As a part of its ambition to integrate itself with the global manufacturing industry, India is participating in the Hannover Messe 2016 with participation of the country’s top firms in the private and public sector along with a high level official delegation , led by Mr Girish Shankar, Secretary in the Department of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises Among the participants M/s Apex engineering export organisation, EEPC India is the lead agency for ensuring a measurable success for the country’s participation in the world’s leading technology fair. India had participated in the Hannover Messe last
year as the ‘Partner Country’.

Having emerged as the fastest growing economy in the world, India is transforming its manufacturing industry with a clear objective to become an essential part of the global supply chain and is leveraging the renowned Hannover Messe for yet another time for promoting the ‘Make in India’ programme, being
steered by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

Briefing the media at the Hannover Messe last evening, Mr Shankar said India has to take part in the development of a globalised manufacturing environment. “ The ‘Make in India’ is a strategic initiative to reform the manufacturing industry in the country ”. Reaching out to the global technology majors to
invest in India with strategic collaborations with Indian industry, the Secretary , Department of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises, said the country is working with a clear vision and strategy to be the world’s preferred manufacturing destination by a series of initiatives like improving ease of doing
business, liberalising foreign direct policy in most of the industries, including defence production. The country has recently announced new policy initiatives like pricing freedom for hydrocarbons found in the deep waters.

He said with a strong domestic demand, India provides an excellent alternative for the global industry with Chinese economy slipping into painful slowdown. A lot of interest is visible at the Hannover Messe for India’s new initiatives in the manufacturing sector.

As part of strengthening and deepening relationship with the German technology giants, a new progamme ‘ Industry 4.0’ has been unveiled . It is a meeting of real and virtual worlds in manufacturing and involves the full integration of manufacturing technologies and systems to make a ‘smart factory’.
The smart factory is a highly flexible manufacturing set-up that is digitally interlinked with every aspect of the manufacturing ecosystem, from suppliers to customers.

Speaking on the occasion, EEPC India Chairman, Mr T S Bhasin said, the Indian engineering industry is taking several steps to move up the value chain and is now getting increasingly into areas like spacecraft components, aero-space, defence production, automobile and railways , among others. “There is a
realisation that with prices of commodities like steel and iron ore remaining subdued and subject to cyclical fluctuations, Indian engineering has to invest in R and D and forge new tie-ups with global majors from countries such Germany. India attaches a great importance to Hannover Messe as a global
platform which was used last year with India being the Partner Country”.

India will leverage its reputed IT industry to transform manufacturing not only in India but also at the global scale with the new concepts such as smart factory, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things which itself is projected to be USD 15 billion for India by 2020.

On this occasion, 2 important MoU were also signed. An MoU was signed between Department of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Industries & Public Enterprises, Government of India & Steinbeis GmbH for desiring to develop cooperation in manufacturing sector. The second MOU was signed between Department of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Industries & Public Enterprises, Government of India, Hannover Milano Fairs India Pvt. Ltd. & FICCI for promoting technology & innovations through WIN India series of events.

The Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) India is the premier trade and investment promotion organization in India. It is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India and caters to the Indian engineering sector. As an advisory body it actively contributes to the policies of
Government of India and acts as an interface between the engineering industry and the Government.

The Make in India initiative was launched globally in September 2014, as part of the Government of India’s renewed focus on invigorating the country’s manufacturing sector. The landmark initiative has made a tremendous impact on the investment climate of the country, and reflects in the significant growth of overall Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Since its launch, the Government of India has taken several reform initiatives to create an enabling environment that has provided a push to manufacturing, design, innovation and entrepreneurship. With a growth rate of 7.5%, India has emerged as the fastest growing economy globally and it remains an oasis in the midst of a subdued economic landscape. The Prime Minister has given further impetus to India’s growth with several innovative initiatives such as “Digital India”, “100 Smart Cities” and “Skill India”.

The Make in India initiative, in particular, aims to make India an integral part of the global supply chain. Key focus sectors such as defence, railways, construction, insurance, pension funds and medical devices have all been rapidly opened up for Foreign Direct Investment. The Government of India has also taken up a series of measures to radically improve its ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking. With an objective to make the regulatory environment easy and simple for business to flourish, the Government has effectively used technology to converge and integrate different departments. 14 services are integrated within the ‘eBiz portal’, which will function as a single window portal for obtaining clearances from various government agencies.

Make in India has already created a strong impact with tangible results:
1. India is now 1st amongst the world’s fastest growing economies (Source: International Monetary Fund)
2. India is 1st amongst the world’s topmost greenfield FDI destinations, January-June 2015 (Source: Financial Times, FDI Markets)
3. India is 1st amongst the 100 Countries in the growth, innovation and leadership index. (Source: Frost & Sullivan)
4. India is 1st amongst the world’s fastest growing economies in both 2016-2017. (Source: WESP Report 2016, United Nations)
5. India is the 1st choice for technological MNCs to set up R&D centres outside their home countries. (Source: Zinnow Management Consulting Report)
6. India is the 7th Most valued nation brand in the world. (Source: Brand Finance)
7. India is 1st amongst the world’s most attractive investment destinations. (Ernst & Young – 2015 India Attractiveness Survey)
8. India is now 1st amongst 110 investment destinations polled globally. (Foreign Policy Magazine, Baseline Profitability Index, 2015)
9. India is amongst the top 10 investment destinations. (Source: World Investment Report 2015, UNCTAD)
10. India’s rank jumped 12 places on the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ 2016 list. (Source: World Bank)
11. India moved 16 places on the Global Competitiveness Index 2015-16. (Source: World Economic Forum)
12. India has recorded 35% Growth in FDI Equity Inflows. (Source: Department of Industrial Policy & Research)

In order to keep this momentum going, the Government of India is organizing a landmark event called the “Make in India Week” in Mumbai from Feb 13 – Feb 18, 2016. This week-long event will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India.

The theme of the Make in India Week is innovation, design and sustainability. A number of events have been planned around this theme on the larger canvas of manufacturing. This includes:
1. Make in India Centre – An exhibition of India’s most innovative products and manufacturing processes.

• State Investment Seminars – Various state investment seminars are planned as part of the Make in India Week. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Odisha are just a few of the states that have confirmed their participation.
• Sector Seminars – Close to 20 sector seminars have been planned around the key focus sectors of the Make in India initiative.

2. CNN Asia Business Forum – Select CXOs from leading firms to discuss and debate ideas that will shape Asia’s economic and social future.
3. Time India Awards – Panel discussion on innovation, entrepreneurship, intelligent manufacturing and awards on innovation.
4. Make in Mumbai – An urban planning session and an exhibition on the best practices for building cities by adopting technology at the Make in India Centre.
5. Driving Innovation: Hackathon – Industry and academia interaction featuring manufacturing success stories, start-ups, an exhibition on innovation by IIT Bombay as well as a competition on urban design problems.
6. Port of Call – An exhibition on India’s maritime manufacturing capabilities.
7. Global Brand Building – A day-long session on global design and innovation.
8. Empowerment through Design – A forum on rethinking contemporary design practice.

The Make in India campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is drawing mix reactions. Political parties, political analysts, businessmen, industrialists and social activists are articulating diverse opinions. But all said and done, ‘Make in India’ has moved far beyond the catch phrase to take concrete shape. Yet there are plenty of challenges and hurdles, which pose threat to this initiative.

This initiative is launched to give boost to different sectors like automobiles, chemicals, IT, pharma, textiles, engineering & manufacturing, aviation, railways, defense, renewable energy, mining, bio-technology, electronics, leather, tourism & hospitality etc. The initiative also aims to transform India from highly potential market to the powerhouse of manufacturing, thereby creating millions of job opportunities. In short the campaign is conceived and designed to achieve multiple objectives and far reaching impact on the economy.

Considering the intensity and multiplicity of this campaign, we need to study its challenges, and advantages, by segmenting it into different sectors. I, for instance, being an engineering professional would perceive and discuss only the challenges pertaining to manufacturing sector. When we talk about ‘Make in India’, we inevitably stumble upon ‘Made in India’, because for more than two decades from now; we have been striving to get recognition to Made in India products or brand India. There is one more angle. It is called ‘Made for India’. In my opinion all these three thoughts different qualities and dimensions. I think,

• Made in India’ is a pride,
• Make in India’ is the process, whereas
• Made for India’ is a compromise.

Obviously, the first two concepts are seen in a positive light, while the third one is viewed in the negative sense.

However, if the ‘Make in India’ has to succeed, we need to see the challenges and limitations in India. From this point of view, we need to acknowledge our present limitations in manufacturing:

We need to admit that India, from technological point of view is lagging behind the western world, as far as manufacturing is concerned.   Experts say, we are still about a decade behind advanced countries, when it comes to usage of technology and manufacturing excellence. But we can turn this situation in to our advantage. We can learn from the mistakes of the western world and try to adopt the best ever technology in the years to come. We have capabilities, we have set up and talent but we drag our own feet because of ‘chalta hein‘ attitude. It invokes complacency and limits our vision about quality and excellence.

Our thought about purchase or procurement is more or less ‘cost centric’ about technology rather than value conscious.   Induction of any new technology involves significant capital investment. But focus is more about the thought,   ‘Kitna deti hein’. Hence, more often than not in Indian Industry may enjoy the cost benefits but lose on value addition.

Some of advance countries have used this approach to introduce ‘made for India’ technology which has gone into oblivion in the advanced world, quite a few years ago. Therefore in every sector, we find mediocre quality products manufactured by them especially for the so called third world. The recent issue cropped up in connection with one of the major brands in food sector vindicates my contention. It is believed that the products by this brand for the US market are far different in nutritional values than those made for Indian market.

The following account goes on to substantiate my contention about ‘Made for India’ products or technology:

The famous European machinery manufacturer, in a bid to market his products, visited China. In a meeting with one of the Chinese buyer. He offered his machinery with standard features at a certain amount. The buyer asked about advanced features in order to make full optimum utilization of the machinery. The supplier pointed out that these features would be of no use to him, considering his present set-up and processes and more importantly, they would come at additional cost. Yet the supplier insisted to have them installed at extra cost. Thus the cost of machinery was increased by about 25%.   Now the buyer asked for standard discount to which the European agreed to extend 10% discount. The buyer further asked that instead of giving discount, the supplier should provide best ever features and ensure that advanced features are fully made operational at customer’s end within a span of six months, with no extra cost. The deal was finalized, as the buyer was keen to utilize advanced machinery to optimum extent, in a very short span of time.

Now let’s see the similar scenario in India. The same European manufacturer visited one of the Indian customers to sell his machinery. Similar discussions took place and the Indian buyer sought to have discount on the standard price. It was offered 10%. The buyer still bargained hard to obtain additional discount and after lot of negotiations, the supplier agreed for extra special discount. The buyer was happy that he had cracked the deal at a very low price and thus saved
company’s money. After the deal was finalized the supplier went back to Europe, retrieved the old drawings, which had long been archived 10-15 years back. In the bargain the machinery was received with very old features, which had become obsolete in Europe long before.

Moral of the story is simple. We try to bargain on cost instead of insisting for best features and in the process, lose on value. We get a momentary pleasure of saving the cost but in the long run, we stand to lose because we don’t add value to our investment

Usage of low cost technology often poses problems in terms of product quality, reliability, consistency and performance.   Our delivery commitments are fired.

Many of us in India generally think that low investment means low manufacturing cost, which is utterly wrong. This conception is perhaps developed because we find lot of low cost Chinese products in the market. We look at their cost but overlook their inconsistency in performance, durability and quality. On the other hand, a Swiss company producing ball pen tips, uses best ever automation and manufacturing practices. Their manufacturing process runs unmanned, 24/7 unabated, 365 days a year. Still the company has been able to keep their manufacturing cost lowest in the world.   This is because they have ignored the cost or investment and strived to deliver the value.

We have to challenge and change this scenario. We should be more demanding and insist for superior technology or superior quality, that is used elsewhere in the advanced world. Investment in such machinery, tooling or equipments may appear high but its results and returns will be incredibly quicker and higher.

In many of   the Indian industries, people insist for manual skill because they apprehend that adoption of advanced technology will result in redundancy of human resource, which is abundantly available in India. As such they resist the change and introduction of new technology. However, technology driven processes with minimum human intervention will guarantee manufacturing excellence.

Make in India necessarily involves the drive to boost the manufacturing sector. However, the investors are wary of prevalent labor laws and bureaucratic hassles in India and as such, unless conducive atmosphere is created on these fronts the investments will not come as expected and Make in India drive will not accomplish desired results.

In order to make this initiative a great success, we need to be at par with the advanced world as far as usage of modern technology is concerned and we need to have more clarity, maturity and intensity on quality aspects of our products.

India’s youth population is both, a strength and threat. In order to bring the huge chunk of unemployed youth power in to employment stream, India needs to create millions of jobs every year.   The new government, I believe, is aware of this fact and that’s why the Make in India is so earnestly launched by the Prime Minister.   Most of the western countries and even China are rapidly ageing, whereas India will continue to remain young for next 2-3 decades. So the aging world will have to depend a lot on India.   Therefore, Make in India is not a short term programme. It will be an ongoing process, irrespective of the fact that whichever government is in power, the drive has to continue with the same thrust. However, the threats or challenges   discussed above need to be overcome.

About Author:

Ashok Raj is the CEO of Euroclydon Technologies Pvt Ltd. that provides CAD, CAE & CAM software solutions along with Design/ Engineering services to the engineering industry. He holds 38 years of extensive experience in manufacturing industry including over 25 years in machine tool sector. He has held senior positions in various organisations and was instrumental in setting up a ‘State-of-the-art’ Machine shop for a leading Automation & robotic system manufacturer. He convened in Pune the ‘E- Manufacturing Technology’ event, which seeks to provide the key to success in ‘Make in India’ movement.

Lead image source: www.makeinindia.com

Leading Indian public sector firms, including BHEL, Instrumentation Ltd and HMT have firmed up as many as six MoUs with top global companies from Germany, Switzerland , Russia and Bulgaria for scaling up Indian manufacturing in high-tech areas such as precision instrumentation and engineering solutions at the ongoing Hannover Messe, one of the world’s most prestigious engineering and technology fairs.

These Memoranda of Understanding were signed at a special event, organised by the EEPC India, the country’s apex engineering organisation and mandated as the lead agency for India’s participation as Partner Country at the Hannover Fair.

The MoUs, signed by companies under Department of Heavy Industries, included tie-ups between BHEL and Russian Joint Stock Company, INTMA for upcoming projects in Russia and Kazakhstan, REIL and Milkotronics Ltd., Bulgaria for manufacturing milk analyzers in India, Instrumentations Ltd and KE Kauer Engineering, Germany for control valves. Besides three MoUs were signed by HMT with Num Controls, Switzerland for CNC controls, systems and drives; FT Machine Tools, Germany for flow forming machines and EnitGmbH, Germany for total engineering solutions

Addressing ‘ Make in India: Opportunities in Electronics and Electricals segment”, organised by EEPC India, Secretary in the Department of Heavy Industry, on the second functional day of Fair, Mr Rajan Katoch, made some of the important announcements including USD 250 million R & D project to develop Advanced Ultra Super Critical Technology for power generation.In a panel discussion on the topic- “Potential for partnership and growth- Electricals”, Mr Katoch, announced a scheme for promotion of Hybrid and Electrical Vehicles in India. The scheme will promote necessary technology, demand and charging infrastructure.

He also informed that the German industry has opportunities to participate in India’s plan for creation of about 100,000 MW generation capacity in the short term. Vision 2022 for the Indian electrical equipment industry is to make India the country of choice for production of electrical equipment and reach an output of US$ 100 billion by balancing exports and imports. He also touched upon India’s requirement to boost technical expertise in order to compete globally; and treat the absence of practices of technology customization and R&D expenditure in the industry. “A more profound technical collaboration between India and Germany will help the Indian electrical industry scale up in accordance with the rate at which the market is expected to grow”, he said. He also recalled Germany’s long term association with India. Companies like Siemens have been present in India for more than 125 years.

With the ‘Make in India’ theme splashed all over, the Indian presence is pre-dominantly visible all over the exhibition ground and the city of Hannover. Senior Indian government officials and business leaders are reaching out to representatives of German industries and technology institutions to collaborate with India for scaling up the country’s manufacturing capabilities.