Enhancing_Productivity-Indian_Perspective

Enhancing Productivity-Indian Perspective PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENTS HAVE PUSHED MATERIAL PROSPERITY HIGHER AND FASTER IN THE PAST 10 YEARS THAN ANY TIME IN RECORDED HISTORY OF INDIA. RAPID INDUSTRIALIZATION CONTINUES TO IMPROVE LIVING STANDARDS AND TRANSFORM THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF ORDINARY INDIANS. BUT SUSTAINING THIS TREND REQUIRES BETTER MANAGEMENT & GREATER THRIFT IN ENERGY AND ITS CONSUMPTION, GREEN PRODUCTIVITY, LEADERSHIP IN QUALITY, AND MAKING IMPROVEMENT OF PRODUCTIVITY & SAFETY STANDARDS PART OF DAILY ROUTINE. TO BECOME GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE WE HAVE TO TRANSFORM CURRENT QUALITY STANDARDS LET’S SAY FROM 1 DEFECT OUT OF 120 CRORES SERVICES OR PRODUCTS INTO SOMETHING LIKE 1 DEFECT IN 600 CRORES PRODUCTS OR SERVICES PRODUCED. DESIGNING AND DEVELOPING SUITABLE STRATEGIES, TECHNIQUES, TOOLS AND MODELS FOR IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY HAVE BECOME AN ESSENTIAL FUNCTION OF RESEARCHERS AND PRACTITIONERS IN A NETWORKED GLOBAL ECONOMY. ENERGY COST CONTINUES TO RISE. THIS MEANS THAT ENERGY IS LIKELY TO BECOME AN INCREASING BURDEN AND AN INCREASING PROPORTION OF TOTAL COSTS. OTHERWISE ALSO 70% OF INDIAN ENERGY SOURCES, OIL REQUIREMENT IS MET THROUGH IMPORT. IF ANY COUNTRY PART OF OIL SUPPLY-DEMAND CHAIN SNEEZES, WE DEVELOP COUGH & COLD. ENERGY COSTS ARE MAKING EVERY OPERATION SCURRYING FOR VIABILITY. PROBLEM IS FURTHER AGGRAVATED BY WASTE WHICH OCCURS THROUGHOUT ALL ENERGY SYSTEMS. THIS WASTE ERODES THE BOTTOM-LINE. ALL ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD BE STRIVING TO ENSURE THAT THE PERCENTAGE OF ENERGY THAT IS WASTED IS AS SMALL AS IT CAN PRACTICABLY BE. ENERGY USAGE, AS WE KNOW, ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO CO2 EMISSIONS. SO, AS PART OF ENERGY MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY, IT MAKES SENSE TO ADDRESS ‘CARBON FOOTPRINT’. ACHIEVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IS IMPORTANT FOR REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) EMISSIONS. A 2007 STUDY BY MCKINSEY & COMPANY STATED THAT IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BUILDINGS AND APPLIANCES WOULD REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS BY 710 TO 870 MEGATONS BY 2030. GREEN PRODUCTIVITY IS A STRATEGY FOR ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE FOR OVERALL SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. IT IS THE APPLICATION OF THIS METHODOLOGY COMPRISING THE APPROPRIATE TECHNIQUES, TECHNOLOGIES AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO PRODUCE ENVIRONMENTALLY COMPATIBLE GOODS AND SERVICES. ECO-EFFICIENCY HAS TO BE FURTHER TAKEN TO ECO-EFFECTIVENESS. INSTEAD OF JUST MAKING THE SAME PRODUCTS MORE EFFICIENTLY, ONE FOCUSES ON MAKING BETTER PRODUCTS - PRODUCTS THAT PERFORM THE SAME FUNCTIONS AS THE OLD ONES, BUT IN NEW WAYS THAT ARE RADICALLY MORE PRODUCTIVE, AND HAVE MUCH LESS IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT. Lasting productivity improvement requires transitioning from a "fix it" mind-set, to a "solve and prevent it" mind-set. No where is this more important than when addressing safety in the workplace. Safety and performance improvement go hand-in-hand. An effective performance improvement program requires that you dig into the causes of accidents, determine the conditions that are at the root of those causes, and determine the best practices to prevent those conditions from reoccurring. The solution is the implementation of a productivity & safety program. G P Namdeo, Executive Director, Baroda Productivity Council