Dana:“Century-old shop”, based on honesty

Recently, Dana Management(Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Won“The most reliable quality”in China Automotive Industry Award 2011 organized by Gasgoo. In the meanwhile, we interviewed Dana’s Vice President of Business Development Asia Pacific -- Mr. Michael Lembke with respect to the situation of China auto industry and its prospect, Dana’s development strategy in China, quality control and so on.

Gasgoo: China automotive production and sales has been ranked first in the past two years .What’s your opinion about the current situation of China automotive industry?

Michael Lembke: Just as researchers said who have been studying China for a long time, the Chinese automotive industry fell behind of Western, but they have been catching up very quickly.

Gasgoo: In the next 5 years, what trends will the China auto market show?

Michael Lembke：In the next five to ten years, sustainability and clean energy will be the focus. The challenge for parts suppliers now is to follow the main trend and be able to have the right product with the right cost, to meet the demands of the growing China industry.

Gasgoo: Dana's history in China can be traced back to 1991. What about the situation of your development in China now?

Michael Lembke: We have several operation centers as well as many joint ventures throughout China and Chinese Taiwan. We serve very different industries, and our products have been receiving greater and greater acceptance.

While going through the difficult years of 2008 and 2009 in the Western world, Dana had a better situation and an advantageous position in China. And we have been launching new products which were specifically designed for the Asia and China markets in the past one to two years

Gasgoo: Dana has hundreds of manufacturing locations and customer service organizations in more than 30 countries around the world. Currently, what is the status of them?

Michael Lembke: We have several manufacturing locations as well as joint ventures in China. We just completed a very large joint venture project with Dongfeng Company in Wuhan. In order to develop better in China, we are adding sales and engineering staff all the time.

In addition, we plan to open a technical center in Wuxi in midmonth next year. We're adapting our entire organizations to the growth here.

Gasgoo: The Asia-Pacific region only accounts for 12 percent of Dana's sales now, but in the future this region will become a key sales area for the company. Why Dana has so much confidence on China market?

Michael Lembke: Dana has the right products with the right cost. In my opinion, finding out the right position is very important. We have entered China market for more than 20 years; this is one of our advantages. In addition, knowing what your customers want is also important. I believe that our sales staff will help us grow far beyond that 12%.

Gasgoo: How does Dana know the specific needs of customers?

Michael Lembke: We have our sales people and engineers here in China. They spend a lot of time with our clients to get feedback that they have received from the end consumers.

Gasgoo: What role does the China automotive market play in Dana's global strategy?

Michael Lembke: It plays a very important role. I am here, to work with our Chinese colleagues and be the bridge to our mother company in the US. I explain to them what the needs are in Asia-Pacific and particularly in China, so we can work out product plans that allow us to have the right products in this country in three to five years.

Gasgoo: Dana's sales last year exceeded $6 billion. Now we're in the middle of 2011, what were Dana's sales in the first half of this year?

Michael Lembke: Dana's plan was to grow 10%. After the first half of the year, we have doubled our target to grow by 20%. We're very confident to achieve that goal.

Gasgoo: What actions has Dana taken to exceed this target?

Michael Lembke: The markets for commercial vehicles are very strong, which provides a good chance for Dana. As a result of the recession in 2008 and 2009, many Western companies were forced to truly look at becoming leaner. So we've used those years to lean ourselves and bring in some very lean processes. That's something helping us to exceed our target.

Gasgoo: Dana is a very important supplier for GM, Ford and Dongfeng. As we know, Dana has more than 20,000 employees throughout the world, what does Dana do in order to maintain close customer relationships?

Michael Lembke: I've learned that in China, as in many other Asian countries, relationships are a bit more important than they would be in the West.

Integrity is one of our important values. Being a supplier for an OEM, you must stand to your words when you work with a customer. A customer or an OEM needs a supplier who is truly reliable in all aspects. Honesty, which is core value of Dana, is one of the most important things when working with customers.

Gasgoo: As competition between auto parts companies becoming more and fiercer nowadays, how does Dana deal with it?

Michael Lembke: Dana has many strategies that are unique and different from our competitors, which makes us have more advantages. First of all, we're a company over 100 years old. Secondly, we have manufacturing locations, 13 engineering locations around the world. Thirdly, we serve different industries such as the light vehicle, commercial vehicle and so on. We have a very broad portfolio of products that allows us to leverage our knowledge. That makes us a bit different from some suppliers who focus on one specific industry.

Gasgoo: Having won the award in quality, Dana must have some special experience of this field. Would you please share some experience regarding quality control?

Michael Lembke: Five years ago, Dana developed the Dana Operating System. It’s a very rigid system that forces people to rigorously follow this process. It’s not only for the manufacturing plant, but also includes engineers and sales people. It’s truly about discipline, which is the only way you can keep sustainable quality in all the things you do.