First of all, congratulations on your role elevation wherein you will now oversee additional markets beside the South Asia region. How do you analyse your personal progress vis-a-vis the organisation's growth as well as the overall industrial evolution?
My journey at TÜV SÜD has indeed been exhilarating. In 1995, I made an unconventional move to join a five-member team at TÜV SÜD and qualified to become a Lead Auditor for management system certification ISO 9001, QS 9000, VDA 6.1 and TS 16949.
In 1994, a key objective for the five-member team at TÜV SÜD was to educate businesses about the need for auditing, testing, inspection and certification in manufacturing. The biggest hurdle in those times used to gauge the willingness of businesses to invest in a concept that was aimed to future proof. Initially we started by providing management system certifications to companies.
In sharp contrast with two decades ago, India, today, has sector wise government institutions that focus on product and service safety. The rapid technological advancement has created many opportunities and upscaled the overall standard of life. This has evolved the way commerce, society and various sectors interact and shape the ecosystem. Sustainable development, consumer protection, digital transformation and urbanisation are the key drivers that will continue to define the trends in TIC sector. For example: Use of technology (IoT) for better backward traceability in food sector or use of IoT for predictive maintenance in a Conventional Power Plant.
What are the different measures that Indian manufacturers need to adopt to make the ‘Make in India' campaign a huge success?
For a program as large as ‘Make in India', the impact of it will only be visible if there is seamless collaboration between the government, industry and consumer. A key objective of this program is to accelerate the culture of high quality manufacturing that is at par with global standards. Such a culture renders scalability to businesses which can help India gain the status of a global manufacturing hub.
Whenever a nation intends to make for the world, one of the pre-requites is compliance with the regulations in different markets with an unsaid requirement of consistency in delivering quality product. Indian firms manufacturing for the world or domestic markets, need to develop a culture of quality and safety and invest in integrating quality standards across processes and systems, while simultaneously ramping up their capabilities.
While safety and quality culture is taking priority, businesses are also striving to integrate sustainability at its core, demonstrating an emphasis on better environmental practices, a pivotal element of the ZED program. Businesses that partner with third-party testing firms for environmental testing and monitoring services benefit by infusing symbiosis between operational and ecological activities that ensure sustained and long-term business growth. Services provided in our laboratories include a wide range of services like air, soil and water testing, waste water testing and effluent testing. These services empower businesses to upgrade sustainability efforts by enhancing environment friendliness quotient.
The entire ecosystem of products and services has evolved owing to internal and external forces. Given the existing landscape, the scope of high-end quality, safety and cost efficiencies, a myopic approach to business growth sans TIC could be an impediment to growth of individual businesses and the economy at large.
The ZED program has given the right kind of thrust to industries to innovate and self-mandate high standards of quality and safety. Businesses can benefit immensely if they partner with the government, industry bodies and international third-party testing agencies to collaborate and bring about a paradigm shift in their approach towards high quality and consistency of products.
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