CSS Corp’s Homegrown Intelligent Automation Solution Recognized for Business Innovation Award 2019

CSS Corp, a new age IT services and technology support company, today announced that it has won ‘The Golden Globe Tigers 2019 Awards’ in the Business Innovation category. The results were declared by the CMO Asia group at the Le Meridien hotel in Malaysia. CSS Corp was acknowledged for its intelligent automation capabilities, built with innovative solutions that enable IT operations to become more agile and accessible for enterprises.

CSS Corp’s intelligent automation for IT operations has been designed to leverage the transformative potential of cognitive technologies to drive customer centricity, simplify businesses, and ensure top-notch service delivery and management for enterprises. By infusing intelligence into IT operations, the platform promotes the highest level of predictability and service-level optimization, providing agility, speed, and flexibility.

Speaking about the win, Manish Tandon, Chief Executive Officer, CSS Corp, said, “We are deeply honored to receive this prestigious award for our innovative service model in IT operations. Our cognitive solutions have been a catalyst in transforming traditional IT ecosystems into smarter hybrid frameworks, adding more value to our customers. We continue to work on empowering our customers to drive greater business agility and efficiency through context-driven IT operations.”

Flash Electronics Files Suit in U.S Against Royal Enfield for Patent Infringement

Flash Electronics India Ltd, the leading electronic and electric auto components player has filed a law suit against Royal Enfield challenging patent infringement in the US regarding production of an important component for two wheelers/ motorcycles.

As per the suit filed, Royal Enfield has infringed Flash electronics’ patent on “Regulator Rectifier Device and Method for Regulating an Output Voltage of the Same” duly issued by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) to Flash Electronics on February 20, 2018  after Flash’s R&D department made a breakthrough invention of the component in 2014.  Since then Flash Electronics has been the key manufacturer and supplier of this component to many leading two-wheeler manufacturers in India and overseas.

The regulator-rectifier is a vital component that smoothly and efficiently converts the AC (Alternating Current) voltage produced in motorcycle engines into DC (Direct Current) voltage to charge the batteries, power the headlights, light up the instrument panel hence drives the motorcycle’s electrical systems.

Besides USA, Flash has been granted patent in various other countries including many European countries including Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Switzerland as well as Turkey  and the company would be filing similar suits in the respective jurisdictions soon.

Commenting on the incident, Mr. Sanjeev Vasdev, Founder and Managing Director, Flash Electronics India Pvt Ltd said “Flash Electronics is a responsible and mature member of the automotive community, manufacturing cutting edge engineering products since decades and is recognized on a global automotive front for its strong in-house R&D capabilities. We have been trusted suppliers to leading auto manufacturers across India and overseas and it’s unfortunate to have to deal with such an unexpected and unprecedented act on the part of Royal Enfield, one of the most prestigious names in the automotive sector. This incident is highly objectionable and has dented the credibility of the brand, at least with us as a partner”.

Further, Mr. Vasdev mentioned that the company was approached by 3 senior officials of Royal Enfield on 12th October 2018 in New Delhi to settle the issue amicably and requested Flash not to file any suit on the matter. Flash waited for the outcome of this meeting but Royal Enfield did not address the issue.

Mr. Vasdev further commented that Flash will take all necessary action required across the world to ensure that Royal Enfield stops infringing the patent and pays compensation for the violation which would run into millions of dollars .He also urged other component manufacturers to be vigilant , on this kind of predatory behaviour.

Companies Set to Re-Design Job Roles Due to Massive Skills Shortage: Shine.com HR Trends Survey

Shine.com, India’s 2nd largest job portal, recently conducted a survey mapping major HR trends for 2019. The survey revealed interesting insights into the evolving jobs landscape and its implications on the nature of jobs across industries. According to the survey, nearly half (47 %) of senior HR professionals are predicting a skills shortage in the country in the near future. As a result, over one-third (37%) are focusing on redesigning jobs to accommodate swiftly changing trends.

Redesigned jobs demand diversified skillsets

As organizations rapidly adopt technology to streamline processes and make them more efficient, traditional job roles are undergoing a massive transformation. Diversified job roles that require more wide-ranging skill sets are emerging. For instance, data related roles are fast-evolving as companies realize the importance of the goldmine of data they are sitting on. Therefore, companies are looking to hire Senior Data Science leaders who possess expertise in data science, and at the same time can understand the business and functional needs to create a strategic roadmap that can leverage the vast data collated by the company for business growth.

Similarly, companies that previously hired traditionally-skilled brand marketers are now eyeing new-age communications experts who can oversee digital marketing, social media, SEO, SEM, influencer marketing, website development, and more. Companies are, therefore, looking for Marketers who can wear multiple hats while delivering multi-dimensional brand communication.

On the other hand, while jobs like UI/UX designing were largely technical in the past, these roles now require a degree of interpersonal skills. Designers must be able to understand the end user's stated and unstated requirements in order to ensure that they are delivering a digital experience that is most suited to their preferences. They need to be able to connect, collaborate, adapt, and improve products and systems based on these customer needs.

Further, UI/UX designers who possess data expertise and can look at UI/UX studies and user flows, and then adapt designs basis the information will be more in demand than traditional designers. The above-mentioned examples make it clear that jobs are transforming at an accelerated pace, and job seekers need to follow suit in order to stay relevant within the rapidly-changing jobs market.

Revamping job applications become a must

As the skill demand in the job landscape moves towards a more tech-centric approach, candidates will also need to modify their job applications, CV and resume formats. Traditional CVs can no longer be expected to stand out of the clutter. A lot of skills from different functional areas must be combined into one role in order to appeal to organizations. Since a candidate may not have all the requisite skills, the aptitude to learn is also becoming an essential skill. Hence, candidates need to go beyond the skills they possess and also highlight their strengths and proxy skills that can show an aptitude for acquiring new skills to remain relevant in the quickly-evolving jobs landscape. 

Speaking on the changing job trends, Zairus Master, CEO, Shine.com, said, “As new job roles enter the market, we are already seeing job descriptions evolve. Skills which wouldn’t typically be found in the same role earlier are now being combined to create more multidimensional profiles. Hence, the traditional resume formats are now becoming irrelevant. Jobseekers will need to amplify the appeal of their resumes by highlighting the relevant job skills that they possess. For instance, data entry professionals will now need to acquire data science skills to be able to land high-value jobs. At this juncture, upskilling/reskilling is a good option for professionals looking to augment their career growth trajectory.”

Upskilling/Reskilling is the need of the hour

Shine.com further emphasized the urgent need to upskill/reskill the workforce to meet the evolving nature of jobs. More than half (54.05%) of the HR professionals surveyed mentioned that they will invest in large-scale upskilling/reskilling in their organizations. Further, until the skills of the workforce are aligned with business goals, 38.04% of the respondents will focus on developing a rewards strategy to attract and retain gig economy workers.

However, since upskilling/reskilling is a relatively gradual process, the focus of organizations will remain on revamping job profiles and hiring professionals who can fulfill these multi-faceted job roles that are more demanding and skill-based than ever before.

HR trends survey key highlights:

Nearly half (47 %) of senior HR professionals are predicting a skills shortage in the country in the near future. 
Over one-third, senior HR professionals (37%) are focusing on redesigning jobs to accommodate swiftly changing trends 
More than half (54.05%) HR professionals surveyed mentioned that they will invest in large-scale upskilling/reskilling in their organizations
The skills of the workforce are aligned with business goals, 38.04% of the respondents will focus on developing a rewards strategy to attract and retain gig economy workers.  

Zendesk Unveils Next Generation of Conversational Messaging Experiences

Zendesk, Inc. has announced it acquired Smooch Technologies Holdings ULC, the Montreal-based company behind Smooch, a platform connecting businesses with customers to power more personalized and human conversations. The acquisition marks Zendesk's next step in delivering the best omnichannel experiences by connecting conversations between businesses and customers on any messaging channel--from websites and mobile apps to the world's leading messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

"We live in a messaging-centric world, and customers expect the convenience and interactivity of messaging to be part of their experiences," said Mikkel Svane, Zendesk founder, CEO and chairman. "As long-time partners with Smooch, we know first hand how much they have advanced the conversational experience to bring together all forms of messaging and create a continuous conversation between customers and businesses."

More than 75 percent* of all smartphone users now use messaging apps such as WhatsApp. Smooch is one of the largest providers of WhatsApp Business integration, and through Zendesk’s early access program, companies can now reach WhatsApp’s 1.5 billion users to manage service interactions and engage with customers directly through Zendesk Chat. This marks the continued expansion of Zendesk’s integration with the WhatsApp Business API into The Zendesk Suite.

Create a consistent conversational experience

Businesses struggle to manage the rapidly increasing number of customer inquiries across a variety of disparate channels. Smooch is the only messaging solution pulling in all customer conversations across web, mobile, and social messaging into a cohesive interface no matter what the channel is. As an API and SDK-based development platform built on AWS, Smooch’s acquisition furthers Zendesk’s commitment to an open, flexible CRM that businesses can harness to build and offer differentiated customer experiences.

“With their launch of Sunshine last year, Zendesk took the bold and disruptive step required to compete for and win the future of CRM,” said Warren Levitan, co-founder and CEO of Smooch  “The decision to combine forces with Zendesk and help further their CRM strategy will allow us to supercharge our existing mission for building the best customer experiences.  We are thrilled to be joining the entire Zendesk team, so many of whom we have had the pleasure to work with over the past three-and-a-half years.”

Together, Zendesk and Smooch will drive the next wave of connected conversations on a variety of messaging channels, including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, LINE, WeChat, Telegram, Twitter DM, Viber, Kakao Talk, SMS text, RCS and through native web iOS and Android apps. For example, with these expanded capabilities, an online retailer could seamlessly manage an issue with an incorrect shipment or return that starts on social messaging like WhatsApp and shifts to its own native messaging experience in one continuous, informed thread within Zendesk.

In addition to product enhancements, Zendesk announced a Conversation Solutions Team, which will support businesses seeking to leverage Smooch’s best-in-class conversation platform to craft personalized messaging experiences. This team can deliver customized messaging applications such as a global hotel brand that provides customers with a premium, omnichannel guest experience through the ability to message hotel staff on property in real-time for any needs across a range of messaging platforms. 

Empower a collaborative, cross-functional team

Businesses know that the need to connect and collaborate in real-time is critical, and Slack is the preferred communications channel for business. To provide the best experience and service, customer-facing employees need the ability to pull in subject matter experts quickly and easily. Zendesk today announced the general availability of Side Conversations for Slack. Side Conversations empowers teams to work seamlessly together with other departments or partners outside the company without leaving Zendesk. This is especially critical for sales and support who frequently work together to solve and prioritize customer issues. With Zendesk Sell and Support integration, service and sales teams can quickly partner to develop joint solutions with full customer context.

Suite expansion with new integrations

To make great customer experience accessible to everyone, Zendesk launched The Suite in 2018, and it quickly became the company’s most successful product launch ever, driving a 400 percent increase in our customers adopting omnichannel solutions. A core part of The Suite’s success is its robust and growing Zendesk Marketplace, which is expanding with the addition of new Suite Ready partners including Atlassian, Lessonly, Maestro, Stella, Tymeshift, Geckoboard, Statuspage and Ada. These integrations help businesses improve their customer experience (CX) operations in a variety of ways, including training and managing their workforce, tracking KPIs and goals, and monitoring their tickets for quality assurance.

The Smooch acquisition, WhatsApp and Slack integrations, and The Suite expansion were all unveiled at the one-day customer experience event, Zendesk Showcase, taking place in New York today.

Tata Motors Unveils India’s First Small Compact Truck – Tata INTRA

Key Highlights: Product

·            INTRA meets the evolving needs of the new age informed customer who seeks high revenues, low cost of ownership and superior vehicle performance leading to prosperity

·            First compact truck, conceptualized and engineered on a new Modular Platform

·            An all-new rugged & powerful COMPACT TRUCK range built on Tata Motors’ new ‘Premium Tough’ design philosophy

·            Ergonomically designed cabin with car-like design, steering comfort, low noise and comfortable seats - makes INTRA highly suitable for fatigue free long inter-city trips.

·            Best-in-class features in terms of vehicle power, acceleration, load carrying capacity, driving comfort, superior reliability and durable aggregates

·            Available in two distinct variants – INTRA V10 & INTRA V20, offering superior performance and best-in-class mileage

·            Both variants come with two trim levers, with higher trim having HVAC, music system, LED tail lamps along with enriched and colour coordinated interiors

·            Power train is tuned to suit various duty cycles using Gear Shift Advisor or Economy switch leading to enhanced fuel efficiency

·            Short turning radius allows easy manoeuvrability in high traffic intra-city trips

Key Highlights: Service

·            Intra customers will get the various benefits under Sampoorna Seva umbrella - including 24X7 workshop, attractive AMC packages, breakdown assistance and accidental insurance for drivers

·            Customer can enjoy benefits of TATA Samarth which offers health insurance, hospitalization cover, support in child education and financial literacy

Strengthening its position as pioneers and leader of the Small Commercial Vehicles (SCV) segment, Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer today launched a range of new generation ‘compact truck’ – the Tata INTRA. Conceptualised post extensive market research and customer feedback, Tata INTRA is engineered and built to offer class-leading features, meeting the demanding and ever-evolving requirements of the SCV industry. Tata INTRA promises to deliver superior performance, increased pay-load capacity, high fuel efficiency and durability, all leading to significant increase in revenues and lowest cost of operation to the discerning owners.

With a best in class, 2512 mm x 1602 mm load body length, Tata INTRA comes in two variants- V10 and V20. The INTRA range starts from INR 5,35,000 onwards depending on the variant, thereby offering a superior value proposition to our discerning customers.

The Tata INTRA is powered by future ready engines, which are scalable to BSVI norms. The INTRA V20 comes with 1400 cc DI Engine with 52KW (70 HP) & INTRA V10 is powered with 800 CC DI Engine delivering 30KW (40 hp), offering quick acceleration, faster trips and low turnaround time. The vehicle has a standard power steering fitment and with low turning circle radius of 4.75m, it ensures easy manoeuvrability even on narrow and congested roads. The power train is tuned to suit various duty cycles using Gear Shift Advisor or economy switch, leading to enhanced fuel efficiency. INTRA also has a 5-speed gearbox with cable shift mechanism offering a pleasurable driving experience.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Guenter Butschek, CEO and MD, Tata Motors, said, “As the leader in the Commercial Vehicle industry we are playing a key role in shaping the CV market by introducing global products based on deep customer insights. We have strengthened our actions under the ongoing turnaround. With intense sales activation, new product launches, continued thrust on cost reduction, we have been able to improve our CV business performance. We want to strengthen our leadership position across all segments we operate in. The Tata INTRA is a testament of our unrelenting commitment to introduce products that embody engineering passion and bolster customer value proposition and it will be a game changer for us in the SCV segment as it offers several industry-first features, setting high standards in the market.”

Commenting on the launch of Tata INTRA vehicles, Mr. Girish Wagh, President – Commercial Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors, said, “The customer preferences are shifting everyday towards better performance, advanced features and higher returns. After a thorough research, we learnt about the growing aspirations of the new age customers. These insights have helped us conceptualize and develop the Tata INTRA. It is ideal for customers who want to upgrade their commercial vehicles for higher business returns and lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), enabled by proven and reliable aggregates and driving comfort leading to longer, fatigue free drives. We have always led the industry and created new sub-segments to create demand. The launch of India’s first compact truck, fills an important gap in the Indian SCV market and we are bringing yet another game-changing product after our much successful product Tata ACE.”

Innovative Features:

The Tata INTRA has a boltable full forward robust body shell cabin and has been intelligently designed with a smart nose along with seatbelts with ELR (Emergency Locking Retractor). Built on a hydroformed frame, the INTRA is comparatively lighter. The smartly engineered cabin space, improved ergonomics and low NVH levels, boasts of stylish car-like interiors with sufficient storage capacity and comfortable seating, enabling drivers to operate fatigue free over long hauls, which in turn offers significant improvement in productivity. Modern features such as mobile charging point, electronic instrument cluster, big headlamps, large windscreen, lockable glove box, storage on dashboard & door trims, headrest for comfort while driving, pre-fitted music system and AC in the premium version to enhance the fatigue-free driving experience. The gear lever is mounted on the dashboard making longer drives comfortable and tireless for the driver. The front and rear rigid axles and leaf springs ensure superior load carrying capability and low cost of maintenance.

Network strategy and Aftermarket services:

The Company has the most extensive network and extended arm salesman in the form of Tata Gram Mitra, which will be leveraged to penetrate even into small towns. With this, we will be available at every tehsils (over 5000) to serve the customers. The vehicle comes with an industry best warranty of 2 years or 72,000 kms, supported by extensive countrywide network for sales, service and spare parts. The reliable and durable aggregates of TATA Intra combined with its best in class spare part prices ensures low cost of maintenance. Customers will benefit from host of excellent aftermarket support through value added services under the umbrella of ‘Sampoorna Seva’ including a 24X7 workshop, mobile workshops, AMC packages, breakdown assistance and accidental insurance for drivers of Tata INTRA. Customers will also be offered exclusive privileges under the “Samarth program” for driver wellness, which covers areas like Accidental insurance, hospitalization cover, financial counselling and educational assistance packages for their children.

Michelin Introduces the New “MICHELIN PRIMACY 4 ST” Tyres in India

Michelin announced the availability of its “MICHELIN Primacy 4ST tyres” in India. True to its mission of sustainable mobility, this latest update of the popular PRIMACY range, the new tyre is a reference in tyre safety.

After three years of development, this tyre provides a high level of performance on wet roads. Going with its tagline of “Safe when new, Safe when worn (1)”, MICHELIN Primacy 4ST tyres respond to the customers’ need for long lasting performance with exceptional braking results from new until it is worn (down to the level of the tread wear indicator) even when tested in the most demanding wet conditions. Thanks to the use of latest generation elastomers, the new MICHELIN Primacy 4ST tyre delivers a very high level of grip from the first to the last kilometer. To achieve this level of grip, the tread pattern has been optimized with a new design that reveals squarer and less tapered grooves.

Mohan Kumar, Executive Vice President Michelin India said: “We are delighted to bring MICHELIN Primacy 4ST tyres to India. Michelin  is committed to deliver long lasting performance from the first to the last kilometer. This new range will provide motorists with the pleasure of driving without compromising on performance, safety and longevity. Several Michelin patented technologies have been combined to provide this range  with very high performance levels due to a new rubber compound, and tread  pattern  that has been optimized to offer a high performance levels at the end of the tyre’s life.”

FOR SILENT AND COMFORTABLE RIDE (2)

The Evergrip Technology provides outstanding wet grip, thanks to a new tread pattern that provides >50% of additional grooves to evacuate more water (when new and when worn) compared to the previous generation tyre. New rubber compounds, stronger and more consistent bonding of rubber and silica ensure uniform energy dissipation of the tyre when in contact with the wet road for improved comfort. THE 2nd generation Silent Rib Technology provides a quiet, ride thanks to inter-locking bands between tread blocks that minimize air pumping sounds  as the tyre is rolling.

EXCELLENT WET GRIP

MICHELIN Primacy 4ST offers an excellent level of performance in braking on wet roads. When compared to competitor tyres in wet conditions, the new MICHELIN PRIMACY 4ST tyre brakes, on average, 2.3m shorter than its direct competitors and when tested in a worn condition, the tyre brakes 5.2m shorter than the average of the competitor tyres (3)

The new MICHELIN PRIMACY 4ST tyre also simplifies the reading of its wear level. In addition to the presence of a traditional tread wear indicators on the shoulder, it has a MICHELIN marking at the bottom of the tread grooves. These two methods allow users to quickly and simply identify the level of wear of their tyres.

The new MICHELIN PRIMACY 4ST tyre is a concrete demonstration of the Michelin Group’s strategy: consumers must be able to drive safely, throughout the life of the tyre, right down to the legal wear indicator of 1.6 mm. Designed for hatchbacks, entry-level to premium sedans and cross-overs, MICHELIN PRIMACY 4ST is already OE homologated by Mercedes, Volkswagen, Toyota for certain models in specific markets across the world.

Lowe’s Acquires Retail Analytics Platform from Boomerang Commerce

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has announced it is accelerating its technology capabilities and focus on driving strong retail fundamentals by acquiring the Retail Analytics platform from Boomerang Commerce. The technology will be integrated into the company’s core retail business and bolster strategic and data-driven pricing and merchandise assortment decisions across Lowe’s businesses.

The platform provides a retail analytics solution that processes product and pricing datasets to convert them to insights and actions. The acquisition is designed to assist in modernizing and digitizing Lowe’s approach to pricing.

“One of the key components of our transformation here at Lowe’s is to modernize our technology. Pricing and Assortment Planning have been identified as strategic areas in need of modernization. And when we find the right assets available to buy and advance our strategy, we’ll do that,” said Seemantini Godbole, Lowe’s Chief Information Officer. “Adding this team and technology to our existing capabilities helps us leverage the right data quickly, effectively and successfully.”

Boomerang Commerce was founded by Guru Hariharan in 2012 and is based in Mountain View, California. Lowe’s acquisition includes the proprietary technology and tools for the Retail Analytics platform but excludes customer contracts and related confidential information and data. As part of the transaction, some associates from the Retail Analytics teams based in Bangalore and the United States will join Lowe’s. After this acquisition, Boomerang Commerce’s product CommerceIQ, which automates e-commerce growth for leading consumer brands, will operate as an independent business under the CommerceIQ.ai name with Mr. Hariharan as CEO.

“The Retail Analytics team is thrilled to join Lowe’s and has high regard for the company’s leadership in the home improvement industry,” Hariharan said. “This transaction culminates a successful relationship over the past four years.”