Connectivity can be a key differentiator for many businesses, but in the business of transportation it is completely changing the game. Connectivity has been an integral part of Scania’s customer offering for many years and we were able to spend some time with Mr. Anandha Raghavan V, Manager Connected Services at Scania Commercial Vehicles India for a brief chat on the key role played by connectivity in Commercial Vehicles.

1. Connectivity is an aspect wherein Scania is pushing the envelope to redefine transport. Can you shed some light on how Scania is helping improve the productivity of the Indian transport sector on this front?

Anandha Raghavan V: Owning a Scania is more than just owning a truck or a bus. It’s a relationship. Not leaving anything to chance, we’re on board each vehicle, with every driver and in every detail – just to make sure our customer gets the most out of their business. At Scania, we operate on a simple premise. Connectivity enhances productivity. Connected technologies enable us to manage entire fleets to maximise uptime and productivity. That leaves our customers free to focus on improving their core business.

Through its connected services, Scania gives its customers an unprecedented insight into the status and performance of their fleet. We actively engage with our customers and try to provide them with detailed inputs on how can they further enhance their fleet utilisation based not on perception, but on concrete data thereby enabling them to utilize their vehicles more efficiently.

2. Lots of global case studies are available as to how Scania’s customers have used connectivity to improve their business. Would request you to share a similar example from India?

Anandha Raghavan V: Our solutions focus on improving our customer’s profitability by applying our sustainability philosophy. We ensure that our customers are able to achieve sustainable profitability, regardless of assignment type or the conditions in which they work. We are doing that by having regular discussions with our customer surrounding two focus areas: Improving asset utilisation & reducing waste. Focussing on these two areas can bring about a significant improvement to business profitability by enhancing uptime, safety and reducing the operating costs.

Recently, we partnered with a leading mining and infrastructure company in India which had an open-minded approach to evaluate the current operations and improve productivity by optimising the operating costs. We deployed our tools to assess the performance of more than 400 drivers and to study the flow of material across the mine. The same system was used to collect vital fleet information such as fleet utilisation, fuel consumption etc. Upon establishing the baseline values, we got down to addressing the operational challenges. Using our various tools we were able to reduce the overall fuel consumption and improve the throughput of the mine. This resulted in customer completing his project well ahead of his previously projected time. All of this was made possible not only because all of the trucks were connected and communicating, but also due to Scania bringing their sustainability thinking into the customer’s operation.

3. How would you rate Indian CV OEMs and Logistics Service Providers on the connectivity adoption scale and why?

Anandha Raghavan V: India as a country is embracing technology at an astonishing pace. However when you look at bedrock industry such as commercial vehicles the rate of adoption of newer technology is on a slower side. But with today’s economy and fierce competition, customers want to gain a detailed understanding of both their costs and their revenues. Also with a lot of second and third generation entrepreneurs, there is an increase in businesses adopting to technology for effective decision making. That’s the primary reason behind connectivity gaining market and mindshare within the commercial vehicles segment.

This transition is further enhanced by many start-ups and automotive OEMs, who are placing more focus on their telematics program over the last couple of years. And lastly, the government has also done its part by mandating the fitment of a track and trace device, which forms the foundation for many data-oriented improvements, and panic buttons in public & goods transport vehicles. So overall things look very positive for telematics business in India!

4. Connectivity is the centre piece and may remain the same for next few years. Given your experience and exposure what kind of technological changes will the Indian CV industry witness going forward?

Anandha Raghavan V: Connectivity is here to stay and will remain with us going forward for a very long time. I am sure, Indian CV industry will continue to progress at a brisk pace on various parameters impacting sustainability. Technologies like alternative fuels, electrification, connected vehicles will play a major role in ushering us of more energy efficient, smart and safer industry. It’s an ongoing journey and hopefully we will see evolution off few diverse ecosystems over the long term.

5. Lastly, it would be great if you could let us know what excites you to be a part of the upcoming Commercial Vehicle Forum 2018 (taking place on 26 April 2018 at The Westin – Pune)?

Anandha Raghavan V: Through its connected services and solutions, Scania is enhancing its customer’s profitability. I see CVF as a very good forum to share these achievements with our future customers and industry experts. I am equally eager to interact with my industry peers and have their insights on upcoming trends in telematics business. Further, I believe this would be a great platform to have a holistic understanding of the entire CV business.