Franziska Jung, Board Member, Sujan ContiTech & Head, Anti Vibration Solutions Segment, Continental, an engineer by profession, began her career in quality. Switching to operations and production is a key milestone in her professional journey. A couple of decades ago, any initiative for women's empowerment was not visible at all. However, it is catching up in the US and already better in Mexico, she says, adding, “I see this quite advanced in the Asia Pacific and particularly in India.”
According to her, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - DEI, by itself, is another step in empowering women. To make it visible, organisations must consider DEI as a key point in their strategy. Over the last few years, people have talked much about quality, sustainability, and the environment. It is necessary to make DEI another point and visible in strategic targets, tracking, and management. “These initiatives must go into our DNA; I think this is the best way to do it. It is similar to women's empowerment; once it is made visible, it will take off automatically,” she opines.
She adds that new mobility gives a huge playground for women to explore themselves. In an interview earlier, she said, Sujan ContiTech, the joint venture between Sujan Group and Continental’s Vibration Control division, ContiTech, validates and manufactures anti-vibration systems for several OEMs in India. Its product portfolio includes the entire range of vibration control products such as engine mounts, suspensions, bushes, and dampers, among other products. The company's key customers include Maruti Suzuki, Renault-Nissan, Mahindra & Mahindra, the PSA Group, and several Tier 1 companies, including Tenneco, Munjal Showa, and Gabriel India.
Franziska said that the engine noise is disappearing with EVs, so anti-vibration and noise reduction parts need to take care of road noise. Eventually, the original mounts the company provided over the years for ICE are getting less with EVs.
'We see additional opportunities to supply mounts for AC compressors, encapsulation, and isolation of battery packs. For EVs, we can supply multiple parts and many versions, depending on the customers' needs. Opportunities for us lie in the area of commercial vehicles and we could also explore supplying anti-vibration parts to industrial segments, railways, airplanes, and off-highway vehicles, she adds.'
