For Vitesco Technologies, international leader in intelligent and electrified drive systems for sustainable mobility, Romania is a focus country not only for operations, says Raffaele Russo, factory director Vitesco Technologies Brașov. Besides the impressive manufacturing footprint in Brașov of over 42.000 sqm, with over 1.600 employees, the German manufacturer has also three Research & Development locations – Iași, Sibiu and Timișoara, where more than 1,500 engineers are developing products for the future, and not only for Europe.
Vitesco Technologies designs smart system solutions and components for electric, hybrid and internal combustion drivetrains and makes mobility clean, efficient, and affordable. The product range includes electrified drivetrain systems, electronic control units, sensors and actuators, and exhaust aftertreatment solutions. In a discussion with Automotive Tomorrow, Raffaele Russo shared insights from its extensive knowledge in the automotive industry regarding important topics that are impacting the development of this sector.
Factors that disrupt the industry
Every disruption is a chance for transformation, of improving the present situation. In front of disruptions and transformation we must be good at managing the unknown. Many companies are good in managing the known problems, where we are equipped with the right competences and people, but the unknown needs a special attention, to be able to manage risks at least in a sufficient way. To remain competitive, we apply simplicity, transparency, and planning our work to be sustainable up to 20-30 years. We have a long-term approach and don’t think about business in small boxes. We make sure the planning is not based on a buzzword, but it follows an industrial long-term planning based on sustainability and on the directions that we defined at corporate evel in order to create an impact in the world today by powering clean mobility. The standard approach in automotive is to look at the industry in a segmented group of key performance indicators. From my point of view, sustainability is a key factor.
Risk management strategy
In Vitesco Technologies Brașov the approach was to link our quality system with our management review, and we extended the consideration to all the fields that have an impact on our business. We bring this management review to concept on a business level – we drive sustainability checking the consistency of the system reliability. Sustainability is to have enough sensitivity in the standard working routine to be able to sense in advance the risk and to be able to treat it in a proper way, to mitigate it. To secure business continuity you need to sense the market, the trends and the risks with the right tools and the right competences. With the support of the team we have transformed the management review meeting into a dynamic activity to manage risk and opportunity for our business, not to just produce a document.
Raffaele Russo, factory director Vitesco Technologies Brașov “We do not consider logistics as a service, but as a strategic partner. The Supply Chain and the footprint has a direct, essential impact on what is the development and success of the business, therefore to me it is a key factor.”
Experienced in several fields, Research & Development (mechanical engineering design), Quality Management and Operations Management, Raffaele Russo joined Vitesco Technologies Brașov in 2021. Prior to move to Romania, he was responsible for the Focus Factory, producing high volume electronics in Germany and he was also was part of a pioneer team to start up a greenfield factory in ASEAN.
Threats for the development of the Romanian automotive industry
Romania has an advantage in terms of being attractive for labor cost, as well as for people competences. But, like with every cycle, the opportunity needs to be capitalized, managed, and immediately put to work before the next cycle phase. The infrastructure is not at the level that it should be. To be attractive to external investment, I would recommend focus on transport infrastructure such as highways, railways and using more efficiently the logistic hub of the Black Sea. There is a risk in losing part of our competitive edge if there will no investment according to the market growth and need. An initial advantage it’s important, but maybe not forever and not in any case. We need to catch the moment, to embrace the change, to look for sustainability, but start to do basic things that are today most probably underestimated.
Driving innovation into the supply chain
The biggest transformation we had from an innovation point of view in the automotive supply chain was when Mr. Toyoda went to the United States and observed what was done in the supermarkets. The history is teaching us that we should look constantly to all the other business, there is not one business that is evolving by itself. Technology in several fields is doing big steps ahead and most probably a combination of many aspects that can be implemented in the business should be a tailor-made solution for each industry. Therefore, we have no limitation to the sector – we look around in exhibitions, to suppliers, to competitors and have an open mindset. Internally, in Vitesco Technologies Operations we have a group of experts that are working on innovation, standardizing solutions available on the market to fit to our strategic vision.
Strengthening the company’s position on the market
Vitesco Technologies is working on reducing the number of touch points of material using LEAN tools. We follow the Value Stream map approach, in order to reduce waste and improve value creation. We also invest in people such as Logistic/LEAN tools to boost in our improvement road map. Regarding recent investments, with the support of Vitesco Technologies Operations team, we installed an automatic transportation system AGV/ pallet mover and the experience so far is very positive. For the future we are studying a fleet of robot transport. Additionally, we have an ambitious project to transform our warehouse into a smart location, to better utilize the space and to simplify the operations.
Suppliers in Romania
Vitesco has suppliers in Romania, and as a global company we need to balance our footprint worldwide. Our headquarter is in Germany, so many of our supplies are in Europe, but we operate world wide. The location of the supplier is important to balance the footprint but what is even more important is that the supplier is fulfilling our expectations, with the correct quality standards. We believe that with the strong growth we see in Romania, the number of our suppliers will most probably increase in the region.
Vitesco Technologies Headquartered in Regensburg, Germany
- €8.3 billion sales in 2021
- 37,000 employees
- 50 locations worldwide
Vitesco Technologies in Romania
- More than 1,600 employees in the Brașov plant
- 42.000 sqm (3 buildings) total factory footprint in Brașov
- more than 1.500 engineers in R&D centers (Iași, Sibiu,Timișoara)
