THE BUSINESS CHIEF INTERVIEW
SOUTHEAST ASIA IS ONE OF THE BEST PLACES TO BE RIGHT NOW FROM A BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
SEA countries as a part of their diversification strategy . Foreign Direct investment ( FDI ) is rising , especially in countries like Vietnam , Thailand and Indonesia .
“ The GDP growth for many of these markets is over 5 %, there is a young , educated workforce , and our regional aim is to have double-digit growth ,” says Shepard .
The best-laid plans of many CEOs and indeed companies went out of the window when the pandemic hit and they failed with their digital transformations . Not so Schaeffler and Shepard – who have been keen to take advantage of the opportunities .
There is the acquisition of the Koovers B2B e-commerce aftermarket business which will see manufacturing control retail business using AI to predict ordering patterns and customer needs . There is also a Metaverse repair solution guide in the works for mechanics .
“ From a product perspective , our new EV products have much more electronics and sophisticated software to power the future of mobility , including autonomous driving capabilities ,” adds Shepard .
“ In my Vietnam plant , we call it the plant of the future with the use of cobots , in the digital room we can see the uptime of the production and critical areas .
“ With all of these changes , a traditional mechanical business like Schaeffler is employing more digital experts and electronics engineers than we have done in the past .”
Ultimately , it ’ s all about people , and Shepard is passionate about his duty as CEO to extract the very best from his team . As he states , good leaders find in people what people do not know they possess .
28 December 2023