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 5th ANNUAL ACS (AUTOMOTIVE CLUSTER OF SLOVENIA) CONVENTION AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE
“The automobile industry will remain one of the most important branches of Central and Western European economy, despite the emergence of great structural changes as well as new and high-growth Asian (China, India) and Eastern European markets and productions.” This is the main conclusion of participants of the 5th Annual ACS Convention and International Business Conference, which was held on May 29, 2007 in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia.In his opening address Mr. Dušan Bušen, the ACS general manager, emphasized the fact that in the present time technological demands and requirements for the whole vehicle system are changing more rapidly than ever before. The dynamics of the market and above all its challenges are met with reforms of certain processes. ACS members (companies and institutions) therefore focus even more on the R&D activities and thus try to maintain their position and developmental momentum in the world's fastest developing industry as well as to insure the creation of new products and technologies that will lead to the increased extent of demands. Participants were also addressed by the Minister of Higher education, Science and Technology, Mr. Jure Zupan, Ph.D. According to Minister Zupan, education and innovativity represent two essential factors for the growth of the competitiveness of the economy. That is why the Slovenian Government will further promote and encourage the cooperation between the economy, high education and development institutions. Representatives from the European Commission and the automotive industry, the European Council for Automotive R&D (EUCAR), the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA), from companies General Motors, AVL, GKN Driveline, REVOZ (Renault-Nissan Group), Magna International, Volkswagen Group, Dacia as well as Slovenian suppliers TPV and Kovinoplastika, jointly discussed the development of suppliers in the automotive industry (partnership, values and future development), end user aspect as the main guideline of the development (safety, mobility, comfort) and cooperation in the South Eastern European region. Participants agreed that becoming a global supplier and R&D base represents the main challenge and goal for the future. Round table guests - among them Mr. Andrej Vizjak, MSc, Minister, Ministry of the Economy, Ms. Katja Lautar, Msc, State Secretary, Government Office for Growth, and distinguished guests from Europe Mr. Andreas Viespack, European Commission, Mr. Ulf Palmqvist, Director, EUCAR and Mr. Lars Holmqvist, CEO, CLEPA - exchanged interesting views and opinions about the challenge of successful growth in the automotive industry. They all underlined that effective cooperation requires and rests on individuals that are open minded, creative and susceptible to learning, team work and integration. Therefore the need for business systems and institutions that understand and encourage cooperation and integration inside the system as well as in relation to the environment emerges. The final conclusion: all of the stated goals can be achieved only with cooperation and effective management. The convention was followed by the ACS Business Conference, organized as one-on-one meetings between representatives of manufacturers-system suppliers, automotive components manufacturers and their suppliers, contractors for developmental, production and other services as well as tool and machine manufacturers for the automotive industry. Both the Convention and the Business Conference were international events with over 160 attending participants form Slovenia , Austria , Serbia , Montenegro , Croatia , Germany , Bosnia-Herzegovina , Sweden , Great Britain , Belgium , Italy , France and Canada. The Convention proved itself as a valuable pool of knowledge and thus increased the understanding of present trends and new possibilities of automotive suppliers in developmental movements of automotive and automotive supplier industry in Europe and the entire world. Good practice in the innovations of complex products and advanced technologies in the automotive industry was also exchanged. The Business Conference was especially marked by establishment of new contacts for developmental partnerships and the increase of cooperation between industrial, R&D and services providing companies. << Back |