As one of the newest members of AIAG’s Quality Steering Committee (QSC), Emmanuel Cruz currently serves as Quality Head of Rules, Business Solutions and Controlling, North America for Continental Automotive Systems.

Along with supporting training and deployment of new processes and standards within the organization, Emmanuel and his department perform compliance audits, and implement audit programs for all group sector automotive locations to verify Continental internal processes and compliance with IATF 16949:2016 and AIAG standards.

Moving into his new role on the QSC, Emmanuel looks forward to sharing insights from more than 14 years of automotive industry experience, and working collaboratively to address emerging challenges as our industry continues to evolve.

Find out more about Emmanuel below!

Why do you think it’s important to come together at AIAG and participate in events or volunteer for other activities? 

AIAG has provided benchmarking initiatives, quality standards, and Core Tools that are the foundation for the automotive industry to achieve quality excellence and high performance to satisfy our customers. As the automotive industry is experiencing a turning point due to the introduction of emerging technologies (e.g., Industry 4.0, big data, wavelets, digitalization, electrification, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, etc.) and more and more complex market scenarios, it is vital to have a forum for sharing knowledge, lessons learned, and expertise, to facilitate innovation and create or update quality initiatives, standards, tools, work processes, and business solutions, to successfully face our new reality and the future.

How do you keep up on what’s new in the automotive/mobility industry?  

Continental has been actively working with AIAG and participating in the Quality Steering Committee for years, so this partnership enables us to be aware of the latest developments and news about the automotive/mobility industry. Personally, I also keep up to date by networking, using my organization’s portal, reading magazines, newsletters, and industry trend webpages, and participating in industry seminars.

What current or emerging automotive/mobility trends do you think are most urgent to prepare for?

With the digitalization of the world, it is very important to update quality and cybersecurity standards to regulate and manage Industry 4.0, big data, wavelets, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and software as a product, with the objective to proactively detect, prevent, and reduce safety issues.

What advice would you offer those just starting out in automotive/mobility?

In this inflection point of automotive industry history, it is essential to think outside of the box to generate joint solutions to new challenges, remain open minded, accept and accelerate necessary changes, and build a preventative culture within your organizations to manufacture products that satisfy and protect our end customers. It is time for the next generation of quality tools and standards!