In engineering designs, it's India over China
K YATISH RAJAWAT & SACHIN BAXI
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2003 11:08:19 PM ]

MUMBAI: India’s edge over China in manufacturing is not in creating low cost products, but in engineering design which is expected to drive outsourcing of manufacturing.

Indian companies that are successfully getting export orders in manufacturing over low cost destinations such as China are achieving it because of their engineering design capabilities.

The biggest engineering company, Larsen & Toubro, has already set up a separate design unit and is trying to utilise it for its manufacturing capacities.

Bharat Forge has been successful in bagging orders due to the capabilities of its design team that has been carefully built over the last few years. Even nuts and bolts maker Sundaram Fasteners is looking at process design and wants to migrate to product design over a period of time.

International customers want cheapest parts, but also the best possible design. There are several reasons behind it. Vendors traditionally have more expertise in designing components, while outsourcing such tasks cuts down overall development costs. Outsourcing design also freezes the cost of the product and there is little left for the vendor to change. Such moves also cut down the time taken in testing and checking the prototype. Bharat Forge cites an example of delivering a part, made for the first time to exacting standards, in just nine days for a major American truck maker.