We have significantly increased investment in digitalization.

- M. Rajaram Krishnamurthy, VP - Marketing, Sales and Customer Service, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles

Real transformation can be seen only when our vendors also embark on the digital transformation journey with us so that the entire automotive eco-system can reap maximum benefits, says  M. Rajaram Krishnamurthy, VP - Marketing, Sales and Customer Service, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles. Excerpts from the interview…

How do you assess the growth trends in connected fleet market in the trucking industry?

The automotive sector has seen an incredible amount of change since Daimler invented the first motored cars, trucks and bikes back in the 1800s. The pace of that change has picked up in the last 10 years and will only increase more as we go forward. This can be accredited to 'CASE': Connectivity, Autonomous, Shared / Services and Electric.

The rise in digitization and increase in value-added integration is likely to boost the growth of the connected trucks market. Through connected truck technology, fleet operators will optimize factors such as fuel efficiency, maintenance and driver wages, which together contribute to more than 60% of the total cost of ownership. 

What is the impact of this on the trucking segment?

As access to the internet has become more prolific, consumers have come to expect ready access to information. Through their smart phones, their home appliances, their cars; people expect data at their fingertips. This is no less true for commercial vehicles. A good example of the benefits offered by connectivity is the BharatBenz 'Truckonnect' service; using this telematics function, a fleet owner can connect all his trucks to the internet and then make real-time requests for data like vehicle location, fuel efficiency, driving patterns and more.

Unprofitable loads, empty trips, long waiting times and a low asset utilization due to high standing and park times decrease efficiency in logistics. Transparency through data and new digital solutions helps to address these issues. With BharatBenz Truckonnect solutions we provide real-time vehicle data to increase uptime and vehicle health, 24/7 service support, real-time fleet performance tracking as well as a better understanding of the driver through a driver score. BharatBenz Truckonnect provides transparency to its customers and supports them in increasing the efficiency of their fleet.

What has been the impact of disruptive technologies on your production processes, product design strategies and supply chain management? 

At DICV, being connected and adding value to our customers is a top priority. We achieve that goal through our connected vehicles, advance analytics and CRM. From a process standpoint, internally, it is important to focus on the overall supply chain and inventory management as automation has revolutionized these areas. AI based chatbots come into play with simulation becoming more prevalent. In factories, condition monitoring and predictive maintenance plays a big role is reducing downtime of equipment. Through these focus areas we are well on our way to Industry 4.0.

Lastly, I believe that the automotive sector alone digitally transforming will not serve our overall purpose. Real transformation can be seen only when our vendors also embark on the digital transformation journey with us so that the entire automotive eco-system can reap maximum benefits.

What is your take on mandating installation of electronic logging devices CV market?

While this is a good initiative taken by various countries, ELD is still in its nascent stage in India. It is currently prevalent only amongst select large fleet owners and its benefits will take some more time to be implemented in the Indian CV market.

What are the top trends in combining IoT with AI, big data analytics etc on the Indian trucking industry and on fleet management practices? 

Telematics technology has already started reshaping the Indian trucking industry. Lately, the largest OEMs in the country have launched their version of telematics solutions installed in their vehicles. From the point of driver safety, we feel this is a welcome move. The technology is also well received amongst fleet managers who are seeing a sharp rise in the efficiency which in turn leads to better profits.

BharatBenz's 'Truckonnect' is an excellent example of this. Based on Daimler's global platform that already connects over 300,000 trucks worldwide, Truckonnect lets customers remotely monitor all key performance indicators including utilization, fuel and Adblue consumption, fleet health and driver behaviour. Users can access all this information 24/7 through an online analytics dashboard.

Truckonnect is provided as standard in all BharatBenz trucks and allows customers to remotely check and analyze vital vehicle information in real time via the Truckonnect online portal, including vehicle location and health, plus fuel consumption. With this, fleet managers can optimize driver performance, increase fuel efficiency, and reduce downtime. Vehicle owners are also supported by a customer assistance centre available during all hours of the day.

How have you been able to leverage such technologies to ensure safety, to optimize operational efficiency, and to enhance the 'uptime'?

Over the last few years, we have conducted a comprehensive investigation into every department and function to look for digitalization opportunities. Currently, around two dozen digitalization projects are being investigated and we have significantly increased investment in digitalization despite the crisis.

On the external side, a major example is Truckonnect, the telematics solution rolled out at the beginning of the year with the new BSVI portfolio that allows fleet owners to remotely monitor and track the location and status of their vehicles 24/7. Another successful example is our Proserv application that offers customers our entire gambit of customer services integrates with all types of online payment options bringing everything for the customer at their fingertips.

Some examples of digitalization while internalizing projects were previously outsourced are website hosting and communication apps, and changing from paper-based to digital reporting / tracking systems from the smallest functions such as for the canteen management. There is even a digitalization swarm of employees now investigating further opportunities internally.

How such technologies are redefining the maintenance and back up support solutions? 

The very popular 'Proserv', our customer service digital platform support, is enabled with 65+ features including advance booking, parts ordering, renewal of contracts, extended warranty, insurance, fleet maintenance, 24×7 RSA and integration with all types of online payment options bringing everything for the customer at their fingertips. This along with our Truckconnect or Busconnect telematics solutions will truly enhance efficiency for fleet managers and owners and overall improve the life of the vehicles not to mention the reduction of stress on them when it comes to driver safety. We are also looking at many other solutions that are currently in the pipeline which we feel will truly assist in redefining maintenance, efficiency and safety.  

What was the impact of the pandemic on the trucking industry?

The demand for commercial vehicles is directly dependent on the economy. Higher activity in construction, real estate, infrastructure, mining and other sectors that generate payload boosts demand for CVs. Given that the economy is going through a rough patch, demand for commercial vehicles (MHCV) is estimated to fall in 2020 when compared to 2019 levels.

Is there any demand pick up expected due to the stimulus packages?

For India, the stimulus package includes fiscal measures designed to reboot the economy by encouraging construction activities, especially affordable housing, as well as de-regulating the mining sector and opening it for private participation to revive demand for the tippers segment. Certain trucks used for e-commerce applications could also witness quicker revival in demand. However, a lot depends on the when the government actually awards housing and mining contracts.

As we have a strong portfolio of construction vehicles, we hope to benefit out of the government's fiscal measures. The new portfolio of BSVI-compliant BharatBenz trucks and buses we premiered at the beginning of the year received a very good response from our customers and confidence in our brand remains strong.

What is the growth prospects in the immediate future and how geared up is Daimler?

BharatBenz is already strongly positioned in construction and mining segment due to the robustness of our products, and in e-commerce where our products offer the best turnaround time and on-time delivery.

Apart from HCVs we also see a decent rise in demand for MCVs and LCVs to help in the transport to warehouses and then from there on to individuals for sale.

Specific to the CV industry, customers will be looking for the best return on investment. The knee-jerk reaction will be to demand discounts and buy the cheapest vehicle they can find, but smart customers will instead look at TCO, total cost of ownership. They'll want vehicles that can offer provide a better return on investment in the long term. Which truck offers the highest fuel efficiency, the best uptime, good resale value? Which vehicle has high-tech features like connectivity to improve the efficiency of the fleet as a whole?

This is where BharatBenz vehicles have a strong advantage, because we offer the best TCO. Customers that thrive in this crisis will be the ones who understand that the best way to survive short term is to have a plan for being successful in the long term.

What is your road map in terms of further leveraging the benefits of digitalization?

The Indian market is highly unique when it comes to the CV sector, not all digitalization use cases will make business sense in this sector. Hence, our approach to digitalization is implementing only those use cases that make concrete business sense in the Indian market and have a quick ROI.

Understanding the current maturity levels and business priorities of our organization is also a key when we embark on our digitalization journey. Currently our business priorities across the spectrum are transparency, using data as the oil to drive processes, and a fully focused customer-centric approach. We believe that the business priority should focus on understanding how every technology will suit their business need, collecting and utilizing data, and having the right infra so that all digitalization initiatives can sit on it. Our focus is on software driven approach to supplement products, for example, leveraging open source software and a lot more. Above all, the business should prioritize on re-skilling and enhancing digital knowledge in people.

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