German luxury carmaker expands its infrastructure in India and looks to further develop workforce skill-sets to get the competitive edge and also be future-ready in India.
16 Sep 2016 | 11428 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
German luxury carmaker, which is on a roll in India, is betting big on future growth in the region. Yet another confirmation of its intent was seen in the inauguration of the largest parts warehouse in the luxury car industry and the company’s largest retail training academy in South Asia, ...
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German luxury carmaker, which is on a roll in India, is betting big on future growth in the region. Yet another confirmation of its intent was seen in the inauguration of the largest parts warehouse in the luxury car industry and the company’s largest retail training academy in South Asia, christened Mercedes-Benz Academy, in Chakan, near Pune.
This infrastructure expansion by Mercedes-Benz India is a strong reiteration of the growing relevance of the Indian market and a strategic step towards future readiness to cater to the growth in the sector. The Parts Warehouse and the Mercedes-Benz Academy were inaugurated by Dr Till Conrad, Head-Region Overseas, Mercedes-Benz Cars at Daimler AG and Roland Folger, managing director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Conrad said, “India remains one of the bright spots for Mercedes-Benz and this critical expansion of infrastructure and investment in retail training signifies our strong customer- centric approach and long-term vision, which underlines our confidence in the Indian market. Mercedes-Benz is not only expanding its world-class infrastructure here in India, but also strategically developing the skill-set of its workforce, ready to capitalise the future growth of the luxury industry. We are glad to support such strategic decisions and are confident that initiatives like these will make the India growth story more inclusive, making the brand future ready.”
Roland Folger added, “Creating the largest parts warehouse in the luxury car segment equipped with state-of-art technological processes, automations and also inaugurating South Asia’s biggest Mercedes-Benz Academy are significant accomplishments for Mercedes-Benz India. These initiatives are result of our focused customer orientation that will help create a long-term value to our discerning patrons, giving us a competitive edge in this dynamic market. At Mercedes-Benz India, it remains our relentless endeavour to build on to the strong foundation we have created for the brand, and further develop a sustainable future for our partners and employees. Investing in the infrastructure and also in people is a hallmark of a fundamentally strong brand like Mercedes-Benz, and this strategic decision, will play a pivotal role in our future growth in India.”
Asia’s largest luxury car parts warehouse
The Parts Warehouse, which is spread across 16,500 square metres and can accommodate up to 44,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs), has a multi-tier shelving system (G + 2 Levels) with in rack sprinklers in shelving system at every 3 metres. There are 10 outbound docks for loading and dispatching the material, and six inbound docks for receiving materials.
The warehouse, which caters to over 50 locations, is equipped with modern material handling equipment like High Level Order Picker (HLOP), Low Level Order Picker (LLOP) and Reach Trucks (RT)) for efficient operations . To drive operational efficiency, there is Spare Parts Automation (SPAN).
Mercedes-Benz Academy
Mercedes-Benz’s Retail Training division, which has been engaged in developing, nurturing and mentoring retail manpower for the past two decades, has received a shot in the arm with the Mercedes-Benz Academy. Be it establishing the in-house Mechatronics School, successfully driving the ADAM Course at the Government Polytechnic in Pune, Aurangabad and Government Engineering College Trivandrum, or developing training content creating virtual learning platform for Global Training of Daimler AG, retail training has been the backbone of developing manpower required to support future business growth.
Now, with the Mercedes-Benz Academy, the German carmaker has consolidated its Retail Training division and inaugurated its largest training facility in South Asia. The key objective of this academy will be to pursue the cultivation of knowledge and support retail manpower growth. Some of the key highlights of the Mercedes-Benz Academy are:
- Training for 225 participants per day at any given time
- Combi-bays: 4 Large bays that can accommodate 2 vehicles per bay, 2 small bays that can accommodate 1 vehicle per bay
- It hosts classrooms, aggregate room and an eLab
Vehicle preparation centre
The Vehicle Preparation Centre of VPC has been set up to cater to Mercedes-Benz India’s vehicle storing requirement till 2024 and aid the company’s vision to deliver ‘Zero Defect Customized Vehicles with Customer Delight’.
At VPC, the vehicles are stored, maintained and prepared for dealer dispatches following the stringent VPC guidelines laid down by Daimler. The system is also subjected to process audits, integrated management system (IMS) audits and various inventory audits. All vehicles get stringent checks during takeover from production, periodic maintenance and SVC (Standard Vehicle Check) before they are dispatched to the dealers.
Some key highlights of VPC are:
- Use of an Unique Inventory Management Software which eases the monitoring of the movement of vehicles, their maintenance schedules. This software has features such as Automatic UPN (Unique Parking Number) generation as per model and colour.
- Entry is restricted only to authorised vehicles and drivers through automated boom barriers, digital board displaying parking occupancy status.
- Automated key storage and vending machine for safety and faster retrieval of required key.
- Automated conveyor system for automatic car wash machine which removes human intervention while placing the car in auto car wash.
- State-of-the-art underground exhaust extraction system in the workshop.
- Nine productive bays comprising five scissor lifts and four two-post lifts and a facility to lift Guard vehicles.
- Exclusive storage facility for VPC loose parts, welcome kits for customers.
- A world-class paint booth, paint preparation station for paint repair jobs.
- A supreme car modification centre to carry out value-added jobs like AMG styling, decal kits, specialised car upholstery, specialized paints and other fitments.
On a roll in India
Mercedes-Benz India, which set up operations in 1994 and then a production facility in 2009, is setting new benchmarks in the Indian market. Since June 2015, the carmaker commenced production from its new expanded production facility which has the largest installed capacity for any luxury car maker in India.
The company’s India product portfolio comprises the locally produced Mercedes Maybach S 500, S-Class, E-Class, C-Class, CLA luxury sedans and the GLA, GLE and the GLS luxury SUVs. The Completely Built imported cars portfolio includes the A-Class, B-Class, CLS, E-Class Cabriolet, S-Class Coupé, GLC and the S 600 Guard. The product portfolio also comprises the Mercedes-AMG G 63 off-roader as well as a wide range of other Mercedes-AMG performance cars like the AMG CLA 45, AMG C 63 S, AMG S 63 Coupe, AMG GL 63, AMG S 63, AMG GLA 45, GLE 450 AMG Coupe, AMG GT S sports car and the AMG SLC 43.
In 2016, Mercedes-Benz has already launched eight products. Starting with the GLE 450 AMG Coupe, it introduced the Mercedes-Maybach S600 Guard which is the costliest product from Mercedes-Benz India fleet, yet. This was followed by the S400 flagship sedan and the GLS 350 d SUV. Next came the GLC in June, and then the sixth launch of the year – the AMG SLC 43 after four months of its international debut. Next came the petrol variant of the highest-selling SUV, GLE 400 4MATIC and more recently the GLS 400 4MATIC with a petrol variant.
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