Despite India’s access to the global market of defence manufacturing, evolved from a buyer-seller relationship to the joint research and development of advanced defence equipments like Brahmos missile, Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft and T-90 tanks, India-Russia defence ties still remain strategic to optimize India’s defence manufacturing to the full extent enhancing the nation’s manufacturing interest.
Continental’s Bengaluru factory hit a new milestone by producing one million Airbag Control Units (ACUs) in a single calendar year. The IT company began producing ACUs in Bengaluru in 2016 as part of its commitment to safety. In order to fulfil the increased market demand, the company installed new production lines in 2019. Continental is localising the whole value chain, from research and development to design and production, to meet the needs of its clients. The Bengaluru plant not only serves key OEMs in the local market but also exports these control units to other Asian regions.
“We have been consistently boosting our production and R&D efforts in India with our ‘in the market, for the market’ strategy,” said Sukhdeep Sandhu, Head Of Passive Safety and Sensorics (PSS) business unit, Continental Automotive India. Safety content in automobiles has increased as a result of rising consumer demand for safer vehicles and OEMs’ proactive steps. For the Indian and global markets, we will continue to invent and produce safety-critical technologies. Furthermore, by applying globally established technologies to local market needs, our localization strategy enhances our innovation capabilities. Because we believe that everyone deserves to be secure.”
“Producing one million ACUs every year is a unique milestone for us,” said Phanindra Karody, Head of Continental Automotive India’s Bengaluru Plant. The pandemic has brought numerous obstacles during the last two years. However, as a team, we were able to adapt to the shifting conditions and meet our objectives with minimal inconvenience.
Furthermore, the transition to Industry 4.0 has aided us in not just preserving product quality and worldwide production standards, but also in effectively mobilising our supply chain. In the coming years, we intend to boost our ACU production capacity by at least 30%.”
The airbag control unit (ACU) provides restraint control capabilities and allows fast communication with satellite crash sensors, which help identify and evaluate the severity of the accident situation while focusing on occupant safety functions. Continental’s Airbag Control Unit product lines are built on a modular architecture that is scalable, versatile, and cost-effective thanks to modular building blocks. It is designed to meet all market needs with its basic functionality and integration option of additional safety elements.
The basic version includes typical passive safety functions, making it well-suited to the growing demand for cost-effective safety equipment in emerging countries, such as front and side airbags and belt pretensioners. Vehicle Dynamics Sensing, Rollover Detection, and Event Data Recording are examples of additional safety features that can be included in the modular architecture.
“Continental has dedicated to Vision Zero: Zero Fatalities, Zero Injuries, and Zero Crashes.” Continental is well-positioned to address expanding needs in the vehicle safety sector, both locally and globally, thanks to a professional array of safety solutions. Furthermore, our Technical Center India (TCI) has quickly acquired competencies across domains and has a large engineering workforce focusing on breakthrough safety technologies. “The PSS business unit’s R&D team is inventing to adapt complex safety technology into more inexpensive and functional solutions,” Sandhu added.
