Design Within Reach

INNOVATIVE PRODUCT DESIGNS CAN CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY TO A COMPANY'S REVENUES. BUT NOVELTY IS THE KEY.

- Jayashree Mendes

CONSIDERING THAT MORE MNCS ARE planning to invest or expand their presence in India, the country has a good opportunity to emerge from the shadow of the services market and throw up as a global leader. Thr rising demand in India coupled with investments can help the country's manufacturing sector grow manifold.

However, in order to capture this opportunity, manufacturing companies will have to improve their productivity dramatically. For long, there's a general impression that Indian manufacturers have been performing below potential. Possibly, it was the lack of motivation or the need to keep costs down that compelled them to do that. However, global economic growth is poised to create opportunities for low-cost manufacturers everywhere. This can work to India's advantage.

But there are a few things that need to be taken care of first. In order to go global or attract investments, manufacturers must improve their processes, product-lines, efficiency, among other things.

Most importantly, while processes and efficiency are at the back-end, products is what the market sees. Companies can achieve this by taking recourse to technology that has become cheaper than never before and come up with compelling products that guarantee exports.