Four Design Clinic Centres (DCCs), part of a Design Clinic Scheme started by the government, could give India’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) a much-needed shot in the arm, according to Pradumnya Vyas, director of the Ahmedabad-based National Institute of Design, the nodal agency for the scheme.

The four DCCs are at Delhi (which will be the headquarters of the Design Clinic Scheme, or DCS), Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata. The first three centres — which serve the northern, western and southern regions respectively — are operational.

The Bangalore centre for southern India was the latest to be inaugurated, in May this year. The Kolkata centre, which will come up next, will look after the eastern region. A fifth centre may later be set up at Bhopal, to serve central India.

The Design Clinic Scheme is the result of an idea conceived at NID about 15 years ago to interact with MSMEs and improve the quality of their products. The initial proposal did not take off, but the scheme was approved three years ago, when the Union ministry of MSME took it up and decided to allocate funds.

This followed the Union Cabinet’s approval of the National Design Policy in February 2007, which entailed “creation of awareness among manufacturers and service providers, particularly SMEs and cottage industries, about the competitive advantage of original designs.”

“This endeavour could channel the design power of the country and give the MSME sector a big push. As part of the design sensitisation programme, designers are being deputed by the NID to help industries with designs,” said a senior official from the ministry of MSME, who wished to remain anonymous.

The aim behind the DCS, to be run in collaboration with the NID, is to make MSMEs globally competitive in designing goods. It aims to bring MSMEs under a common platform to provide multi-disciplinary expert advice that offers solutions to real-time design problems. This would result in continuous improvements to add value to existing products and offer customers ‘value for money’.

The design intervention scheme enjoys budgetary support of Rs73.58 crore, of which Rs49.08 crore will be the Union government’s contribution.

While cutting down the product cycle time, it aims to make products cheaper, improve quality and cut costs, among other things. The project envisages interventions in the designing of MSME products, since small entrepreneurs are too preoccupied in day-to-day operations to focus on product design.

The DCS entails interventions in methods of production, ergonomics, creation of brochures, creation of an identity, logos and web designing. At the same time, “it is also aimed at fending off competition from the Chinese and fighting them at their own game in the global marketplace with better designs,” said Vyas of NID.

With the Chinese slowly conquering the Indian market with products that are better designed and packaged, it has become necessary for Indian SMEs to beat them at their own game. When the government approved the DCS scheme in 2007, over 200 sectors were identified as needing design intervention.

Under the scheme, orientation programmes will be held for industry associations. An industry association can host a three-day workshop, conduct design audits and discuss the need for design interventions.