Standards and certifications are must for India's industrial growth story

To accelerate towards the twin goals of product safety and quality, industries in India must proactively participate to create a robust system of standards and regulations, says Suresh Sugavanam

Make in India has caught the fancy of industries across the country. The Indian government has vociferously promoted the project as a platform for states to engage in competitive federalism. To silence naysayers and skeptics who deride it as a mere catchphrase and for Make in India to become an imperative tool to attract global investors, the manufacturing community has to take ownership, especially from a quality and ‘global standards’ perspective. 

To accelerate towards the twin goals of product safety and quality for both the domestic and global market, industries in India must proactively participate to create a robust system of standards and regulations. While forced compliance may work to an extent, a voluntary adherence to standards is the ideal solution to propel industrial and economic growth that is sustainable in the long run.

Standards: The missing link to global manufacturing presence

Think about this… Some of the highest quality exports in the world like software, automobiles, textiles and drugs come from India. However, for an average Indian consumer, the quality of the same product categories, and others such as medical devices, toys and electronic items available in the country lags behind the domestic markets of even developing countries like China, Malaysia, Thailand or Brazil. This calls for immediate action to fundamentally overhaul the quality of our products and services.

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While readying itself for a quality revolution, India has a lot of catching up to do in terms of the conformity assessment framework. In spite of well-developed standards for certain key items, there are significant gaps in their effective implementation. Several product categories have no regulation, thus resulting in the import and sale of products with unsure and untested compliance standards, potentially resulting in serious safety and performance issues for the consumer. 

This, combined with a general sense of protectionism, demand for subsidies and tax breaks has left the Indian industry’s priorities and quality far from world class in several sectors.  For India to become a credible global player in the manufacturing industry, there is an urgent need for setting relevant standards, and to enable domestic manufacturers to build globally competitive products and combat substandard imports. 

While the big and established players' might have the wherewithal to propel holistic growth, it is the micro, small & medium enterprises (MSME) segment that needs handholding. MSMEs now have the capacity to become the backbone for existing and future high growth businesses, thanks to the investments from domestic and foreign entities. To achieve global acceptance of Make in India products, irrespective of brand or manufacturer, it is crucial for MSMEs to inculcate the ‘standards habit’. 

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Once standards are applied and followed, it will automatically create a level playing field for large industry houses as well as MSMEs as they will offer a vital competitive edge. It will further allow access to state-of-the-art technology, strengthen innovation capacity, and help achieve an effective allocation of resources.

Time for industries to proactively help in creating strong SDOs

Suresh Sugavanam, VP and MD, UL South Asia

In today’s complex and dynamic scenario, it is very challenging for the Government alone to create, enforce, manage and monitor a robust standards regime. We all agree that regulators and the government play an important part in ensuring product safety and quality. However, in free-market societies the ultimate responsibility for investing the physical and managerial resources necessary for implementing appropriate controls, lies with the industry that continuously oversees manufacturing and processing of the products. 

The government, therefore, needs an instrument which allows flexibility to identify areas that need to be regulated at the national level in the interests of health, safety, environment, national security and deceptive market practices. The key is to partner with the private sector, third party certification bodies in particular and most importantly with the industry associations for standards implementation.

So far, for most industry associations, the focus primarily has been on issues other than standards, such as tax, policy, GST to name a few. Industry associations have the global exposure and expertise to contribute to the framing of standards, their harmonisation and implementation, to make the representative industries more competitive on the global stage and ensure a fair deal for the Indian consumers.

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For instance, private standards development organisations (SDOs) in both advanced countries like the US and even developing countries like Brazil and China formulate standards by working with the national standards body. This as a best practice can be replicated to suit the Indian marketplace, rather than burdening a single standards body, thereby resulting in faster development and implementation of a regulatory framework. 

It is imperative to ensure that standards do not end up as the hegemony on any one body, but evolve as a participative process. A process in which the SDOs are given an opportunity to help the national standards body to enable standards implementation and ultimately help consumers get safe, quality and best possible products and services.

Industry associations should lead from the front!

The recently notified BIS Bill 2015 will go a long way in achieving this goal and pave the way forward for a safer India. What role the Indian industry can play in the creation of a new standards regime will be critical. 

The need of the hour is to approach the situation with a ‘want’ mentality rather than a ‘forced to’ attitude, along with a ramp up from within the industry and government bodies. The industry and the manufacturer should understand the benefits and embrace standards wholeheartedly. 

Some industry associations are approaching this already - the likes of ELCOMA and ISHRAE, by developing their own voluntary standards framework, which not only eases the standards formulation burden of national bodies like the BIS, but also ensures that quality products reach customers. As a country, we additionally need conformity assessment, education and commitment.

The introduction of the concept of multiple third party certification bodies, is a welcome step and can provide a means of a more cost-effective administration and oversight for the government, faster time-to-market for manufacturers’ goods, and upholding desired levels of consumer safety and product quality.

Conclusion

While a lot of work needs to be put in to improve quality in India, the symbiosis of the right leadership and partnership along with a systematic programme can boost the economic growth while improving the lives of the citizens. This also gives the industry an opportunity to come together to work on forming voluntary standards program to ensure safe products are delivered to consumers.  The feeling of ownership needs to be inculcated among Industry participants that quality, standards and certifications are good for them in the long run.
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Suresh Sugavanam is the vice president and managing director of UL South Asia