*Thread alert*
My 13-points of advice on this subject follows.
Waiting for the best doesn’t work, we will take what you produce, Vice Chief of Army assures industry - The Economic Times m.economictimes.com/news/defence/w…
My 13-points of advice on this subject follows.
Waiting for the best doesn’t work, we will take what you produce, Vice Chief of Army assures industry - The Economic Times m.economictimes.com/news/defence/w…
1. How about making them here in India and exporting to rest of the world – a win-win situation for all. Why not? A general feeling: Indians are unlikely to trust the quality and safety standards of equipment if manufactured in India.
2. If it’s imported we take quality for granted. If it’s indigenous, we start suspecting the pedigree. This mentality hasn’t changed 72 yrs after independence. And it extends to industries as progressive as aerospace and defence.
3. ‘Make in India’ may soon become the norm. It is time we confront some bad habits. The Indian buyer and industry both must change their ways if A&D manufacturing has to succeed under the new paradigm.
4. The start point for all A&D acqsns or developmental projects is laying down staff requirements (SR). This is the very first step where we often go wrong. Scope creep, pet-peeves, alterations and iterations late into the project shouldn't leave it floundering.
5. Why nobody in India casts aspersions on machines manufactured by Airbus, Bell Flight, Sikorsky, Leonardo, Dassault, Boeing, etc? Bcos they have earned their place through quality that matches global standards, not local. Set that framework.
6. In India, starting from a staple pin to warships, a wide spectrum of quality is available. There is no baseline, inviolable benchmark for quality. This MUST change. So must the penchant for seeking concessions.
7. The AMCA, MBT or NMRH of future should be benchmarks of quality other countries aspire for. This wont happen if svcs & industry collude to water down specs. Aim high, much higher than what the customer wants. But identify the line betn science & science fiction.
8. Expect many setbacks bcos our inherent suspicion towards Indian quality will weigh heavily in our assessments. Don't resort to band-aid fixes. This leads to a self-defeating cycle of mistrust, blame-game and disappointments galore.
9. In my time with the industry, I have seen up close young, bright minds, eager to ‘make a dent in the universe’ like Steve Jobs said. Working in aerospace design & development is a dream many young Indians will die for.
10. But the entry barriers are huge, quality benchmarks are nebulous, you need chacha batija connections to get inside. Once you join a PSU or Navratna, a safe, secure job awaits you. Complacency, hubris, unionism, protectionist regimes take over. Must change this.
11. In India, short term gains will always tempt you to go the old jugaad way. Impatient customers from services will return after window-shopping abroad & demand a different thing each time. It is easy to lose focus, time & money.
12. There is a need to tune down the rhetoric, be moderate & scientific in our approach. Top-down, openness to critique on both sides of the fence is required if we are to improve our lot. Learning is always two-way.
13. Identify the right talent who speak, write and work fearlessly. If he or she has an audacious idea, nurture it, protect it and let it grow. Motivate small teams to go for big challenges. Keep risk-averse flags n babus miles away from projects they know nothing about.
Thank you. Your comments are welcome. Together, let's do this. Tuning out for now. QED. 🙏🏽🇮🇳
14. Reigniting this thread with some early morning thoughts. I am upbeat abt news reports that the L1 system of selection & No-cost-no- commitment (NCNC) mode of trials are likely to be reviewed.
15. Why? Because it bestows unequal advantage for deep pockets and big brothers of the industry. Small enterprises who subsist on innovation and thin margins can't survive this where even major OEMs have bled
16. NCNC in our context has become Nebulous Cost NIL Commitment. L1 has no meaning when it takes decades to finalise contracts where 100s of subvendors are involved. Sure recipe for infant mortality of private coys who thrive on innovation.
17. Think of LCA, AMCA, FGFA, NUH, IMRH etc as babies & what I described in this thread as the muddled bathwater. Don't go the proverbial way. Privatisation, healthy competition & level playing field is a must.
18. Today I'm flying an Italian machine with a multinational crew spanning 3 continents, operating to an oilfield managed by India where drillers, workers and vessels fm across the world are employed within a global safety & operating paradigm. Our weakness is our safety culture.
19. If military versions succeed, spin-offs for civil world can be many. In India, our diversity & population can be our biggest strength for absorbing new technologies. The multiplication factor is 1.3bn. That's why the world waits for us to awake fm deep slumber.
20. Quality control, costing rooted in reality, last-mile connectivity issues, appetite for risks in developmental programs, lack of clarity in decision making, entry barriers, corruption - these are IMO our biggest challenges. Talent is in abundance.
20. Off to the sea now. Please keep them bouquets & brickbats coming 🙏🏽🇮🇳
