“Technology is passé, usher in people”… When I say this I don’t mean to undermine the importance of technology in the growth of a company, but the phase when the concentration of the industry was on upgradation and automation is over and the new decade belongs to its ‘people’.
The expectation that the technology would bring in more productivity and improve bottomlines has now seen shift in the focus to motivated and trained employees or employables to be the drivers for better and perpetual growth. With social responsibility and ethical manufacturing becoming the mandate for growth at the buyers end, the industry has taken the cue.
Not only that, since poverty alleviation is a major component of national policy agenda, one of the means to achieving this is through inclusive growth, also termed as ‘shared growth’ and ‘pro-poor growth’ involving the worker. Training and then making them employable through policies like NREGA or through PPP route is high on the Government priority list.
Besides, management concepts like Kaizen, TQM, TPM, SMED, Takt Time, Cellular Manufacturing, Lean, are all now so commonly used and practiced in the industry… and what is the common factor in each of these concepts are the motivated and trained workers.
Another aspect to inclusive growth is taking factories to where the workers live rather than waiting for them to come to the metropolitans. After all, employable workers are happy at home rather than living in dingy dormitories away from their families. But this is easier said than done and there are many challenges and practical hurdles to cross before the transit can happen on a large scale… though few companies have started to test the potential, which is a good sign.
As we embark on a more meaningful journey not only for the New Year but for the new decade, I look forward to seeing ‘inclusive growth’ a part of the DNA of a company just like technology and compliance have become.
Defining the critical influences of 2010 was an interesting exercise as it only reinforced my belief that sustainability in all its aspects is important – social, environment and economical. Even technology providers are striving to offer more ecological and user-friendly machines. The three R’s of sustainability have not yet caught the attention of manufacturing industry yet, hopefully the concept of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle will set a new trend among industry and buyers will find another new parameters to benchmark! And who can shun the reality that the ultimate aim of every company is to make profits… only the route has been re-defined.
The expectation that the technology would bring in more productivity and improve bottomlines has now seen shift in the focus to motivated and trained employees or employables to be the drivers for better and perpetual growth. With social responsibility and ethical manufacturing becoming the mandate for growth at the buyers end, the industry has taken the cue.
Not only that, since poverty alleviation is a major component of national policy agenda, one of the means to achieving this is through inclusive growth, also termed as ‘shared growth’ and ‘pro-poor growth’ involving the worker. Training and then making them employable through policies like NREGA or through PPP route is high on the Government priority list.
Besides, management concepts like Kaizen, TQM, TPM, SMED, Takt Time, Cellular Manufacturing, Lean, are all now so commonly used and practiced in the industry… and what is the common factor in each of these concepts are the motivated and trained workers.
Another aspect to inclusive growth is taking factories to where the workers live rather than waiting for them to come to the metropolitans. After all, employable workers are happy at home rather than living in dingy dormitories away from their families. But this is easier said than done and there are many challenges and practical hurdles to cross before the transit can happen on a large scale… though few companies have started to test the potential, which is a good sign.
As we embark on a more meaningful journey not only for the New Year but for the new decade, I look forward to seeing ‘inclusive growth’ a part of the DNA of a company just like technology and compliance have become.
Defining the critical influences of 2010 was an interesting exercise as it only reinforced my belief that sustainability in all its aspects is important – social, environment and economical. Even technology providers are striving to offer more ecological and user-friendly machines. The three R’s of sustainability have not yet caught the attention of manufacturing industry yet, hopefully the concept of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle will set a new trend among industry and buyers will find another new parameters to benchmark! And who can shun the reality that the ultimate aim of every company is to make profits… only the route has been re-defined.
