J.T. Battenberg III.
"I've been very surprised at the strength of engineering capability around the world."
The Delphi Intellek Oil Sense oil condition sensor was developed at the Mexico Technical Center. The sensor extends the oil change interval by two to three times by directly monitoring engine oil condition, level, and temperature. The sensor also detects water and glycol contamination.
Delphi's engineering universe
Engineers worldwide: 15,000
Technical centers worldwide: 27
Engineering sectors: Electronics & Mobile Communications; Safety, Thermal & Electrical Architecture; Dynamics & Propulsion
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Delphi Automotive Systems is giving new meaning to the mantra, "think globally, act locally." Typically used in reference to vehicle manufacturing, the phrase increasingly applies to additional functions, such as engineering. The world's largest automotive supplier has tapped a mine of global engineering talent that gives it local engineering flavor while helping it control costs.
"I've been very surprised at the strength of engineering capability around the world," said J.T. Battenberg III, Delphi Chairman, CEO, and President. "It's really out there. You've got to have the mind-set that says, 'I'm going to be a global engineering company,' and you have to be able to gear up for it."
That's what the world's largest automotive supply company currently is doing in Poland and China, where engineering tech centers are or soon will be getting off the ground. As with ones that already dot the world map, Delphi's Poland and China tech centers will draw heavily from the local engineering pool for staffing.
The tech center in Ciudad Jaurez, Mexico, is "85% local engineers," said Battenberg, an SAE member who in his current position misses the hands-on engineering of his previous jobs. "Same thing in Japan. The engineers we're hiring in India are terrific, as are the ones in Eastern Europe." Dependence on local engineering is not a policy set in stone, however, because not all regions and countries of the world possess engineering expertise, according to Battenberg.
The Delphi product development process is what glues together the company's wide-reaching engineering enterprises. "We continue to move ahead with a common computer-based system so our engineers can work around the clock," Battenberg said. "It's part of our vision: common processes, common training, global technical centers, and common computer systems so we can work across the globe."
At the Mexico Technical Center, "everything is CAD/CAM engineering," said Mark Shost, Delphi's Chief Engineer for Sensors and Solenoids and Director of the recently expanded Mexico facility. "We also use video conferencing. We are connected to all other sites—both our own engineering centers and customers around the world."
Though the engineering product from Mexican and southern U.S. universities is excellent, the Mexico Technical Center has, "by and large, a young workforce," Shost said. "We do spend a lot of time on training and development."
The expense incurred to train the new engineers at the Mexico Technical Center is more than offset by a starting salary lower than that offered in the United States. Lower salaries at many global tech centers "enriches our strategy to do engineering on a global basis," Battenberg said, by enabling the company to hire more engineers without increasing the 6% of Delphi sales dedicated to engineering and research.
Because it is developing electric/electronic systems to replace hydraulic and/or manual ones, the company is seeking electrical engineers more than any other type. "We're always looking for electronics engineers," Battenberg said. "We're trying to get our mechanical engineers to think out of the box, not only in terms of getting rid of wiring, but also hydraulics so we can move to brake by wire, steer by wire—actuation by wire."
As for existing mechanical engineers, "they've either got to be retrained or they've got to be put on some traditional work, and that traditional work is going away. There's a lot of change going on."
The Mexico engineering facility exemplifies Delphi's increasing reliance on non-U.S. tech centers. By 2000, the Mexico Technical Center engineering staff will climb to 2000, up from 1500 currently, according to Shost. More reliance on non-U.S. tech centers also is helping the company capture more non-GM, non-North American business.
Like many of Delphi's other tech centers, the Mexico facility is populated by engineers from around the globe, according to Shost, with about a dozen nationalities represented. Eleven languages are spoken, and most of the workforce is bilingual. The predominant business language is English.
The tech center has proven successful in the professional development of the native workforce. About 100 engineers from the Mexico operation have been promoted into leadership positions and have been assigned to lend their expertise at other global tech centers. "It's not a question of sending Americans to Mexico, it's a matter of sending Mexicans to the rest of the world," Battenberg said.
Patrick Ponticel
