| 1.
Introduction: Manufacturing’s Makeover Movement……………………………………....13 
Services may be in, but manufacturing
is certainly not out. Though the services sector has grown
much ahead of both agriculture and industry, plain cost
cutting, higher shop-floor productivity and better quality
are changing the face of India’s manufacturing. Manufacturing
companies are carrying out the biggest transformation Indian
business has seen - the movement from a protected environment
to free global competition in a period of less than 10 year.
In fact, the services sector may have a lot to learn from
the experiments of the manufacturing sector
2. Manufacturing Financials……………………………………………………………………14
For the first time in the history of corporate India, a
serious movement is on to cut costs. While companies have
taken costs out from areas like material costs, power and
fuel and administration costs, they have not touched areas
that help build for the future, like marketing expenses.
The real strength of this movement may have picked up only
in the last year or so, but the results are already there
to see-- operating profits have improved and margins are
showing tremendous growth
3. Industrial Automation ………………………………………………………………………12
Talk automation and angry images of labour protests pop
up promptly. But automation does not have to mean a redundant
workforce or mind-numbing capital expenditure. Indian companies
are already working on and trying out innovative solutions
to strike that fine balance. Companies are going in for
new, improved ideas of automating the shop floor that don't
cost much. Here, workers don't need to be replaced with
expensive robots or pneumatic-controlled machines to achieve
higher speed, consistency and maintain that vital competitive
advantage in the global market
4. Quality: Signs of Perfection ……………………………………………………………..….22
Quality is the buzzword for manufacturing in India today.
Companies across industries are realizing that the way into
the global markets is to produce and service better than
the rest of the pack. In their quest for quality, companies
are adopting a range of techniques and tools, from six sigma
to ISO. The leading companies are also challenging themselves
to go in for internationally recognized awards like the
Deming Prize and Malcolm Balridge awards, in the process
raising the level of their interactions with their employees
as well as the environment.
5 Case Studies: Seasons Of Change……………………………………………………..……..28
Companies in India are ambitiously pursuing innovative technologies
and processes to become competitive and cost effective.
It’s been a long and arduous process but results are
already beginning to show
6. Innovatins in Manufacturing; Subaltern Solutions……………………………………...12
Today’s manufacturing revival strategy may well be
drafted in the boardrooms, but it is the almost unseen shop
floor personnel who are leading the charge as they come
up with practical ways of dealing with issues relating to
innovation. In India many companies lack the scale required
to step up investment in expensive automation and IT and
it is here that an eclectic mix of indigenous and imported
approaches is doing wonders
7: IT in Manufacturing: The power pack……………………………………………….…..9
Intro: Product focus is passé; supply chain is where
the competition lies. Manufacturing companies in India have
cracked the code by innovatively linking ERP with SCM. The
potent combination is helping companies slash costs, manage
inventory and optimise scheduling
Back to Top
|