National Institute of Engineering (Lokseva Foundation Trust, Govt. reg no. E/2667)

ISBM, Mumbai

College of Automobile Engineering

Government of India’s Industrial Training Institute, Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

I was handpicked to shoulder the responsibility of setting up & managing the Vehicle Quality function from a scratch for the Greenfield project. The role included setting up processes & systems, designing & implementing the workflow and building the team to effectively deliver the assigned task. I managed a large & diverse team of members including ITI freshers and experienced graduate engineers. As a part of my role, I set up the process flow, plant layout, vehicle flow and station wise distributions, delivering continuous flow of 64 JPH and zero accident in a record time. My role was pivotal in establishing various processes including driving training for new joiners, atmospheric protection to all members for various weather conditions among several others to focus on high productivity & performance. I also focused on high level of engagement & enablement of the team, while continuously improving their skills & capabilities to ensure planned objectives are met. A critical contribution was institutionalizing a culture of daily meets & regular brainstorming sessions to address the quality issues & associated risks, with an objective of delivering a defect free product.Subsequently, I moved into my current role that involves overseeing & monitoring supplier performance on all critical parameters of part quality. I have successfully put processes & systems in place to objectively assess quality & drive initiatives towards continuous improvement. The role has also entailed designing & driving a highly effective skill development plan for the team that has resulted in bringing in significant improvement in employee morale, skill and performance levels.

Ford Motor Company

Vehicle Quality  Manager

I grew over the years in roles & responsibilities owing to demonstrated prowess & excellence. I was responsible for analysis & resolution related to failure of components during the testing/reliability phase and management of the testing and validation of all prototypes of Vehicles. Here, I steered the completion of Reliability of 8 new models ahead of the planned date. My role was also pivotal in defining quality standards for vehicles, systems & components along with establishing methodologies and criteria for setting of warranty costs. I was closely involved in proposing Customer Car Profile (CCP) objectives for new products in conjunction with Product Portfolio Management and verified that the cars undergoing performance checks to meet these standards. As a part of the role here, I initiated static as well as dynamic inspection of yard vehicle improve Delivery quality and reduce PDI concerns. I also analysed vehicle breakdown reports from after sales / network, studied the data, defined the priorities, assigned the responsibilities and tracked the same for closure. During the tenure, I initiated Fleet vehicle monitoring and maintenance programs to understand vehicle behaviour and consider at early warning for the product. Additionally, I drove competition as well as market intelligence & analysis during product Development stages to decide strategy on new product launch.

Fiat India Automobiles

Divisional Manager

Here, I proficiently monitored 4-vehicle models durability testing in 19 months, which was highly appreciated by the management. My role was also pivotal in driving measurements systems for workshop Mechanics, Test Drivers, Test engineers to capture their daily performance and track the working records. I also organised training for the entire testing team on various test equipment and developed more test engineers. As a part of my role, I worked with GMDAT Team (General Motors Daewoo Automotive Technology) in South Korea for one month on Global Mini Car development benchmarking activities. During the tenure, I skilfully managed fleet of about 50 test cars on cross country and a large team to carry out the testing & validation programs.

General Motors

Assistant Manager- Vehicle Testing & Product Engineering

Here, I was a significant contributor in Vehicle testing, Vehicle homologation & certification and service liaison.

Asia Motor Works

Group Head (R&D)

Growth Path:Senior Executive– Testing, Validation & Experimental WorkshopIn charge (Experimental Workshop)Senior Engineer (Experimental Workshop)Engineer (Final Repair)During the early years, I efficiently handled Repair of finished cars before final Quality buy off.  Moving on, as a Senior Engineer, I effectively carried out ECU re-programming for Customer cars at the dealers. I also organized service campaigns for various problems fixes at critical service centres. Additionally, I rendered assistance in Testing & Validation of test cars. - New program. During the tenure, I was the recipient of the Asia Pacific engineering award for the solution of chronic problem related to valve sticking in the Inlet manifold. The same is implemented across other countries where the engine is being used. Subsequently, I was elevated to the level of the overall incharge of the workshop involving entire accountability for the same.I was then given a larger role that entailed testing & validation apart from the existing responsibility of the experimental workshop. I conducted various vehicle testing related activities pertaining to benchmark vehicles imported from various countries. I was also involved in technical evaluation of prototype vehicles and training the staff of Environment Safety parameters based on global standards. Here, I successfully completed in country testing & Validation testing of various model across the various weather conditions & location in India. I also performed benchmarking test of A/C on new product, which is I-163 with competitors in desert of Rajasthan.

Senior Executive– Testing, Validation & Experimental Workshop

During these early years of my career, I gained hands on experience in working on Maruti 800, Omni, Gypsy and M 1000, Jeep, Ambassador, Matador, Premier Padmini & 118NE. I also worked on converting all Petrol cars to LPG. My role was pivotal in accomplishing fuel consumption of 100KMPL on Enfield Explorer and fitting Daihatsu Diesel Engine on a Maruti 800 and Padmini. Other highlights of the tenure were seamless execution of special order body modifications on Padminis and Maruti.

Ashish Bhatt

Ashish Bhatt