India is ambitious to become a $5 trillion economy by 2025. The third largest automotive market in the world, our country is not too far off when it bets huge on the automotive industry. There are expectations that the auto industry will grow more than three times to $250 billion in the next few years. According to the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) report, the auto components industry alone contributes a $39.6 billion market, growing its size by 11.3 percent in the first half of FY25. However, this exponential growth exerts immense pressure on leaders in the auto industry to deliver, not to mention the need for technology leadership in the modern era. Amit Srivastava, the Group CEO of Remsons Industries Ltd, sheds light on navigating the opportunities as well as challenges in the industry from a leadership point of view. Established in 1959, Remsons (NSE: REMSONSIND) is a pioneer in Auto Products manufacturing. In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, he talks about standing firm on vision, leadership strategies, and experience, among other aspects. Below is an excerpt from the interview.

You joined Remsons in 2018. What are the experiences that stand out in this journey?

During my tenure at Remsons Industries, one experience that stands out is Crisis Management during COVID and sustaining trust amongst all stakeholders. It was an unprecedented situation, and even the biggest organizations that had risk management systems were challenged, whereas Remsons, being a family-run organization, had difficulty navigating challenges like working from home but gradually regained the trust of all our stakeholders during this period. Production of essential commodities for Mahindra Tractors, Force Motors was going on. We had to do production for these customers and service them. The biggest challenge was to run the plant with COVID restrictions and managing and servicing these customers. We successfully overcame all these while maintaining COVID protocols and balance with our own employees.

Not only that, but cash flow management was also a challenge. I was personally involved, and we got the first COVID loan sanctioned from our SBI Branch. We proactively envisaged that this could disrupt our operation. The COVID loan helped us support all our employees with timely salaries. We even stood by them for their medical needs.

We also did a rebranding exercise and transformed the corporate image of the company as an auto component supplier company. This helped to create the image of Remsons 2.0.

We initiated a 'Strategy Meet' with our leadership team and mid-level managers, encouraging their participation in the formation of strategies. Ownership increased with this exercise, and to motivate them more, we invited a leadership team from the customer side, like Ashok Leyland, Stellantis, Maruti, and Hero, to share their expectations from a supplier point of view. This Strategy Meet was not limited to our customers. We also invited consultants and bankers, leveraged personal connections to know the industry scenario. All these helped motivate people and to connect with ground realities.

The company has also managed to grow its product offerings through strategic partnerships, including synergistic joint ventures, acquisitions and collaborations in the tyre mobility kit, infotainment and sensors sectors.

In the technology era, what does it take for a leader to be competitive in the automotive market?

Irrespective of the industry, Agility and Adaptability are very important to be successful today. You have to reinvent yourself and accept the challenges since we don't have set formulas to address unprecedented challenges and technological disruptions. You should also have the bandwidth to mitigate these challenges.

Innovation and adoption of new technology are very important. For that, we have our roadmap for the adoption of automation and digitalization or moving towards Industry 4.0 in times to come.

All our Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations (JV Businesses) are for future products, be it sensors, tire mobility, electronics or infotainment. These are all futuristic products that will give us our competitive edge.  We always have a customer-centric approach. The customer is supreme for us.  

Agility & adaptability, innovation, and a customer-centric approach are the three things that will make you successful in a competitive environment.

What is your vision of integrating technology into production? How do you win over the shop floor?

We are in the automotive industry which is a dynamic industry and is evolving every day at the fastest pace. In order to cope up with our customers it is inevitable to embrace newer technologies. We have modernised our Pune plant with state-of-the-art facilities and made a shift from manual to semi-automated machine to robotic arms. We bridged the skills gap by getting competent people from across industry.

At Remsons we believe in Inclusive culture, and participative Management. We introduced PLI schemes for the Pune plant which was unprecedented. This is how we try to win over the shopfloor.

With the GenZ workforce coming into the fold, how have the challenges transformed in terms of getting the best out of your team?

With Flexibility, Close Connect and Real Time Feedback, we harness the potential of GenZ. I personally see them as catalysts and blessed with enormous potential.

We have also collaborated with Great Place to Work (GPTW) for a structured approach to Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging (DIEB) programs to harness good practices and grow the organization for the future.

Central to our strategy is a commitment to contributing to the growth of our personnel. We believe in empowering our workforce with the tools and skills they need to succeed in a rapidly evolving business environment. In keeping with this, we offer our team members opportunities to grow and contribute to exciting projects, thereby fostering a culture of innovation and ongoing improvement.

What is your process of staying updated with the latest trends and information in the industry?

Corporate connect, IMA sessions and Industry forums, GPTW and GMI forums, and Study missions where HR practices are discussed and success stories are told help you upgrade yourself.

Besides that, ACMA, Auto Expos, OEM supplier/Vendor meet help understand industry requirements and expectations.

What would be your advice for budding leaders in the industry?

India is at sweet spot and entire world is eyeing India. Budding leaders have favourable tide and they should make the most of it. Develop emotional intelligence, embrace continuous learning, focus on long-term vision, be open to learn, unlearn and relearn. This is my message to budding leaders.