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Meet moots integrating design with business strategy

The two-day conference on design imperatives organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in Bombay has mooted the idea of integrating design with business strategy and not treat it as a compartmentalised, stand-alone activity.

Design forecasts for futuristic needs to be built into the business strategy in order to leverage the market potential, said Subodh Bhargava, chief executive of Eicher Goodearth Limited.

Focus of Indian industry, according to Bhargava, has been mostly a reactive posture to the threat of competition which is now recognised. In the changing market, the customer is now demanding his rights and industry is now compelled to design products depending upon customer needs. There are scores of markets within the country, and industry has to meet customised requirement of each market segment, depending upon customer expectations, knowledge and perception.

Design for sustainable development is going to be the new buzzword -- to provide for longer life, durability and avoidance of wastage of natural resources. India can boost of volume leadership, but for design capability we go to other countries. It was important to develop design leadership along with economies of scale, said Bhargava.

The need for building partnership and a collaborative approach even amongst competitors has been recognised and practised to get maximum benefits out of cost, time and talent. At micro level, it was important to recognise that safety, convenience and environmental protection were the key issues to be kept in mind by the designer.

Vikas Satwalekar, executive director, National Institute of Design, suggested that CII could promote 1999-2000 as the year for design with a series of countrywide seminars, workshops and design clinics. He also stressed the need for continuing dialogue between Indian industry and design institutions in order to meet current needs and future aspirations.

Prof K Munshi, head of Industrial Design Centre in Bombay explained in detail the various activities undertaken by IIT, in order to help achieve better quality and finish through proper design. Japan, he said, was able to achieve a high degree of design consciousness as a whole year was dedicated as design year and suggested that India should emulate the example set by Japan.

Ranjan Dasgupta, chairman of technology sub-committee of CII and board member of Crompton Greaves in his welcome address, said that rarely do we leverage the latent needs of users and customers. India has excelled in design functionalities, but the same attention is not paid to aesthetics, exterior finish and user comfort. Scant interest is shown in reducing development cost. The purpose of the conference was to share knowledge and experience and address issues, which prevent growth of design in Indian industry.

A session was devoted at the conference on the design policy in Japan and the Asia Design Exchange Programme of Japan Design Foundation which was addressed by Teruo Takegama of Japan Design Foundation.

Other subjects covered were a case study in design development of Futura pressure cooker, computerised design environment and design experience.

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