Micro, medium industrial goods to get design makeover

NEW DELHI - Shoppers can soon buy trendily packaged designer pickles, rural agro-products, medical equipment and village crafts off the shelves of superstores in mega cities across India.

The micro, small and medium scale industrial sector in India is opening itself to innovations in design through a scheme, Design Clinic Scheme for Design Expertise, a joint collaboration of the National Institute of Design (NID) and the central government.

The scheme was launched in the capital Wednesday.

The objective of the scheme is to bring micro, small and medium enterprises (MS&ME) under a common platform to provide multi-disciplinary expert advice that offers solutions to real-time design problems, resulting in continuous improvements to add value to existing products and offer customers their money’s worth.

Several micro and small industrial sectors, which are engaged in original equipment manufacturing, are not able to move up the value chain because they cannot brand their products with attractive designs and packaging, Pradyumma Vyas, director of NID, said at the inauguration of the scheme.

NID will provide designers and expertise to micro, small and medium industries to help them metamorphose into original design manufacturers” and original brand manufacturers so that they can place their products in the designers’ brand segments, and become sustainable.

The micro, small and medium industrial sectors in India contribute 45 percent of the industrial output and make up 40 percent of the country’s exports. The three grassroots industry sectors contribute 8 percent of India’s GDP, employing nearly 41 million people.

The scheme is estimated to cost Rs.73.58 crore out of which the government will provide Rs.48.09 crore. The rest will be funded by beneficiaries of the scheme.

The scheme will reach out to 200 micro, small and medium enterprises over the next two and-a-half years through a nodal agency, the design clinic centre, which will function through a network of four regional centres across the country.

The centre will pool in more than 1,500 trained designers from NID to provide the know-how to industries.

“The MS&MEs are facing the challenge of change. The focus has shifted from original equipment manufacturing technology to original design and original brand manufacturing technologies (creation of own brands and niche designs for products). The scheme will enhance the manufacturing competitiveness of small and medium industry through continuous exchange between the designers’ fraternity and entrepreneurs, Vyas told IANS.

Education, health, medical products, agro-products and crafts are areas in which the government expects design intervention to have a major impact in terms of branding and business growth at the micro and small scales.

The government announced a design policy in 2007 and a design council was set up in 2009.

“Product design is an important sector where innovation is required because India will have to rely on micro, small and medium industries which are the backbone of any developed and developing economy, secretary of MS&ME Dinesh Rai said.

The government is also working on a design certification standard I-Mark like the ISO for all consumer products to ensure quality and uniformity of design. It will be introduced next year,” Vyas said.