The global economic recession negatively impacted every industry in all parts of the world. The recessionary pressures were felt even more severely by the small and mid-sized players, with some yet to recover the heavy losses incurred. However, with early signs of revival in the global market, coupled with the help from Government of India (GoI), SMEs in India are trying to regain their position in the market.

“In order to assist small and mid-sized players revive their business, GoI is planning to launch a new scheme for SMEs in North India. GoI plans to introduce the Lean Manufacturing Scheme that will consider 11 clusters in the northern part of India,” says Dinesh Rai, manager of Serene Limited, a small-sized textile manufacturer in Ludhiana.

The 11 clusters that are being taken into consideration are food processing in Solan, manufacturers of hand tools in Jalandhar, sports goods in Jalandhar, scientific instruments manufacturers in Ambala, manufacturers of cricket bats in Anantnag, manufacturers of agricultural implements in Moga and Karnal, furniture manufacturers in Srinagar, auto-components and foundry manufacturers in Ludhiana, pharmaceutical manufacturers in Nalagarh and textiles cluster in Ludhiana.

GoI initiatives

“With the implementation of the Lean Manufacturing Scheme, GoI aims to boost manufacturing competitiveness of SMEs with the aid of lean techniques. This will help in eliminating waste during the manufacturing process, thereby helping SMEs to recover their losses,” says Rohit Gupta, proprietor of Exotic Furniture, a small-sized furniture manufacture in Jalandhar. Some of the techniques will include Poke Yoke, Quality Cost Deployment and Just in time (Jit) Inventory, among others.