As India enters its 75th year as an independent nation, we have many things to celebrate and many to regret.
One of the biggest regrets is that India remains a ‘developing’ nation till date while countries destroyed by World War II (Japan & Germany) became developed by 1960.
Resource-poor countries like South Korea with no notable Industrial tradition became developed by mid 1990s; and China with a larger population than us became developed by 2010.
All the above nations share ONE common trait: They are ‘Manufacturing Superpowers‘.
How can we catch up when India is saddled with the following constraints:
There are no easy solutions, but some highly interesting new research offers possibilities. It points that manufacturing in ALL countries suffers because of ‘Bias‘ & ‘Noise‘ that imposes a high economic cost. ‘Bias‘ is systematic error and ‘Noise‘ is variability in judgements & decisions.
While ‘Bias‘ is identified & actively challenged, ‘Noise‘ is mostly undetected and unattended. If Indian manufacturers can move fast, identify ‘Noise’ and eliminate it, they will get an edge over competitors from other countries.
NOTE: Measurement is the act of using an instrument to assign a value on a scale to an object or event. Judgement can be described a measurement in which the instrument is a human mind.
It is important to understand that ‘Noise’ does not mean ‘adulterated’, inaccurate or incomplete data, but judgements or decisions that are inconsistent, i.e. show large variability.
There are two major forms of ‘Noise‘:
#1: Same Person, Different time, Same Data —-> DIFFERENT Judgement & Decision.
#2: Different Person of similar qualification, Same Data —-> DIFFERENT Judgement & Decision.
This variability, or ‘Noise’ results in huge losses in terms of Productivity, Quality of output & Cost of Operations.
Next Week, I will explain HOW we can eliminate or drastically reduce ‘Noise’ from our manufacturing ecosystem.
CONCLUSION: India@75 has great potential. Our biggest (and presently much stronger) economic rival China is facing many internal & external issues. Former Australian PM Tony Abbot has proposed a ‘Trade deal’ with India that could pave the way for similar arrangements with other developed countries. This can vastly increase our exports and also open sources of cheaper raw materials.
Reducing ‘Noise’ with Industry 4.0 technologies will make Indian manufacturing highly profitable & competitive. This will lead to huge growth which will make India a manufacturing superpower, and this will start a ‘Virtuous Cycle’ which will lift our entire economy and make India a ‘developed’ country in 15-20 years.
JAI HIND
