Inaugurating the 9th CII-National Competitiveness and Cluster Summit , Mr. S N Tripathi, Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME stressed the "Make in India " movement. The ministry is encouraging the Cluster approach for shared learning of best practices. He urged OEMS to form their Vendor clusters as it can meet common goals. While appreciating the German engineering, he also lauded the role played by Indian Frugal Engineering largely known as Jugad. He invigorated the MSMEs to join the digital movement. He highlighted the gains of MUDRA scheme which has benefitted many MSMEs to eventually become large. Employability is equally important. He mentioned the importance of the ( zero Effect, Zero Defect) ZED scheme under which the ministry proposes to grant certification to 1Mn units. He requested the MSMES to be responsible manufacturers rather than focusing only on profits. He spoke about the Start-up and Scale-up initiatives of the ministry.
H.E Dr. Martin Ney, Ambassador of Germany mentioned the similarities between India and Germany like 99% of German companies being SMES and mostly family owned. He explicitly cited about the long partnership with CII and lauded the capabilities of CII in networking. He appreciated the reforms taking place in India like GST, Bankruptcy law, skilling etc.
Every Indian now senses a new direction with optimism. Germany is the largest partner of India within EU. He expressed concern and urged early review of FTA. He specifically mentioned the successful Indo-German Manager Training Programme which has seen over 500 Indian managers being benefitted. Germany will continue to support in skilling India.
Stalwarts from the Indian Industry spoke highly about the success of the Cluster approach conducted by CII-Avantha Centre of Competitiveness for SMEs. The cluster approach can help SMEs set benchmark for growth. The 3Ps like Purpose , Process and People need to be emphasized. Thus brilliant people with average processes may fail, while average people with a correct process will succeed. The 5Rs for business success - Reassess, Review using quality tools like VSM, Rethink, Relearn and Reform should be a takeaway for the participants.
The annual flagship event of the center of excellence aims at creating a multi stakeholder platform to promote discussions by leaders from government, industry, NGOs, academia, R&D organisations and consulting firms. The Summit plays a pivotal role to facilitate networking amongst the industry and its eco-system. The much awaited event is looked upon as a pilgrimage for the Indian Industry wherein companies from across the nation come together to deliberate over issues of current relevance. Industry in abundance also converge to not only compete for the prestigious CII awards but also witness the live presentation of the best case studies and the Kaizen Gallery. This year the key sessions will include World Class Manufacturing, Smart Factory Logistics and Emerging trends in defence and aerospace.
The request from the industry to the ministry was to simplify the procedures of the schemes and also for the center of excellence to come out with counseling on how to manage crisis for the SMEs.
1 December 2016
New Delhi