By Harjiv Singh
The meteoric rise of India’s private protective gear (or PPE) business is now a familiar tale, extolled by ministers and suppliers alike. Nevertheless, it merits a retelling. A year has passed considering the fact that the very first coronavirus infection was detected in Wuhan, China, setting off one of the terrific events of the 21st century. When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020, the World Health Organisation estimated that the worldwide healthcare business would need to have an astounding 89 million masks, 78 million gloves and 1.6 million goggles each month to efficiently fight the illness. To assure this, worldwide PPE manufacturing would need to have to be boosted by 40 %.
At the time of this announcement, India had no domestic PPE manufacturing capabilities and was completely dependent on imports. Two months later, more than 600 firms became certified PPE producers (like major textile players and various get started-ups), propelling India to the world’s second biggest producer of protective gear, behind only China.
What India demands now is an ecosystem that can enable it emerge as a worldwide hub for protective gear. As management guru Peter Drucker famously stated, “Because its purpose is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two – and only these two – basic functions: marketing and innovation.” It is precisely these two functions that can enable produce this ecosystem.
The part of public R&D investment
India could have managed to halt its reliance on PPE imports, but it is not alone. Efforts are at present underway in nations like the United States and the United Kingdom to enhance domestic manufacturing to cut down their reliance on Chinese and Asian imports. If Indian suppliers are to efficiently compete in these markets and other individuals, they will need to have to manufacture to worldwide requirements at low expenses. Increased public investment in R&D will play a essential part right here.
The groundwork for this has currently been laid. In the quick aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Ministry of Textiles proactively contacted suppliers and testing facilities across the nation to develop a provide chain from scratch. It initiated localised testing programmes, starting with the South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) in Coimbatore, and then going on to involve the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) in New Delhi and Ordnance Factories in Ambernath, Kanpur and Muradnagar, amongst other facilities.
India immediately demonstrated its possible to provide economical PPE to the planet. By July 2020, the provide of indigenous PPE kits had exceeded domestic demand and India exported kits to the US, the UK, the UAE, Slovenia and Senegal. Attention should now be provided to enhancing high-quality. As a current report by the Institute of Competitiveness suggests, this can be accomplished by implementing robust high-quality manage (QC) and high-quality assurance (QA) procedures frequent to all suppliers. This can enable assure constant high-quality and cut down testing and rejection overheads. Further, India nonetheless relies on exports for vital elements such as seam sealing gear. Greater R&D investment by the government to boost PPE high-quality can enable circumvent these challenges.
Reaching out to the planet
While PPE suppliers should prioritise high-quality and pricing to trade competitively, marketing and advertising is what will eventually enable them stand out from the crowd. Strong branding and marketing and advertising will enable suppliers in India distinguish themselves from their competitors abroad by permitting them to emphasise their economical pricing and high-quality to a worldwide industry. Aside from delivering suppliers with higher recognition, it will enable them produce more consumers, enhance trust and strengthen their organization worth.
With the pandemic accelerating digital adoption, suppliers in India should boost their on line presence by leveraging digital, content and social media marketing and advertising. These channels can enable them enhance brand awareness, enhance sales and position themselves as top business players.
Across sectors, more than 90 million tiny corporations are present on Facebook alone today, with LinkedIn being the second-most common social platform for B2B marketers. Ninety-4 % of corporations use social media for their content distribution. Seventy % of marketers are actively investing in content marketing and advertising, though 80 % of marketers think that video content has straight improved their sales.
The industry for PPE is increasing exponentially. In May 2020, the domestic industry in India alone was worth at least INR 10,000 crores. In 5 years, the worldwide PPE industry is anticipated to be worth USD 92.5 billion. With this comes an opportune moment for India to shine globally.
(The author is a Board Member of GlobalPPEMart. Views expressed are private and do not reflect the official position or policy of the TheSpuzz Online.)