Q&A with Jim Hudak
Vice President, Sales and Engineering, Asia Pacific
Executive in Charge of Asia Pacific

Q. Metaldyne has aggressive growth plans in Asia. What is your overall strategy to gain business in that region?

A. We want to balance our customer base globally. We have a large share of business today with OEMs in North America and Europe, while about 10 percent is with Asian OEMs. Our target is one-third of our business with Asian OEM’s, one-third with North American OEM’s and one-third with European OEM’s. We are targeting similar percentages for manufacturing in those regions as well.

To accomplish that goal we must work toward common targets and objectives and share knowledge efficiently. We’ve built strong, experienced sales and engineering teams in China, Korea and Japan to support local production and local business development. These teams serve as the liaisons between our customers and our functional experts around the world.

CSM Worldwide data shows that by 2013 more than half of the vehicle platforms will be developed in Asia. That means suppliers that expect to get or maintain business with Asian OEMs must have R&D capabilities in that region. It is imperative that we work with our customers in the early planning phases of their powertrain and vehicle development, so Metaldyne is opening a tech center in Japan in 2008 and adding engineering resources in China and Korea to further increase our engineering capability in Asia.

At the same time, we are also growing our manufacturing footprint in the region. We opened a facility in Pyeongtaek, Korea, in June 2004 primarily to support Hyundai. It continues to expand and will provide products for other Asian customers. We recently opened our China facility in Suzhou and our manufacturing facility in India continues to capture new business awards and customer interest as the Indian market heats up. .

We are also working closely with our parent Asahi Tec and are looking at future opportunities to make Metaldyne products in some of its plants in Japan and Thailand.

Q. How are you transferring customer knowledge throughout Metaldyne globally?

A. Our cross-functional Global Customer Teams are responsible for positioning Metaldyne globally with our customers and making sure information is shared across the company. That is essential to our growth and to creating common disciplines and strategies that will best serve our customers.

It’s very easy in today’s world to deal with customers on a regional basis, but that is very dangerous. Our customers think globally and have global purchasing organizations, global engineering and global manufacturing strategies. They expect us to do the same.

Q. How have you ensured a consistent corporate culture as you grow in Asia?

A. When we benchmarked several suppliers we found many companies rushed to hire local people immediately because they speak the language and understand the market. However, they don’t understand a company’s DNA. We patterned our strategy after Japanese companies that have grown globally. They don’t go to a foreign market, hire local people and say “go.” They transplant their culture, their ideals and their business DNA. That has made them very successful.

Q. How is the business environment different in Asia?

A. In North America, generally the relationship develops from the business. In Asia, generally, business develops from the relationship. So strong, established relationships built over time are essential. Relationships must go beyond a competitive price to provide a competitive advantage.

In all cases, you must have highly qualified local talent that understands the customer and what they need. At the same time, it is not enough to simply go to a prospective customer and tell them what you do. It is always about value; what advantage or benefit can we offer that our customer currently does not have.

Like Metaldyne, many North American suppliers are well-positioned from a product and process technology to compete effectively in Asia. The North American OEMs set the stage for that when they outsourced design and modularity to their suppliers in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. As a result suppliers developed the ability to effectively compete on a global basis in product and process technologies. Thanks in large part to our traditional North American OEM customers, North American suppliers have great assets at their disposal - experienced and talented people with product innovation capabilities and expertise. Suppliers like Metaldyne can succeed in Asia, because we have what it takes technically. Now we must focus on execution.

Related Links
Jim Hudak Biography

January 23 , 2008
Automotive News World Congress Speech
Jim Hudak, vice president, sales and engineering, Asia Pacific

March 19 , 2007
Metaldyne Named Jim Hudak Vice President, Sales & Engineering - Asia