Scorpio Development

                              Scorpio was the vehicle which took Mahindra into next orbit 

I joined Mahindra as a Graduate trainee in year 2006.After initial training for a month I was placed into team who's responsibility was to develop critical parts like Brakes, Clutches, Steering, HVAC, Tyre's and Wheels. One day my manager asked me to go to Scorpio development department.He asked me to meet Mr Sanjay Tank who was Department Head for Scorpio Vehicle engineering. I was very nervous as this was my first professional assignment. 

As my manager had instructed I met Tank Sir.Surprisingly he was very warm towards me and made me comfortable. In this project we were developing a new Scorpio with light weight powerful Aluminium block engine, many new electronic features and changes to interior and exterior trims of Scorpio.Tank Sir asked me to accompany him for a test drive of Scorpio which was under development. I was excited as this was my first experience with vehicle testing. 

We started from Nasik plant  and on the way he told me that there was problem with tire pressure monitoring sensor(TPMS). My manager was responsible for TPMS sensor development.He told me that tyre pressure shown by TPMS sensor was not correct and we need to address this problem with the supplier.I somehow gathered courage and told him, "how can I be sure that the sensor reading is wrong?.We have to cross check the pressure with another gauge".To this Tank Sir replied, "no problem we can", he drove us to a road side puncture shop. There we got the Tyre pressure checked.Again the gauge showed that the TPMS sensor readings was wrong.

I told Sir that to be 100% sure we need to check the tyre pressure with a better calibrated instrument. He was still patient with me and agreed to get it checked at Wheels India factory in Nasik. At Wheels India to check the Tyre pressure we needed to remove the Wheel. I and another trainee who accompanied us had absolutely no idea on how to dissemble a wheel. To my astonishment Tank Sir immediately took a spanner,disassembled the wheel and got it checked on the assembly line. The reading confirmed that there was a problem with calibration of TPMS sensor. We needed to address this with our supplier. Later on in the year New Scorpio was launched and it became a grand success.We had a initial volume projection of 40 vehicles per day. But after launch in no time the requirement for vehicle reached 120 per day. Being part of part development team we had a tough time in ramping up production from our suppliers. 

What I learned that day was that a good automobile engineer should know

1.How to assemble or disassemble parts of a vehicle. 

2.No work is small or big based on position you hold. People can be moved and lead only by example and not by titles one holds.

3.Always value others opinion  irrespective of their experience or titles they hold. 

4.Vehicle development is not all about design or computer simulations. It also needs lots of practical knowledge,team work,engineering, management and people skills. 

5.Vehicle development is a high responsibility, high pressure job and one needs to have auto passion to do it well.