Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

I’ve spent 29+ years building and scaling manufacturing businesses across consumer electronics and automotive components. I currently serve as CEO of Elin Electronics Limited, driving operational excellence, supply chain resilience, and customer-centric growth. Before this, I managed large-scale operations at Dixon Technologies, including launching new business verticals, structuring SOPs, and establishing strategic partnerships. My core expertise is in end-to-end transformation—cost modelling, QA digitisation, supplier development, and commercial negotiation—anchored in a pragmatic, execution-first leadership style.

Q2. How do you see global supply chains in automotive and consumer electronics structurally changing after recent disruptions and which changes do you believe are permanent?

Recent disruptions have accelerated structural shifts from just-in-time to just-in-case, with resilience now priced into every decision.
•    Regionalisation with dual sourcing: Supply bases are reconfiguring into India+1, ASEAN+1, or near-shore models to reduce single-point dependency.
•    Inventory as a strategic buffer: Higher safety stocks and dynamic allocation (SKU criticality tiers) are becoming permanent features, not temporary fixes.
•    Design-for-supply: Engineering choices now consider component availability, firmware portability, and alternate BOMs to de-risk supply.
•    Supplier capability uplift: OEMs expect digital traceability, process capability indices, and faster PPAP/FAI cycles—this is here to stay.
•    Contracting discipline: More granular SLAs, volume flexibility bands, and structured risk-sharing clauses (esp. for semiconductors and logistics).
Permanent changes: multi-region capacity, diversified BOMs, codified resilience in contracts, and data-backed supplier performance governance.

Q3. How do you see data, analytics, and digital tools reshaping procurement and operations decision-making?

Data isn’t a dashboard; it’s a decision engine.
•    Procurement: Predictive demand-supply matching, price benchmarks, and component risk heatmaps drive agile sourcing and hedging.
•    Operations: Digital twins, SPC analytics, and IoT-led process monitoring reduce defects and speed corrective action closure.
•    QA and traceability: Part-level genealogy, automated COQ reporting, and root-cause analytics elevate customer confidence and audit readiness.
•    Commercials: Real-time landed cost models (materials, FX, logistics) enable faster, more accurate pricing and capacity commitments.
•    Governance: Tiered supplier scorecards (OTD, FPY, PPM, NCR cycle time) shift reviews from opinion to evidence.
The winners are building unified data layers across ERP, MES, PLM, and supplier portals—so signals turn into actions within the same week, not the next quarter.

Q4. How has sustainability shifted from a compliance requirement to a strategic lever in manufacturing and supply chain decisions?

Sustainability has shifted from a “checklist” to a “competitive advantage.”
•    Cost and risk: Energy efficiency, waste reduction, and recyclable packaging cut structural costs while hedging regulatory risk.
•    Customer preference: Global OEMs award business based on credible ESG metrics (Scope 1–3 visibility, ethical sourcing, conflict minerals).
•    Financing and policy tailwinds: Better access to capital and incentives for green manufacturing, renewables, and circular practices.
•    Operational quality: Cleaner processes correlate with fewer defects, better yields, and stronger workplace safety.
Strategic play: integrate ESG into design, procurement, and plant operations—measure, improve, certify—and turn it into a moat during RFQs.

Q5. Which customer segments or end-markets do you see as the most attractive for scalable growth over the next few years?

•    Automotive electronics, including body control modules, lighting systems, and EV subassemblies, benefit from a regulatory push and longer product cycles.
•    Smart appliances and premium consumer electronics: Mid-to-premium SKUs with feature-rich platforms, where quality and reliability command margin.
•    Industrial and infrastructure electronics: Power systems, metering, and controls—stable demand, high compliance barriers, and repeat business.
•    Medical devices (select categories): Non-invasive, regulated assemblies—long lifecycles, exacting QA, and strong stickiness.
•    Export-led EMS for global mid-tier OEMs: Diversified geographies, lower price volatility, and professionalised program management.
The common thread: segments with high compliance, predictable demand, and platform reusability.

Q6. How does competition differ when serving domestic customers versus global OEMs and export markets?

•    Domestic customers: Compete on speed, cost, and service responsiveness; decisions are faster, but price pressure is higher, and relationships matter.
•    Global OEMs: Compete on capability, certification, and execution rigor—PPAP maturity, cybersecurity, traceability, and program discipline; sales cycles are longer, but volumes and stability are superior.
•    Exports: Logistics reliability, FX management, and multi-country compliance become differentiators; quality consistency earns long-term contracts.
In short, domestic is agility-driven; global is audit-proof capability. The best players do both by segregating processes and leadership focus.

Q7. If you were an investor looking at companies within the space, what critical question would you pose to their senior management?

•    Question: “Show me the operating system of your company—how your data, processes, and governance translate into consistent, cash-backed performance under stress.”
•    What I’d expect to see:
•    Lead indicators: FPY, OTD, NCR cycle time, supplier PPM, capacity adherence.
•    Cash discipline: Working capital turns, inventory segmentation, hedging policies.
•    Resilience playbook: Alternate BOMs, dual sourcing, crisis dashboards, and contractual risk-sharing.
•    Talent and culture: How frontline problem-solving and digital adoption are measured and rewarded.
If they can’t demonstrate this with evidence, it’s not a moat—it’s momentum.