Dana：Concentrating on the Chinese market providing localized products and service

Recently, Dana China Technical Center (DCTC for short) opened in Wuxi, Jiangsu. The company executives claimed that the establishiment of DCTC shows the significance they emphasize on the Chinese market and later they will supply more products and service to meet with the needs of local customers. On the opening ceremony, George Constand and Terry Hammer accepted the interview from GASGOO and share the DCTC’s current situation of development and future plan in China.

Q: Two years ago, Dana Wuxi Tech-center broke ground in May 2011 and now the tech-center is opening. What is the total investment in this center?

G: The total investment is 100 million RMB

Q: It’s a huge investment.

G: Yes.

Q: This is about the capital investment, but how about other investment such as personnel, how many technical engineers are there working in this center?

G: We currently have over 50 engineers today, we plan to have 130 by 2016 and the center itself has a capacity for 200 people.

Q: As DANA has more than 50 engineers today, how many of them are from China?

G: Almost all of the engineers are local talents. We have very few like Terry that were experts to help with the integration of the China center with the rest of the global Dana network. But the majority are local engineers.

Q: As we know this center is for local need, will this center based in China but service for global or Asia in the future?

G: The center is positioned to service both global and local regional needs, so it’s global and local.

Q: How fast can you manage your expectation that the technical center can service for global market?

G: Actually, our service in some testing resources for India is already occurring. So we are supporting Thailand、Japan and India today. For the Asia Pacific region, we are the tester for light vehicle. And we are going to support all the testing needs for all the programs we have in Japanese OEMs、Thailand’s OEMs and Chinese OEMs. So our tech-center is really acting as a global support center today and then our future growth plan is to actually have some of the local engineer designing product. Not just testing product, but also designing product for the Asia Pacific region.

T: I think one of the other important answers to your question is the DCTC technical center is part of our global network. And we draw upon the expertise from all the technical centers at the DCTC, and we are able to understand the best of the technology from these global centers. And apply it to the local customers in China or to assist customers on the global basis.

Q: After the center opening, you still need some time to do the trial production, when will you do a real way engineering job or testing?

G: At the beginning of 2012 January, we had roughly 20 engineers already hired, we actually physically moved the engineer staff into the office area in June of this year, and we increased headcount to roughly 50 engineer in June. So, we have people trained over a year and half behind them already, so when we had the ground opening today, that really included over a year and a half training for many of the 50 engineers.

Q: How long will it take the tech-center to get through the commissioning phase and to work independently?

G: Work we prepared today to provide for SWE(Software Engineer) of designing development capabilities from the tech-center and that’s from the engineers that we hired and trained , beyond that, that is the ability to draft from the global network of Dana tech-centers. So we have that ability today to provide different needs for our customers.

Q: R&D localization is the trend for multinational companies in China, many other multinational companies had opened technical center in China and aimed at meeting Chinese clients with low cost and better quality, so what measures will you take to keep low cost and high quality?

G: Our goal is to offer Chinese customers locally designed and developed products that based on our being in country and our knowledge in the market. So it’s very important for us to understand global mega-trends that I mentioned earlier in my speech. But we should also understand the local market needs. So we try to understand the local market needs, and then developed the products associated with the needs of the market. Dana has an advantage by having the center here and being able to understand what’s occurring in the market, not only today but in the future. And working with our customers to design and develop product for the end user.

Q: And how about the quality control?

G: I would like to say Dana has one core quality standard globally, that is “zero defect to our customers”, so I go whether in China or in Europe or in America, there is no quality difference. We finally bring the same philosophy or zero defect to all our Chinese OEMs. We believe that is one of the key drivers we can offer the OEMs to help them grow and gain market share themselves and be able to expand their business. So we are not coming to China to bring low quality product, we are coming to China to provide right product to meet the customers’ needs for good quality.

Q: As we know, the tier one city in China has serious pollution and China government and people are paying more attention to the air pollution issue. Could you introduce some Dana products which can be used in energy saving and emission control?

G: Yes, we have several products. We are working to introduce some products to meet the sustainability, the air quality needs, fuel economy needs and the emission needs for the customers. So we have light-weight fuel efficient products that have lower emissions. We offer electric vehicle capability with electric vehicle axles, we offer in our power technology’s group battery cooling for electric vehicle and hybrid batteries. We offer many advanced thermal solutions for lower emissions and higher fuel economy. So Dana’s products are very much associate with fuel efficient, low emissions and advanced technologies for the market needs. And when we look at the large cities especially, there is a very critical need to reduce emissions and to have clean energy. Dana’s products are very well suited for that need.

Q: These products are already served in China market or only just in European Union aeras?

G: Well. For example, the new electric axle was designed and developed for the market in China, but what we do is we draw on the technical capability involve the Dana technical centers. And the DANA China technical center uses our global technology knowledge. And looks at the market needs for this region and takes the technology in the products and designs to meet requirement for the market. So we are very pleased with the Dana technical knowledge and product knowledge on a global basis and how we can apply it to the region.

Q: So you talk about the battery cooling product, you know the EV in China is also a hot topic, so what do you think of the EV market in China?

G: Dana is a leader in providing solutions that help automakers advance their alternative-energy capabilities, and we have a solid portfolio of products designed to support China’s New Energy Vehicles (NEV) program, our air- and liquid-cooled battery technologies have been selected by several global automakers for 26 electric and hybrid-electric vehicles. Among these vehicles are the Chevrolet Volt, Ford Focus EV, and Tesla Roadster Sport. These products overcome the challenge of removing heat from tightly packed battery cells to maximize their performance and life. We recognize that China is committed to fostering the development and introduction of vehicles that are partially or fully powered by electricity. Our comprehensive, award-winning products for EVs and HEVs provide an attractive solution for OEMs working under this program.

Q: I don’t know if Dana has a product can react the energy, collecting the heat?

G: Yes, we have a technology called “active warm up” which collects heat from every source in the vehicle. It’s a heat exchanger technology that is patented by Dana. Dana’s Long® active warm-up technology enhances vehicle efficiency with thermal bypass valves and integrated heat exchangers that quickly increase and maintain vehicle operating temperatures. The result is lower fuel consumption and emissions. In 2012, Dana and Ford Motor Company were honored with the 2012 Automotive News PACE Innovative Partnership Award. Ford and Dana were recognized for collaborating and bringing to market Dana’s line of Long active and passive warm-up technologies.

Q: Is this product applied in China or just abroad?

G: We’ve launched it in our global markets and it’s another technology that’s available for the Chinese market as demand and require it.