technologies. It is continuously emphasising on R&D and localisation
to take advantage of the latest technology trends and develop application specific solutions to improve overall efficiency. Innovation is a key factor in sustaining its competitive advantage.

Earlier this year, it set up an Incubator Competency Centre for two-wheelers at its Pune plant along with a state-ofthe-art R&D centre, which has been approved by DSIR. The aim is to transform it into a global hub for R&D for mechatronics and software.