From MD’s Desk

- Prasan Firodia

DRIVING

VOL. MMXIX, ISSUE - II, NOVEMBER 2020

Dear Colleagues,

The decline in new covid-19 cases reported mid-

September onwards in our country is having a

positive effect on the market sentiment. Some

segments like 2-Wheelers and Cars showed signs of

recovery by posting good sales volumes in October.

However, most segments including commercial

vehicles are still under severe pressure.

The segments that we operate in, namely, tours and

travels, school buses and staff buses have not

shown any signs of recovery. Given the prediction of

a second wave of infections like what is happening

now in Europe and America, the current financial is

expected to remain under pressure.

At the Auto Expo 2020, earlier during the year, we

had unveiled three new mobility platforms. The

introduction of the much awaited T1N platform has

been pushed forward with start of production now

scheduled for June 2021. The new BS6 Gurkha is

also expected to be launched in the first quarter of

2021.

The All new Trax has been well received across the

country. Both our dealers as well as the customers

have appreciated the all new body, all new interiors

and significantly superior ride quality with minimal

NVH. We look forward to big numbers in the future.

The Police Van and Ambulance variants have also

received good response from both trade and

government bodies.

Our high technology aggregates business which is

predominantly dependent on luxury car makers

Mercedes and BMW registered good growth in the

last quarter. We hope this momentum continues

during the current quarter and also in to the next

financial year. The setting up of the Force MTU

factory at Chakan is in full swing and commercial

production is expected to start in second quarter of

2021.

We are also investing heavily into developing

vehicles powered by alternate non-polluting

sources of energy. Work is progressing on the

development of the 100% electric variants of the

Traveller and new T1N platform.

The Covid-19 affected our group companies also.

Till date about 365 employees have tested positive.

Sadly, we lost 7 of our colleagues but all others have

recovered and reported back to work. As of now I

am happy to inform that there are not many new

cases at our 11 plant locations. This is a matter of

great comfort and gives confidence for operations

to return to normalcy.

I wish each and every colleague, business associate

and their families a very happy and healthy Diwali.

Eagerly looking forward to a Covid-free and

prosperous New Year.

The way we were living before Covid does not seem to

return any time soon. As of date over 4 Cr people in over

210 countries have been affected by this virus and over

12 lac people have died in the past six months. India

which was at the bottom of the chart in March and April

led the world number of daily infections reporting over

90,000 new cases every day. We are now living in distinct

eras- BC (Before Covid -19) and CE (Covid -19 era).

The “CE” experience is unfamiliar and challenging; on

one side we are working hard towards curbing the

spread of the virus and on the other hand trying to

accommodate the redefined processes in every aspect

of our daily operations. The detailed Standard Operating

Procedure prepared and shared with all the employees

with best practices has been useful in containing the

spread of this virus in our plants and offices. The well laid

operation practices, well-informed employees,

practicing social distancing norms on the production

line, etc. are the new norms that are being followed

diligently to ensure safe manufacturing processes. With

our continuous endeavor and forward-thinking we are

sure that we shall tide over this pandemic with negligible

losses.

EVOLVING PERSPECTIVE- LIFE AFTER LOCKDOWN

THE DIGITAL WAY FORWARD

Pithampur production line staff taking oath on Covid-19 Safety and Prevention on Independence Day

As the world prepares to emerge from the lockdown,

businesses are still struggling to recover from the after-

effects. This has caused a major slowdown and severe

economic disruption forcing us to transform the way we

do business.

In view of the above situation, our Sales team across the

nation adopted a new approach to implement the

Learning and Development strategy. Product trainings

for the newly launched BS6 compliant vehicles were

conducted virtually for not only our Field sales and

service teams but also the teams of our dealers. The

Team at Marketing Head Office Pune acted as a pivot in

organising these knowledge transfer programs.

Over 1100 classroom sessions which included product

training, competitor briefing, online tests were

administered to over 1200 sales persons during the

lockdown period. This activity instilled a sense of

confidence in the sales team while interacting with the

customers during a sales pitch. The virtual training

sessions done through Zoom and Microsoft Teams

platforms shall continue till the situation gets back to

normal across the nation.

COVID RELIEF INITIATIVE BY DR. ABHAY FIRODIA GROUP

● Over 410 mobile dispensary units in service

● 22 lac+ health check-ups done

● 3 lac+ antigen tests done

● 34,000+ positive patients identified

Dr. Abhay Firodia Group of Companies, being a

responsible corporate swiftly responded during the

lockdown and initiated several activities to help the

needy during the pandemic. It involved donations to

relief funds of various state governments, providing

doorstep medical service, distributing food packets, and

strengthening the Medicare infrastructure by distributing

ventilators and PPE kits.

One such initiative by Bhartiya Jain Sanghatana (BJS)

“Mission Zero” is financially supported by our Group. As

part of this initiative, mobile dispensaries will visit

societies to conduct Antigen tests in the state. The

doctors will check the residents and those found to be

symptomatic will be administered the antigen and the

RT-PCR tests in the comfort of their homes. The elderly

residents with underlying comorbidities and children will

be benefitted most with this initiative. It will help in

curbing fatalities and ultimately bringing down new

cases substantially.

TRAVELLER AMBULANCES JOIN THE BATTLE AGAINST COVID-19

● 20 Patient Transport Traveller Ambulances

● 915 Basic Life Support Traveller Ambulances.

● 130 Advanced Life Support Traveller Ambulances.

● 656 Mobile Medical Units built on the Force

Traveller Platform.

In the fight against the Corona virus, health departments

of all state governments geared up to strengthen their

healthcare infrastructure. Under this initiative, 1721

Traveller Ambulances and Mobile Medical units were

pressed into service by the state governments of Andhra

Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu during July-

September 2020.

The pandemic highlighted the inadequacies in our

healthcare delivery system and the need of the hour was

to set up an efficient patient transport service. The

Advanced Life Support Traveller Ambulances are

equipped to provide intensive monitoring and invasive

airway management in the golden hour while on the

move. These Ambulances are equipped with trained

medicare staff and l i fe-saving equipment l ike

Defibrillator, Transport Ventilator, Spine Board, Scoop

Stretcher, Splints, BP and Suction Apparatus.

The Mobile Medical Units on the other hand, are meant to

traverse the length and breadth of the respective state

and provide consultation, treatment to the citizens at

their doorstep in remote locations where medical

facilities are scarce. All these Ambulances and Mobile

Medical Units shall vastly improve the reach, reduce

response time and save valuable lives.

Mumbai, Maharashtra

Chandrapur, MaharashtraPune, Maharashtra

Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, Telangana

Chennai, Tamil Nadu

AMBULANCE SERVICE SUPPORT DURING LOCKDOWN

The rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in

India led to a spurt in the demand for Ambulances to ferry

patients to the hospitals. The non-stop ferrying of the

patients made it difficult for the service providers to

ensure upkeep of these ambulances.

The lockdown situation only compounded the problem

as dealerships were closed and workshop employees

could not report for work. To address this issue, the

Force Motors Service Team responded quickly, putting

their lives at risk by providing door step service to these

ambulances.

Necessary permissions were taken from the local

administration for movement of our service vans

equipped with technicians, tools and parts. Special care

was taken to provide the service team with necessary

protective gear like PPE kits, gloves, masks, hand

sanitizer, thermal guns.

The staff ensured that the vehicles were sanitized

thoroughly before and after the maintenance and repair

practice at no extra cost to the owner. In this crisis, they

had to protect themselves while being ready to move

anytime. The Call Centre and Customer Support team

ensured every Ambulance breakdown was addressed

promptly and effectively.

We are continuing to provide preventive maintenance

service for Ambulances as the pandemic is showing no

signs of ending. This initiative has been highly

appreciated by the local government officials, Hospitals,

and Emergency Service providers throughout the

country.

Kudos to the Force Motors Service team who have risen

to the occasion when the nation needed their services

most!

PITHAMPUR PLANT

CHAKAN PLANT

MODEL LINE COMPETITION

Paint Shop - Robotic loading area clinched the winner’s

trophy in the fifth “Model Line” competition organized in

August 2020. Since inception in 2019, over 20 shop floor

lines have participated in this competition displaying

best manufacturing practice on the Shop Floors.

The Powertrain plant - Front Axle line was the Runner up

of the competition.

SLOGAN COMPETITION

Under Quality initiative drive, Chakan plant organized a

“Slogan Competition” and received an overwhelming

response from the operators and the shop floor

employees.

Slogan of Mr. Suvankar Biswas - Engine Assembly was

adjudged the best followed by the slogan from

Mrs.Shruti Govindrao Kulkarni-Logistics and Mr.

Pandharinath Ratnaparkhi - Axle Assembly who were

announced the runners-up.

Congratulations to the winners of the competition !

INITIATIVES FOR PREVENTION OF SEXUAL

HARASSMENT

An education and awareness session on sexual

harassment at workplace was organized for all women

employees at Pithampur plant on 19th August.

Mrs. Reema Rajawat, a social worker for an NGO-

Abhakunj Welfare Society, which works towards welfare

of underprivileged women and children, chaired the

session. The session informed women employees about

the prevention of various kinds of harassment at the

workplace. It also addressed issues like gender equality,

importance of education, health and safe environment at

workplace.

NEW DEALERS

AVD DEALERS

NEW JOINEE

Mr. Kaushik Shah

Mr. Kaushik Shah has joined Force Motors as Sr. General Manager-Electric Vehicles

Division. Mr. Shah is an MBA from ICFAI University, Hyderabad and holds Bachelor’s degree

in Engineering and Electronics and Power Systems Engineering.

He brings with him extensive knowledge in the field of vehicle automation and providing

engineering solutions for production of Hybrid and Electric vehicles.

Please join us in welcoming and wishing him a successful career in Force Motors!

SHREE CHANDALINGESHWAR ENTERPRISES

Koppal, Karnataka

Mr. Annadanesha Madalageri

REALTYSHIELD SERVICES PVT. LTD.

Patancheruvu, Hyderabad, Telangana

Mr. Kalvakuntla Narsing Rao

Mr. Krishnapriya Kalvakuntla

AMBIKA TRACTORS

Solapur, Maharashtra

Mr.Vilas Ambadas Dhongade

AARADHYA AUTOMOTIVES

Nandyal, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh

Mr. C Chandra Mohan Reddy

SHRI DURGA FORCE TRACTORS

Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh

Mr. Vivek Agrawal

Mr. Saurabh Gupta

Edited and published by : Ms. Mohsina Faiz - Corporate Communications, on behalf of Force Motors Limited, Akurdi, Pune - 411 035.

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