As the new era of net zero emission transport approaches, it has never been more important for manufacturers to focus on their planning and production systems.
Prime Mover: You’re Head of Product at IAL. What does your role involve?
Matt Sakhaie: My main role is looking after the product portfolio and the solutions we provide to the marketplace. Basically, the way we can help the businesses and their people to have a smooth operation via three core elements of the combination of product management, product production and product development which helps us to come up with better solutions that the market wants. An important part of my role is to be constantly monitoring what is out there, the changes happening, and making sure we stay ahead of the curve. This also involves watching for all those homologations and latest legislation coming through. Essentially, it’s about communicating with all the stakeholders, making sure that the product is safe and complies with all regulations. In a nutshell, it is all about creating a compelling product vision and devising the product roadmap.
PM: Isuzu is renowned for its broad product offering, currently with some 2,000 possible variations. Is the range too broad?
MS: We have to look into the users of our products globally, as Isuzu is truly a global company. They have different markets that they serve, and every market has different needs and that requires a lot of flexibility to cater for all those small, yet sometimes fundamental, differences which Isuzu has at the moment at the production level. This means the research and development centre needs to be on top of the game and it also means the supply chain needs to be flexible enough to accommodate all those change requests and, more importantly, the production. Isuzu production employs the ‘Just in Time’ philosophy so there is no warehouse full of components, therefore they really need to be flexible and cover the demands coming from different markets globally.
PM: The I-MACS concept seems a different approach for a vehicle manufacturer. What is it and how does it fit into the short- and long -term futures at Isuzu?
MS: The Isuzu Modular Architecture and Component Standard, otherwise known as I-MACS, has been developed by Isuzu in Japan, and is a revolutionary approach which allows the combination of various components, parts, and devices to be applied in anticipation of future advancement in technologies and the expansion of vehicle types into the future. This is one of the areas that I am passionate about. Without being brand specific, there are different philosophies in terms of product portfolio management and how to simplify the product configuration management with a great focus on parts “commonisation”. That’s one philosophy. On the other side of the spectrum, you can design different specific modules, but it means that you have to have a more sophisticated system to be able to manage all those modules and components and, more importantly, making sure all those components are compatible, so you don’t run into interchangeability problems down the track on the production line. What Isuzu is trying to achieve is not necessarily a new concept in the industry but will be a seismic shift in their product management/development philosophy.
PM: Is it a big change in culture internally?
MS: It’s a massive shift in the way they look into the product management philosophy. They introduced a new platform. This is based on the customer information/application details, the way the product is being used, the location of use and so forth. Then they are going to focus on modularising the components, be it frame, cab, axle, engine, transmission and so on, including the EV and hydrogen power components.
PM: By including EV, does that future proof production?
MS: I think that’s one of the major reasons behind this shift in terms of product philosophy. For example, if you look into what we witnessed at the Brisbane Truck Show, this is quite similar to the concept Cummins has introduced in terms of developing the base “fuel agnostic” engine with three interchangeable fuel management systems. I think it’s a very similar mentality. Isuzu is not shy in naming their strategic partners, being Volvo and Cummins, and there is a lot of synergy as to what we can do to enhance the flexibility and efficiency. Why hide it? If there is a better product, a better module why can we not implement it into the bigger product range? In my view, this is where this I-MACS concept would be a game-changer. It means the go-to-market time frame will be improved. Rather than waiting for, say, four years of design and developing everything from scratch, manufacturing a prototype, conducting the tests and validations and pre-production and so on, and then actually launching a new production line, you can look into how individual modules can be changed to make the existing product suitable for different applications, or different place of use in a global scheme.
PM: Does I-MACS mean you’ll get new products to market quicker?
MS: Absolutely, and with reduced effort and less cost in terms of product development. The product R&D in Isuzu world is very specialised, so we have dedicated research and development divisions for Light Duty, Medium Duty and Heavy Duty and the I-MACS can expedite the whole process.
PM: Will I-MACS foster more interaction between engineering and sales departments?
MS: By implementing I-MACS Isuzu are trying to encourage inter-departmental collaborations and leverage the in-house capabilities. The I-MACS concept has already been working and performing well in some areas of the business. As an example, the 4JJ engine that we are utilising in our N Series trucks is being used in Isuzu D-Max and MU-X vehicles. The very same engine has also been successfully implemented in some of the construction machines. This is the time to escalate that concept across the other modularised components including frames and transmissions. Changing a transmission is a new project, so if you are going to ask for a specific model to have an auto transmission rather than an AMT, it has to go back to R&D and the project has to start from scratch. But with the I-MACS concept fully functional, it should expedite the process and go straight to assessing the compatible module and making the prototype to enable testing to commence rather than going back to concept design.
PM: At the end of the day, does the customer benefit?
MS: There are a range of factors impacting Australian customers in the near future. We see these radiating from issues such as changes in regulation and legislation, technological advancements, as well as a level of post-pandemic uncertainty across a variety of industries. Isuzu Australia has a strong reputation for reliability and dependability, which is what I-MACS will continue to deliver for our customers so that they are well-supported as they tackle these challenges. In the simplest terms, the I-MACS approach is a balance between what customers have been asking for up until now and what will be demanded in the new era of transport.
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