Kokomo role explained in Delphi realignment

Delphi Corp. took a major step Monday in its transformation plan by internally announcing leadership changes aimed at making its core business units autonomous.

Delphi spokeswoman Claudia Piccinin called the announcements “a major change from the organization we had.”

The changes are being made to simplify the process which supports the customer.

“We’re taking out some of the layers and the redundancy through the elimination of the matrix organization,” she said from the company’s Troy, Mich., headquarters.

The moves are in line with the transformation plan the company announced March 31 which focuses its products on core technologies in which the company has “significant competitive and technological advantages.”

Identified as a core business unit in the transformation plan, Delphi’s Electronic & Safety Division is headquartered in Kokomo. The division will have the safety, entertainment and communications as well as the controls and security product units under its umbrella.

“The purpose of the product realignment is to drive increased focus on our products and customers by simplifying and accelerating the decision-making and generating clear command, control and accountability,” Piccinin said. “It is significant in the terms of P&L [profit and loss] accountability, which will reside in the product business units now.

“Kokomo has always had a division, but now we have identified it as a core product business unit. It will be an organization built around a common set of products with a clear accountability of financial performance to support customers.”

Each product business unit “will have P&L responsibility and will require resources support.”

While the moves may bring some new employees to Kokomo, it won’t be a significant amount.

“There will be some movement throughout the organization, but it won’t be extreme,” she said.

There were no changes made in senior management positions.

“The message is that the alignment is to provide increased focus to our customers, but our senior operating management is still in place and will still provide the same level of service customers are accustomed to,” Piccinin said.