Ashok Leyland makes a U-turn

In the face of a gathering wave of competition the company realises it cannot stake its future on this anachronistic approach, which leaves the customer to force-fit his application onto an often underdesigned chassis.

At a more fundamental level, COO Vinod Dasari admits, the company’s very survival is premised on its being able to break free of its overdependence on the southern Indian markets it presently dominates.

The only way it can do this is by application-optimising its trucks to minimise its customers’ operating costs, enabling them to make the most of the opportunities afforded by the respective industries they serve.

This, Dasari explains, was the leitmotif of Project Unitruck. “The only way we can grow across the country is for us to focus on improving the profitability of our customers and channel partners,” he says.

The cornerstone of this strategy is a new modular design approach in which every key aggregate and subsystem has been developed as a “package” in two, three, or four carefully pre-engineered performance steps, and validated for the toughest test case for that aggregate or subsystem for each performance step. For example the joggled (cranked) chassis, where it all comes together, will be offered in three sections and two thicknesses — 6mm for on-highway haulage and 8mm for tippers and other heavy duty applications. In the future it will be available in a variety of materials as well.

“In the existing platform we had a single section about 9” deep and a single thickness of 6mm. The only way to increase the loading capability was to add flitches (an additional L-bracket or channel within the section) in multiple places. Now the choice of sections and thicknesses allows us considerable latitude in optimising the frame so that we can bring down its weight by up to 150kg,” says executive director (product development) RRG Menon. The customer may choose from standard and heavy duty front axles with different I-beam sections, which will be offered in both low-drop and straight versions. The new design allows for a 52deg wheel lock angle – Menon claims this is the best in its class – for better manoeuvrability and sharper turning. There will be three types of rear axle on offer, with seven different ratios, all engineered for disc brakes.

Application-specific
The system also makes application-specific suspension ratings a reality — the choice offered is of parabolic and the conventional semi-elliptical springs, in spans of 1650mm and 1850mm (the latter with anti-roll bar), again in standard and heavy duty ratings. Air suspensions will be available for the rear axle on tractors when there is a requirement for this.

Another equally important consideration in the modular concept is the standardisation of interfaces between the key components. This is most evidently manifested in the standard 50mm spacing between bolt holes on the chassis. What’s not immediately apparent is that the flywheel cutoff is used as a reference plane in every chassis design regardless of model or application. This allows a variety of engines to be “dropped” into the same chassis, be they the 3.8- litre H4 engine, the 5.3-litre N4, the 5.7-litre H6, the 8.1- litre N6, and even a larger engine should there be a requirement for that. In this way the company can create any number of variants adapted to the special needs of individual customers from a limited pool of “building blocks”, in much the same way as an enthusiast like this correspondent would build any number of different truck and bus models from the same set of Lego City construction blocks when he was younger.

The customer gets to specify the performance level of each aggregate (frame, engine, transmission, axle, suspension) or subsystem (air intake, cooling, exhaust) he needs for his specific application independently of the others, and Ashok Leyland will build him the truck in any number, down to a “lot size of one”, Dasari says.

The beauty of the modular system is that each “package” can be further refined by itself, or an additional performance step added, independently of the others, which allows Ashok Leyland to keep the product evolving with the customer needs.

Several standard configurations will continue to be available off the shelf, or if not, in the next 15-day production cycle. “If the requirement is for a custom-configured truck that we have not yet built, that has a different wheelbase or engine, for example, from what we offer, the lead time would be about two months, which is as long as it takes for CMVR clearance,” he adds.

The company thus offers the customer the best cost–performance ratio he can hope for, and is at the same time able to put a lid on the expensive “proliferation” of parts that would otherwise have been unavoidable — Dasari mentions a whopping 14,000 supplier part number configurations just for Ashok Leyland’s December production mix.

“By how much the Unitruck programme will bring down this number will be better estimated over the next two years, as we complete the transition of the entire [existing] range from 16 to 49 tonnes in terms of design and development,” he says. “However, early indications are a reduction in the range of 20– 30 percent.”

Never underengineered
While the performance steps have been carefully balanced to fit the bulk of the application requirements, or in other words optimised for the highest-volume variants that the company presently envisages, any “exception” will invariably be overengineered, Menon points out. The H- and N-series engines that will power the U-truck are common-rail-fuelled platforms developed for Euro IV in a total of 11 power ratings. Both will initially be offered at Euro III, the H with the VP37 distributor pump. For Euro IV the H will come with a selective catalytic reduction exhaust aftertreatment solution, and the N with an EGR subsystem and partial-flow filter.

The Neptune six-cylinder engine uses a third-generation 1800 bar common-rail system from Bosch, and the 360 hp Euro III rating will come with an EVB engine valve (decompression) brake licensed from MAN Nutzfahrzeuge. Designated ALEBS (Ashok Leyland Engine Brake System), it is capable of generating retardation of up to 60 percent of the engine’s rated power, or 230 hp on a 380 hp engine, and can be specified instead of a much heavier secondary retarder, Menon says. The H is actually is a completely new engine that retains only the bore and stroke dimensions, and the cylinder spacing, of the original pre-emissions WO6DT design licensed from Hino. The structural rigidity of the block has been enhanced to handle the higher peak firing pressures that will enable this engine to meet the particulate level requirements of Euro V.

A lot of computational fluid dynamics and more specific numerical simulation work has gone into matching the cooling and exhaust system “packages” to the operating points of the engines in their intended applications so that they run at their optimum temperature, Menon reveals. Given the low power-to-weight ratios in the country most of these engines operate at maximum power and torque at load because of the (over)load conditions. As the OEM needs to ensure that the cooling system is absolutely safe in these conditions, anyone who runs at part-load is actually at suboptimal. “You need to change that, and you can do it in multiple ways. One is, as you go to higher powers, you never reach the maximum torque and power in operation, so you match the cooling system to the application. Another option is to use electronic controls on the engine to bring down the torque levels when the temperatures start to shoot up,” he explains.

In fact it is the use of electronics that has allowed the company to improve the life of its engines considerably — Menon claims a B10 life of one million kilometres for its “completely indigenised” Neptune six-cylinder engine, a clean-sheet design that was developed in little over 2½ years with assistance from AVL.

While the 8.1 litre engine is presently rated at a maximum 360 hp @ 2200 rpm and 1400 Nm @ 1300 rpm at Euro III, the Euro IV version will have 320 hp. A 375 hp rating with twin turbochargers is in the works and will come in a year and a half, he says. Higher power requirements will be met using bought-in engines – most probably from Cummins, Dasari reveals – unless the numbers for both domestic and export markets are good enough to justify adding another engine platform.

Full-bodied flavour of modularity
The U-truck standard programme includes tractors, tippers, and rigid trucks in 4×2, 4×4, 6×2, 6×4, 8×2, and 8×4 axle configurations, or 10 in all. These will be sold with a range of load bodies and trailers built by affiliate company PL Haulwel Trailers and Kailash Vahan Udyog to designs provided by Ashok Leyland. The former, for example, has been engaged for trailer and tipper body manufacture for the U-trucks. “Joint development with PL Haulwel ensures highly productive solutions that are easier to manufacture and more reliable,” Menon points out.

Providing application-specific body types also allows it to offer customers a comprehensive warranty. The company will shortly begin joint development with Liebherr CMCtec on transit concrete mixers, and with other partners on garbage compactors and more special applications. The cab, a suspended version of its G90 series developed from the Iveco Cargo cab of the early 1990s, will do duty on the U-truck till it is superseded in 2012 by Ashok Leyland’s very own modular NextGen cab inspired by Scania’s R-series. The G91 presently meets all the requirements for frontal impact and rollover stipulated by the AIS-029 regulation, the Indian version of ECE R29.

“If you look at haulage, there’s still a culture that prevails in the market of integrating cab and body. But for tractors and tippers, customers want a cab. Even for haulage applications that call for chassis products, such as readymix concrete or cranes, they prefer a fully built cab, because they want to start operating from day one,” Menon points out.

Air-conditioning will be offered as an option, with HVAC to be added later, possibly in the NextGen cab itself. The styling of the dashboard continues to emulate that of the Hino 500 series. Air-suspended seats are standard, and for export models the cab will be tiltable. An important tenet in Ashok Leyland’s interpretation of the modular system is the use of long-life aggregates for low overall lifecycle costs and better resale value. This includes, for example, the front-end tipping hydraulics on its heaviest-duty tippers, which will be supplied exclusively by Interpump Hydraulics India.

Towards this same objective the company has chosen to pioneer the use of plastic fuel tanks to tackle the challenge of corrosion. These will be offered in three sizes of 200, 300, and 400 litres, all with common mounting gear in accordance with the modular system. The tanks have been designed using a crosslinked polymer evaporation barrier technology that has cleared the permeability tests at ARAI “comfortably”, Menon says.

Synchronised service
The philosophy behind the modular product design extends to the radical new service support proposition that underpins the product offensive. Its “extreme emphasis on reliability and uptime” caused Ashok Leyland to hit upon synchronising maintenance intervals of key aggregates and consumables. For the last few months it has been working on, for example, synchronising the minimum oil drain interval on any aggregate to 40,000 km, or a multiple thereof. This means that some of the aggregates need to be seen to only at intervals of 40,000 km, and others at multiples thereof, so that the operator knows upfront how long he can keep his truck running reliably till it needs service.

“We have worked very closely with Gulf Oil on engine oil extension. At one time you had to change the oil every 16,000km. Then we went to 32,000 with long-life filters. Now we have been able to take that to 80,000, and our trials show we can possibly stretch it to 120,000,” says Menon. This is the highest drain interval for any truck engine in India today using mineral-base oils.

Gulf has done a lot of work on the oil itself and the additives, while Ashok Leyland has worked on the cleanliness of the whole system. For the first time in India it has employed closed crankcase ventilation using the Multitwister axial cyclonic air/oil separator from Dana. “Synchronisation allows the operator to plan his service schedules in advance. Today he only takes his truck in when he realises, for example, that his rear-wheel hub bearings are running dangerously low on grease. Or he simply continues to run it till the next scheduled service stop for that axle. This clearly compromises the reliability and life of the product,” says Project Unitruck head Venkat Subramaniam. With synchronised maintenance intervals for both aggregates and consumables (like filters), the operator has the confidence that his truck will be up and running reliably between preventive maintenance stops that can now be transparently scheduled. And the service crew knows in advance exactly what jobs are required to be performed on the vehicle when it does come in.

In fact, since all the service needs for this particular configuration of vehicle are known beforehand, it is possible to turn the truck around in about half the time it presently takes, Subramaniam points out. An important corollary benefit is that this enables the service channel to plan its own operations more efficiently.

Subramaniam is particularly excited about the possibilities that the use of electronics and telematics opens. The U-truck platform already uses electronics to control and diagnose engine and body functions, and is to that extent “future-ready”. All it needs is a “combination of sensors with transmitting units” and intelligent software to enable condition monitoring and predictive maintenance.

The operator can keep an eye on the technical condition of his trucks – the brakes, tyre pressure, lights, suspension, axle load, and performance, to name a few – online at all times. Moreover, the autarkic system Subramaniam talks about, as opposed to the simple vehicle tracking systems on the Indian market, compares these data with stored reference values to generate status messages and propose action. This guarantees reliable operation of the fleet, and allows the operator to produce a predictive repair and maintenance plan that coordinates with his transportation tasks. In other words, it gives him even more flexibility in his operations by allowing him to fit maintenance stops into his transport schedules and not the other way round as at present.

The service channel, in turn, has the opportunity to become a lean, real-time enterprise focused on service quality, not on managing a huge parts inventory, in much the same way as Ashok Leyland is doing on the manufacturing front.

A marvel called UTK
The physical foundation on which the company is building its new concepts in product and service are its new 50,000-trucks-a-year factory at Rudrapur in Uttarakhand. Dasari proudly describes UTK, as it is known internally, as “the most integrated commercial vehicle plant in the world”. A CNC frame rolling machine and a high-specification Klingelnberg closed-loop bevel gear cutting and inspection system exemplify the fact that the company has left no stone unturned to realise its modular system.

Production of U-trucks will be split between UTK and the Hosur plant, though Autocar Professional learns that the tippers and heavier-duty vehicles will progressively be shifted to UTK, leaving Hosur to handle the more standard variants.

What the U-truck symbolises is more fundamental than a change in the way Ashok Leyland manufactures trucks; indeed, it represents a transformation in the way the company has traditionally looked at product development, a shift in focus from technical solutions to customer-inspired solutions, according to executive director (marketing) Rajive Saharia.

In fact, Project Unitruck is the first new product “programme” in the company’s history, the first time it has taken a comprehensive, structured, cross-functional approach to defining – and realising – a new product. The first “customer-inspired solution” the company came up with was for the construction sector, Saharia reveals, and the company has come up with six so far.

Starting with a base plan, in which the scope was articulated, the future vehicles group under Subramaniam plunged into an “immerse” phase in which cross-functional teams of two or three members each immersed themselves into the world of the customer to understand what makes him tick, emerging only to brainstorm with customers as a larger group to articulate and analyse the requirements.

This finally led to the generation of actionable ideas from which the final concepts were selected according to the respective market context for that application. It was not only vehicle “products” that were born of this exercise; the team also came up with a containerised workshop solution complete with generator, power tools, and workstations, for operators in Barbil (Orissa) and Bogibil (Assam).

Other innovative products that germinated were the ALLCover cashless insurance product and a service training institute, in addition to the successful driver training institutes the company runs at Burari near Delhi and Namakkal in Tamil Nadu. An engine and transmission reconditioning business being set up under the ALRecon brand tops off its portfolio of product-lifecycle offerings — ALTrux used truck exchange programme and the Vishwas AMC programme. New finance options will be introduced as the trucks roll into the market, including possibly operating leases, in which Ashok Leyland keeps the trucks as assets on its own books.

But Dasari’s vision extends far wider; he envisages full-service packages under which customers pay a fixed cost per kilometre for “transport performance” rather than buying or leasing trucks and having to bother about managing or maintaining a fleet. This, he declares, is consistent with Ashok Leyland’s planned foray into construction equipment with John Deere, which will leverage off the efficiency and flexibility it plans to achieve in its truck manufacturing operation and exploit potential synergies with that business in rapidly growing infrastructure construction market.

“We already provide our customers in the road construction business with generators, compressors, and trucks. We will soon be able to offer them backhoe loaders and motor graders as well. The beauty of having this broad range is the scope it gives us to use our H-series engine in a wider diversity of applications,” he concludes.