The 2005 Summit on Indian Manufacturing Competitiveness aimed to explore the challenges and opportunities of global supply chain management in India and the secrets to the success of Indian enterprises operating in global industries. In addition, the conference focused on lessons learned from developed and emerging economies including North America, Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, and Asia-Pacific. All of this was intended to help chart a course to take the manufacturing industry to the next level of competitiveness. The perspectives of the leading academic researchers, and industry leaders, and business experts who participated in the Summit are presented in this new report "Indian Manufacturing in a Global Perspective: Setting the Agenda for Growth" -- published jointly by the Indian School of Business, New York University, Purdue University, and Deloitte Research.
Growth in the manufacturing sector has the potential to elevate much of the Indian population above poverty by shifting the majority of the workforce out of low-wage agriculture, thus creating a virtuous circle as a more stable and prosperous India will in turn attract more business. But although Indian manufacturers have shown they can compete successfully in a global marketplace, large sections of Indian manufacturing still suffer from under utilization of technology, inappropriate scales, poor infrastructure, over staffed operations, expensive financing and bureaucracy. The summit posed the question: How ready is India really to integrate with the networked economy?
A number of priorities emerged including improving the urban infrastructure, ensuring fair competition and access to markets, reduction of import duties, quality improvements in vocational and higher education, increased investment in R&D and support of small and medium sized enterprises. These priorities were given further support when looking at preliminary data from the latest analyses of the Deloitte Global Benchmark study -- assessing the business and operational performance of Indian manufacturers compared to their global peers.
If Indian manufacturing can address the key issues identified then the future looks promising, both for emerging Indian multinationals and for global manufacturing companies that have begun to move and expand sourcing, production, R&D, sales and marketing there.
The co-organizers of 2005 Summit, the Indian School of Business, Deloitte Research, New York University, and Purdue University, are continuing their research and conference activities to explore the role and impact of Indian manufacturing in global business networks. The 2006 Summit on Indian Manufacturing Competitiveness; Global Manufacturing and Service Networks is scheduled to be held at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India, August 7-9 2006.
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