2nd Cluster Co-ordination Committee meeting for Year 2010-2011 , Pune Fruits and Vegetables Cluster

2nd Cluster Co-ordination meeting was held in Pune Cluster on 9th December 2010. Following people were present in the Meeting:

1. Mr. M. A. Tejani (Gits Food Products Pvt Ltd) 2. Mr. Vinay Oswal (NAFARI)

3. Mr. Abhay Daptardar (MSME DI)
5. Mr. Suneel Waman (Gomukh Trust)
6. Dr. (Mrs.) Vasudha Keskar. (Maarc Labs Pvt Ltd)
7. Mr. Sadashiv Survase (DIC)
8. Mr. K. M Balajee (FMC)
9. Mr. Sanjay Korabu (Dy Director of Industries, Pune Region)

Following persons were also present from Apex Cluster Development Services Pvt Ltd

1. Mr. Rajveer Singh (MD ACDS)
2. Ms. Minal Rajkarne (CDM)
3. Mr. Bipin Patil (CDE)

In the meeting the activities conducted in the month of September, October and November were discussed in details and also the upcoming activities for December and Next quarter were discussed along with the strategies.

Designer's club meetings

As a part of the promotion of designers’ club, various small meetings were conducted. These meetings helped the designers to understand the motive behind the formation of Club. People from various walks of designing attended the meetings like industrial designers, freelancers, students who are doing their last semester of designing, designing faculties who are interested in designing etc. On 13th of October, one meeting was conducted at NIFT TEA where volunteers were chosen to head the activities among the designers. On 20th of October 2010 another meeting was held for detailing them about the Club. On 22nd of October 2010 a meeting of designers was held at F.A. to discuss about other types of promotional activities. On 23/30th of October again meeting was held at NIFT TEA to discuss about the activity going to be conduct4ed at NIFT TEA on 14th of November Sunday at NIFT TEA.

“Promotion of designers” an activity through which designers club was formed has helped the designers scattered here and there in the cluster by bringing them under a common platform. This activity has helped the designers a lot in getting an idea to equip themselves with the knowledge and skill to tap the international market. They have got a common platform to share their common issues and constrains. This has also helped them in finding new opportunities in their career.

CCC Meeting

1st Cluster Co-ordination Committee meeting for Year 2010-2011was held in Pune Fruits and Vegetables Cluster on 7th September 2010 with the welcoming note of Mr. Rajveer singh and introduction of Ms. Minal Rajkarne as Cluster Development Manager of Apex cluster Development Services Pvt Ltd. Mr Rajveer told that project will be further handed over to NAFARI as Meso Organization within a year.

Ms. Minal Rajkarne started the session with briefing point of discussion of past CCC meeting held on 12th April 2010. She gave a Presentation on overview of the activities conducted since April 2010 – September 2010 along with ongoing activities and next quarter activities were also discussed.

Initial working on vision plan for NAFARI was presented by Mr. Dipankar & Mr. Kaustubh from Dun & Bradstreet Information Services India Pvt Ltd.

Ms. Minal Rajkarne Initially started briefing on current status for activities and points which discussed for past CCC meeting. A detailed discussion on the project progress, past activities, ongoing activities and activities to be conducted in the next quarter was done.

At last Mr. Rajveer Singh expressed gratitude and thanked the entire CCC members for adding valuable suggestions for implementing action plan and sparing valuable time for meeting.

CCC Meeting-4

To discuss the status of the action plan and to take suggestion of cluster stakeholders to finalize the exit strategy, a cluster coordination meeting was organised on 8th Sep.2010 in Ludhiana. Also discussed were the exit strategies for various training programs. The activities conducted in the year 2009 and 2010 were discussed in details in the meeting and various aspects of the upcoming activities were also discussed.

Following are the various activities which were discussed

1. Skill Development Initiatives Various initiatives undertaken in this field under the project were discussed in detail

2. Energy saving exercises the energy audits conducted in the cluster and its results were shared in the meeting.

3. Designing the members were advised about the designing workshops conducted and the common facility center being developed at Sport king institute of Fashion Technology

4. Marketing and Branding Knitwear club was asked to advise the names of companies interested in forming common consortia for branding and marketing. Mr. Thapar and Mr. Charanjiv agreed to discuss with the members and advise the same at the earliest.

5. Supporting Activities a) Mr. Bedi advised about the MSME ministry scheme for participation in domestic fares. A date to organize the workshop on MSME schemes was also discussed and will be advised depending on the availability of industry minister Mr. Manoranjan Kalia. Mr. Thapar advised about club’s efforts in setting up a delayed payment cell b) Mr Thapar stressed on the need for G.I.patent for Ludhiana sweaters and Mr Dhawan of Textile committee suggested that they can provide some support in this activity having conducted similar activities for other products. c) Mr Charanjiv asked to organize consultant for finishing and processing industry and Mr Bedi from MSME ministry suggested that he can try to organize the consultant for the same. .

At last Mr. Sanjeev Chaudhary, CDM, ACDS, extended vote of thanks to CCC members for their regard esteemed suggestions and participation.

Cluster Coordination Committee Meeting

CCC meeting was organized in Tirupur cluster on 16th September, 2010 at TEA – E Readiness Centre with the notion of discussing the activities performed in the cluster so far and discussing the viability and continuation of possible ventures in the upcoming semester. The purpose was to have a close watch on the activities carried out in the cluster and to get suggestions from the industry people for the better implementation of the activities planned for the next year. This also helps to create a better understanding of the project by the members.

The main Agendas of the meeting were:

1. To have a review and presentation of the activities carried out in the cluster for the semester which ends by September 2010.

2. To get feedback from beneficiaries.

3. To get suggestions from the committee members about the activities proposed for upcoming trimester.

4. To get feedback from BDS.

5. To collect suggestions and feedback from members for improvement as well as for supplementary action plan.

Project “Implementing BDS for MSMEs” launched at Ludhiana Knitwear and Apparel Cluster

Launch workshop of project “Implementing BDS for MSMEs” in Ludhiana Knitwear and Apparel Cluster was organized on September 14, 2009. The project is an initiative under the umbrella project SME Financing and Development Project (SMEFDP), a joint venture of Government of India, World Bank, DFID, KfW, GTZ and SIDBI. Around 200 participants including industrialists and consultants from the cluster were part of the event.

The programme was inaugurated by Mr. V. K. Janjua, IAS, Director, Industries and Commerce. Mr. Manoj Mittal from SIDBI briefed about the cluster development project at 18 clusters and emphasized about development in Ludhiana, Mohali and Chandigarh cluster. Mr. Vinod Thapar, president FEKTAA presented the keynote address from the industry and stressed upon the government support for the infrastructure requirements of Ludhiana Integrated Textile Park. Mr. Rajveer Singh, Director, ACDS, presented the results of the diagnostic study done in the cluster and the areas in which the cluster is lacking for competitiveness in comparison to other clusters. He also advised the industry about the action plan devised for the next year. Mr. Vikas Garg, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana and Dr.Sandeep Kapur , Associate Prof, PAU, discussed issues related to the cluster and welcomed the start of cluster development project. A presentation was given by Mr. Vijay Kapoor and Mr. Naresh Chawla of Gian Jyoti School of TQM and Entrepreneurship, about the productivity and waste management and use of lean manufacturing processes in the industry to reduce waste thereby increasing profitability and productivity.

The program was eloquently wrapped up by a vote of thanks given by Ms Paramjot Kaur, DGM SIDBI, Ludhiana branch.

FEKTA & ACDS Signed MOU to Enable Ludhiana's Knitwear Industry Competitive

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Federation of Knitwear, Textile and Allied Industries Association (FEKTA) and Apex Cluster Development Services (ACDS), to enable Ludhiana's knitwear industry competitive. In the MoU, it was mutually agreed that Apex Cluster Development Services will assist the knitwear industry towards building capacity to its members and by guiding them to improve their internal efficiencies in the supply chain to be globally competitive.

ACDS will work on behalf of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), which has been entrusted with the task of implementing the Government of India project. Major focus of the Project would be to help industry to use business development service providers intensively so that they can evolve some kind of professional pose in that production process. It would also provide them new international and domestic markets, so that they can prepare themselves as a readiness to supply material, export or to supply material to retail chains. This project will impact the appropriateness, cost effectiveness and capability of business development services to serve micro, small and medium enterprises, and enable the latter to be able to market their products in terms of global competitiveness. The project will include sensitization, training, capacity building of service providers, information dissemination, and finance and credit facilitation.

Inauguration of Project "Implementing BDS for MSMEs" at Tirupur Knitwear and Apparel Cluster

An inaugural workshop to launch the project “Implementing Business Development Services for MSMEs in Tirupur Knitwear and Apparel Cluster” was organized on September 24, 2009 at TEA Conference Hall, Tirupur.

The programme was inaugurated by Mr. Namgial, Chief General Manager, SIDBI, and Chennai. Mr. A. Sakthivel, President, TEA gave presidential note to members. Mr. Ahill S. Rathinasamy, President – KNITcMA and Mr. Raja M. Shanmugam, Chairman, NIFT TEA College of Knitwear Fashion gave special address to cluster firms. Mr. S. S. Sankaramoorthi, Senior Technical Advisor, ACDS, gave Project overview and presented the results of the diagnostic study done in the cluster and the areas in which the cluster is lacking in competitiveness in comparison to other clusters. He also provided the industry about the details of action plan devised for the next year. Problems and issues identified in the diagnostic study and initiatives planned to address them were well acknowledged and appreciated by the participants. Secretary, TEKPA requested to organize similar technical seminars for the benefit of their members. President, KNITcMA came forward to identify 30 proactive members from the association to avail possible support from the project.

Representatives of technical institutions like Kumaraguru College of Engineering and Technology, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology provided their consent to collaborate under the project by engaging faculty and students to take up live projects in the industry. Few entrepreneurs came forward to form ‘network’ among them to avail the support under the project.

Some senior executives, who participated in the event, gave valuable suggestions with respect to making visual documentation on improving skill of workers.

As a part of workshop the following three Consultants gave knowledge inputs through presentations. Mr. M. A. Sanjeevi, Industrial Consultant, Ex-General Manager, Gokuldas Images Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore gave presentation on Methods and Tools for Productivity Improvement in Garment Industry. Mr. S. Periasamy, Deputy Director (EP&QA), Textiles Committee, Coimbatore gave presentation on Technological Advancement in Colour Matching and Communication to reduce lead time. Mr. Rajagopal, Head, SQC and OR Division, Indian Statistical Institute, Coimbatore shared information regarding Prove and Improve with TPM practices in Garment Industry.

Around 100 participants including Cluster Coordination Committee members, Association members, Representatives from MSMEs, support Institutions, technical institutions, financial institutes, banks, public and private BDS and concerned Government departments participated in the workshop.