National Workshop to Impart Design Expertise to MSME Manufacturing Sector

Kalraj Mishra, Union Minister for MSME inaugurated the National Workshop on Design Clinic Scheme under National Manufacturing Competitiveness Program in New Delhi. This scheme will be implemented under the Office of the Development Commissioner, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in association with the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India.

NEW DELHI: A National Workshop for Design Clinic scheme was held with potential stakeholders to advance MSME to be competitive in the national and international arena. This National Workshop has helped Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises and National Institute of Design to share the success and explore future directions for a sustained growth of the MSME Sector.

About National Workshop on Design Clinic Scheme

The MSME sector plays a significant role in its contribution to the country’s GDP, total industrial production and employment generation. Continued manufacturing competitiveness of MSME sector is the key to India’s future growth. Manufacturing Competitiveness is concerned with productivity and sustaining productivity is dependent on the ability of industry to produce new, desirable, quality products that sustain the changing and demanding needs of the user and marketplace.

The Design Clinic Scheme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises under the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme (NMCP), Ministry of MSME, aims to provide design initiative for improvements in products, processes, communication, ergonomics, packaging and many other system level activities through design support and interventions. Recently the scheme has been up scaled with revised budgets, commitments and targets.

Upscaling this sector requires a quantum jump in evolving strategies for reaching out and empowering this sector to be able to tap into the design, innovation, human skill development and marketing ecosystem in the country. In the sphere of Professional design projects, many initiatives have been undertaken in areas such as Automotive Products, Home/Business Appliances, Electronic and Interface Devices, Furniture, Industrial Equipment, Medical Devices, Packaging Solutions, Safety Equipment, Toys Design and Agriculture Equipment. The diversity of the targeted clusters has helped the Design Clinic Scheme to create a plethora of Good Designed Products with our Indian MSME. Several Student Projects with varied partnering, in the realm of Ceramics, Toy and Game, Apparel & Lifestyle Accessories, Product Design, etc. were on the anvil. Thus, the Design Clinic Scheme is effectively creating strategic change in the MSME Industrial sector, in the context of the Global Competitiveness

As part of the workshop, the outcome of various design interventions activities supported under the Design Clinic Scheme were showcased through a display combined with a workshop to address two very important objectives, first to share the accomplishments by respective MSMEs, Designers and Institutes associated with DCS and secondly to address the way forward for the new upscaled Design Clinic Scheme with an aim to draft a policy document for sustained impact of DCS in the improvement of manufacturing competitiveness of the MSME