Editorial

Innovation & Excellence in Business

By

Ashwani Goel B.E.

President (ASIMA)

Acculab Industries

The world business sector has been on the roll science the late 90’s and the pace of this motion has gathered momentum with the passage of time. In the aftermath of WTO and related developments, the integration of India economy with the world economy is a natural corollary. But such a development has totally altered the basics of market dynamics. The scale of competition has become sharper and more focused – the essence of comfortable margin in a venture has become history and the companies are required to operate on a narrower margin to keep the business afloat.

The scientific instruments industry is not sheltered from this intense competition. As this industry is characterized by high value addition, small quantity, extensive variety and relatively long life cycle; it is not the price competition but technology competition, which will be the foundation of success in the coming year. Driven by this compulsion of filling of technological gap, we shall have to move towards innovations in products and linkages with some knowledge partner.

Despite some problems faced by the industry, scientific instruments manufacturers of Ambala still have certain strengths that could be leveraged upon to improve the industry in future. The fact that the industry is making approximately twenty thousand different types of products starting from optical, mechanical, glassware, woodenware, metalware, and fiber glass models etc. using at least 50 types of different raw material makes it an ideal destination for anything in school education. Further, the innovative attitude of the entrepreneur and good knowledge of English are boons for accelerated growth of exports. In recent times, scientific instruments have become more application specific that involve modification and up-gradation of older instruments. This can be accomplished with the help of software, a sector in which India has significant strength.

Another thing that we need to change is the way we speak up, treat and implement excellence in our daily business activities. For too long, we have treated excellence as a concept related with big companies or intellectual people. The time to change all that has come. I record with pride that many people in Ambala industry have shattered this myth. We have to applaud, encourage, promote and cultivate excellence in all the spheres of business activity, be it design, development, production or even packaging.

Lastly, I would like to empathize that all these efforts should go long with active co-operation and harmony from each member of the Association and allied units.

Let us gather our power and put our efforts for national development.

ASSOCIATION CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS

by

Hans Raj Aggarwal Editor - In - Chief AMBALA SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION

The Associations, the Chambers of Commerce and Confederation of Industries are very poweriul organizations which can play very important roles in the welfare of industries. They are more beneficial in case of- small scale and cottage industrial units because individually small scale units hold lesser control on government policies.

The Japan Export Trade Research Organization, the China Business Council and the Korean Trade Promotion Organization are some of the trade bodies in Asia which have delivered immense benefits to the business organizations in their countries. The trade associations of Japan have been hallmarking the products of their members which assures reliable quality and periormance of the products to the buyer. Today a Japanese Microscope having hallmark of Japan Optical Instruments Manufacturers' Association commands more respect than an ISO 9001 or any other certification. The Korean Trade Promotion Oragnization publishes a directory of manufacturers of instruments in Korea and participates in overseas trade fairs. The Korean manufacturers display their products collectively in international trade fairs. The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) encourages trade associations to organize training programmes and participate in trade fairs at highly subsidized cost. The moral of story is that together we can make the difference.

But the officers of the associations carry an onerous responsibility on their shoulders. They have to rise above personal business interests to bring larger benefit to the members of the association. The officers of the associations receive trade delegations and trade tender informations. It is the responsibility of the association to share the information on time with the members. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce is a sterling example of beneficial role played by an association. Today Dubai Chamber of Commerce is a three storeyed building carrying exhaustive database of the business profile of the members of their chamber. All the information are freely provided on CDROM to all the interested trade partners outside Dubal.

The Ambala Scientific Instruments Manufacturers' Association (ASIMA) has taken up a number of projects for the benefit of its members. It has organized a number of training programmes like Seminar on Export Marketing, Entrepreneurs Growth Promotion Programme (organized with Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad), Microscope Standardization Programme with the Instruments Design Development and Facilities Centre, Ambala Cantt. The present Members' Directory is a similar effort in this direction. We are sending this Directory to potential dealers and customers allover India and trade councils and chambers all over the world. We hope this directory will certainly help our members to boost their trade. Any suggestions to improve the contents will always be welcome.