Experts from Europe to impart green guidance to Kolkata SMEs

Kolkata Mar 16 (KNN) Kolkata’s Jadavpur University and UK’s Aston University with the help of international experts in operations management are on a mission to introduce green and lean initiatives in Indian small and medium-sized enterprises.

As part of a Rs. 5.5 crore project funded by jointly funded by both the universities SMEs would be trained on best practices in the supply and value chain processes.

“The idea is to improve small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) performance by implementing a green supply chain management model which is based on sustainability. This will reduce wastes and costs, improve performance with minimal or no damage to the environment.

Professor Prasanta K Dey of Aston Business School in Birmingham said their efforts are aimed at elimination of wastes, reducing cycle time, re-engineering the manufacturing process, improving supply chain effectiveness, enhancing competence of process and manpower by training, energy saving, incorporating reverse logistics systems, reducing resource consumption and enhancing green productivity.

It is estimated that there are around 3.6 crore micro, small, and medium scale enterprises in India and we are not imparting some ground-breaking technology but just sharing ideas on how to do it, he said.

To start with ten SME units have been selected in the state of West Bengal initially with whom the experts will work for a period of 18 months.

An ambitious target of a 20 per cent improvement in their performance has been set up. “We will also guide them in inventory management and demand forecasting. Information and communication technology can also be a big enabler in this. Recycling and reduction of waste is another important focus area,” Dey said.

Prior to the ongoing project, they did a research comparing the environmental performance of SMEs in India and UK and found that Indian SMEs have more environmental targets but fewer methods in place for monitoring performance.

The Indo German Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small Medium Industries is supporting the project. (KNN/VV)