Synopsis:

	Success in the 21st Century Auto industry will be decided by how manufacturers and suppliers respond to three major challenges.
	Global Markets will mean the rewards for success will be greater than ever, and the cost of failure will be enormous. That means delivering corporate flexibility, total quality in manufacturing and processes and increased investment in Research and Development. Speed to market will become ever more important and there will be less and less room for margins of error.

Increased regulation and even taxation will be used to focus attention on both global warming and on safety. Standards will be used both to protect the planet, but also to protect markets from competition. Producers will be expected to deliver products that meet not only consumer needs but more broad based societal needs, needs that will differ from market to market.

Finally, increasing technological sophistication and consumer purchasing power will lead to increasing demands for more tailored products. Meeting that challenge while keeping costs low and quality high will be vital for success.

Lord Bhattacharyya's lecture will explore each of the three challenges and suggest ways for leaders in the automotive industry to deliver success against this backdrop of increased challenges.

About the Speaker:

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya KB CBE

Btech Kharagpur, MSc, PhD Birmingham, HonD(Univ) Surrey, HonDEng UTM Malaysia, Hon D Business Administration. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hon Dean Harbin Institute of Technology, FREng, FIEE, HonD Birmingham, Professor of Manufacturing and Director of Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick.

Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, has published extensively in the field of manufacturing and is advisor to many companies and organisations around the world.

In 1998 he was awarded the Mensforth International Gold Medal by the Institution of Electrical Engineers. This was awarded for the outstanding international contribution to manufacturing engineering and management. In the same year he was also awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Institute for Logistics and Transport. This was followed in 1999 by the Institute's Sir Robert Lawrence Award for Services to Logistics.

He is a past member of the UK Council for Science and Technology, the Government's premier advisory body on major science and technology issues of strategic importance to the United Kingdom.

Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya is also a past board member of Advantage West Midlands, the Regional Development Agency, and has served on numerous Government committees including the DTI Committee for Investment and Competitiveness and the Export Committee on Education and Training.

He is Trustee of the Institute for Public Policy Research.

He has received many international Honours awards. In January 2002 Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya was awarded the Padma Bhusan by the President of India for services to science, technology and industry.

Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya advises the Government of South Africa on Science and Technology policy and is a past member of the Board of Transnet - the holding company for the state owned transport businesses from airlines to railways

He advises many companies and governments in various countries on matters of industrial policy and strategy. He was recently awarded a Doctorate of Engineering by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for services to Malaysian industry. He is also a member of the Business and Technology Advisory Committee in Malaysia. He holds Honorary Professorships in many countries.

He was awarded a knighthood, for services to higher education and industry in the Queens Birthday Honours in 2003.

In June 2004, Professor Bhattacharyya was elevated to the House of Lords, he was honoured with a peerage and he became, Professor Lord Bhattacharyya of Moseley.

June 2004 also saw him honoured by the institution where he began his academic career when he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Birmingham.

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Lord Austin was President of the Institution of Production Engineers, (later known as the Institution of Manufacturing Engineers, which amalgamated with the IEE in 1991), 1931-1933 and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in 1933.

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Technology and Traffic: how can we give you a safer, more reliable road trip using technology, by Archie Robertson, Chief Executive, Highways Agency

The Software Reliability Challenge, by Richard Parry-Jones, Chief Technical Officer, Ford Motor Company

Electronics in Racing Cars & Road Cars and the Desirability of Allowing Freedom of Electronics in Top Class Motor Sport, by Max Mosley, President, FIA
A Clear Reliability Advantage, by Allan Jenkins, Caterpillar UK Limited