‘Made in India could be the next big manufacturing story’ – A quote from the McKinsey report was what initiated the EMO Club to come up with the topic for their panellists during the ISB Leadership Summit, 2008. After playing host to MNCs keen on setting up manufacturing units on Indian soil, Indian companies are slowly realising their potential to turn into global players themselves. Given this scenario, the EMO Club thought it relevant to gain some insights from industry top players during their panel discussion titled ‘Made in India, The Manufacturing Revolution’.

Sanjeev Ranjiv Rangrass, GM Operations, ITC, Sundar Parthasarathy, MD, OTIS, N Vishwanadham, Centre for Global Logistics and Manufacturing Strategies, ISB and BG Sastry, President, FAPCCI, comprised the panel.

Rangrass stimulated further discussion by starting at the basics. His talk mainly revolved around how ITC as a company diversified into various sectors over the past few decades and how it created a brilliant distribution highway. Moving on, “Why is manufacturing so important for the growth in GDP,” he asked those present. Reduction in agricultural production will require employment to be generated in the manufacturing sector. So a 12% rate of manufacturing is key to the growth of India, he said and added that India should look at Malaysia. “Instead of looking at China, we ought to look at Malaysia and what has been right with Malaysia,” he said. Instead of giving a push to large industries, the focus should be on the micro, small, medium or MSMEs, which would create nearly 29.4 million jobs, Rangrass said. “They are the goldmines for India,” he added. Then, Rangrass shifted his focus to point out what ought to be done. Proactive measures were needed at both ‘Thought and Action levels,’ he clarified. “India needs to think big and dream big. Then of course, political and policy level stability is required to carry through the dreams,” Rangrass concluded.

Taking Rangrass’ discussion further with a more specific case study was Sundar Parthasarathy. He explained how OTIS thrived and survived decades in the Indian market by being a stickler to ACE or Achieving Competitive Excellence. “It is not just about how you come to the party, but what you bring to the party is equally important,” he said. With various flow charts, he drove home the point that with quality, the race was never over.

N Viswanadham directed attention towards the need to come up with innovations for manufacturing excellence. He compared how the telecom industry grew leaps and bounds due to the convergence of innovations, whereas the food retail industry failed despite having the potential. Operational innovations, economic innovations and product innovations are the key drivers in the manufacturing industry, he added. The idea is to ensure the growth of the manufacturing and service industries in tandem, instead of independent growth, he emphasised.

The last panellist, Sastry , spoke of the need for looking at the regulations and policies and involving the policy makers in the manufacturing process. Removal of roadblocks in terms of social and economic conduciveness, providing timely finance and renewed policies are critical for the growth of manufacturing industry, he stressed. Having been an entrepreneur himself, his focus was mainly on the need for policy changes.

The following panel discussion revolved around how manufacturing efficiency could be increased while cutting costs. “Indian manufacturers are now looking at the bottom of the pyramid market,” said Parthasarathy. Mostly importantly, the manufacturing industry has to understand that cheap is not low quality and dirty, to make strides in global markets, pointed out Vishwanadham.

In conclusion, the panel strongly felt that the Indian manufacturing industry had huge growth potential and that healthcare, education and food processing industries topped the list where India could make a mark, both within the country and globally.