Briefly discuss the existing linkages with particular reference to technology management in India.

Briefly discuss the existing linkages with particular reference to technology management in India.



INUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS AND PROMOTINAL AGENCIES:
There are several industrial associations such as Confederation of Engineering Industries (CEI) federaton of Idian Chambeers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHEM) etc. which are formed mainly by vaious industries to represent their interests to the govt and also provide a link beetween govt and industryb Many of these organisations have in formation data bases concernng trade and technology, and organise
Tecnology-oriented programms for the benefit of the industry from time to time. CEI has recently started total Quality Managment programmes (TOM) to educate the industry about the techonological and quality requirments at internatonal levels and also how to achieve those standards for indian products. The GOVT. has set up several specialised facilities, such as, training centers, advanced design centers for comuters, tool rooms, information etc. for the benfit ofd the industry.2 Specialised agencies such as National small industry corparation (NSIC), small industry development centers (SIDC), have been particularly set-up for small industries. The financial institution are also now actviely supporting techincal and tecnoligcal efforts of enter prices and have even set up specialised orgnisations, such as, Tecnology and development & Tecnology finance Corpration (RCTFC) at New Delhi. Venture capital Schems snd Companies have also come up recent past. Consulants play an important role in the acquisition, trasnsfer and development of tecnology. The enerprice can identify competent consultancy orgnisation/ consulants relevent to its areas of operations and develop necessary linkages with them by way of utilising in any area of interset. Consultancy serviceare generally effective and provide solution to problem on casae to case basis. Consulants can also help in developing linkages and utilisation of facilities available at national institutions or elsewhere.
LINKAGES :
We have earlier seen in the preceding units that a strong S&T infrastructure and institutional mechanisms have been buit-up in the country, and the facilities and expretise available can be shared or taken advantage of by the industry or the enterprises. The linkages of these facilities at enterprises level is important and may lead ton cost effective tecnology programmes, particularly in-hi tech areas. The large enterprise may have certain level of in-house R&D and other tecnological facilities and therefore need to have linkages with other insititution at a higer level or of specialised nature. The small enterprises are generally noy able to afford to provide edquate R&D and tecnological activities with iin the company, and, therefore, may need to depend even on expertise and facilities avalaible in other insitituion
At a rather reatively low tecnology levels. Such requirment could include desinged engineering, product desingn, process modifications, quality control measure, cost reduction techniques testing facilities and so on. Linkages are therefore all important for all enterprises whether large, medium or small, with the insitiutional and other facilities available in the country, in the area of generation, development, and transfer of tecnology, for an effctive management of tecnology at enterprise level.

Read more

How would Technology Evaluation improve the competitiveness of an enterprise? Give an example.

How would Technology Evaluation improve the competitiveness of an enterprise? Give an example.



Technology and Competition: Although technology competitiveness is necessary for corporate survival, it alone is not sufficient. Of course, a corporation with inferior technology cannot compete at the same price level with a corporation superior in technology. The reason why superior technology alone is not sufficient is that business is a system, and there are many other systems (or sub – systems) that determine business success. Therefore, if technology is to give a competitive edge, management must manage it as a part of the business system. Technological innovation can be integrated with production, marketing, finance and personnel into a balanced business system. Managing technology essentially involves four central concepts:
a) New ventures
b) Innovation
c) Research
d) Research infrastructure

New Ventures: Although new ventures centered around technology are an important class of business, new hi – tech ventures are difficult because they involve two major risks: developing new products and creating new markets. Ideas central to new ventures are concerned with entrepreneurial management, overall business plan, and the dynamics of organizational growth.
Innovation: It denotes the whole span of activity from creating new technological knowledge to implementing it in new businesses. Ideas central to innovation include concepts such as types of innovation, processes of innovation, the technology Scurve, technology life cycle, economic life cycle, economic life cycles, sources of innovation, business opportunities in a technological system, marketing and new technology, corporate diversification through new ventures, and technology in manufacturing strategies.
Research: Technological change is new knowledge about what things to produce and how to produce them; and in the corporation, new knowledge often comes from corporate research. The corporate laboratory is charged with the responsibility of looking after the present and future productivity of the corporation. Managing and integrating corporate research with other management functions and strategies is essential to technology management. Research management includes organisation of research, project management, research personnel, and corporate research strategy.
Research infrastructure: The technologies of a corporation do not exist in a vacuum but are part of a larger technological context, first of the industry, then of the nation, and then of the world. This larger context is a research and development infrastructure, and it has an important influence on the competitive conditions in a country. With the expansion and increase of intensity of international competition, the R & D infrastructure of a nation plays a critical role in economic competition.
Managing technology is taking risks in novel products and developing new markets. In the world of rapid technological progress and changing competitive environments and market needs, firms must pay increasing attention to developing new innovative products for domestic and world markets, and therefore an efficient technology management system is important for them.
Let us first clarify the distinction between innovation and invention since invention is only the beginning of innovation. The steps required to transform invention into innovation can be illustrated in the famous Xerox story.
In 1935, Chester Carlson was working in the patent office of Mallory Company. His technical background work as a carbon chemist, printer, and then as a patent lawyer. He became concerned about the errors in copying patents for public dissemination and the costs involved in copying. Using his chemistry and printing background, he began experimenting with new ways to create a copying process. His basic idea was (a) to project the image of a typed paper onto a blank sheet of paper coated with dry ink, (b) to hold the ink temporarily at spaces of typed letters by static electrical charges induced by the light, and (c ) finally, to melt and ink into the paper by baking the paper. This would produce a quick, dry reproduction of a typed page; and the process came to be called Xerography.
Carlson succeeded in obtaining a crude image, thereby reducing his idea to practice. He filed for a patent. Yet like all new inventions, it was still not commercially efficient, cost – effective, or easily usable. It required development. Development of a new technology usually costs a great deal of money, takes time, and requires skilled resources. All inventors face similar problems – first conceiving the invention, reducing it to practice, obtaining a patent, then obtaining support for development and commercialization.
Carlson went from company to company seeking support. He was turned down, again and again. By 1942, he had obtained the valuable patent on the basic process. Then a venturesome group at Battelle Memorial Institute agreed to work on the development in return for a share in potential royalties. Battelle was a non – profit research and development organisation, with a range of advanced technical research capabilities.
Finally, the innovative pieces for Carlson began to fall in place – invention, patents development and commercialization. In 1945, while Battelle began development of the Xerography process, a small company named Haloid learned of Carlson’ patents Joseph Wilson, the president, was a risk – taker and was looking for new products. Wilson produced the first copiers, using Carlson’s patents and Battelle’s developments.
The rest of the story became business history. That company became Xerox, creating a new industry in office copying products. Xerox grew tremendously, keeping a technological and marketing dominance over the industry for almost three decades.
The interesting questions to ask are: How many companies missed out on the xerography patents? Why did it take an R& D outfit like Battelle to see the technical potential in Carlson’s invention? What leadership qualities do innovative, risk – taking managers like Joseph Wilson possess?
Effective technology management in various countries have led to several technological advancements in the past. In table 1.1 we had listed for you some significant technological advancements during the past two centuries in selected areas. Recent Gulf War (1991) is another burning example of technological.




Advancements in which defence systems using latest development in materials, electronics and computers, etc. were used by USA against Iraq. There is evidence to show that there has been acceleration in technological change all over the world during the last one hundred years. Table 1.3 gives some evidence to indicate that there is a decreasing trend in the speed of introducing technological developments into social use. The time of substitution has also decreased over the years. This has stepped up the pace of invention, innovation and substitution/ diffusion. This means acceleration in the whole process of technological change. The new machines and techniques are not merely products, but sources of fresh creative ideas.

Read more

Indian companies do not distinguish between `Technology Absorption’ and Technology Adoption’. Comment.

Indian companies do not distinguish between `Technology Absorption’ and Technology Adoption’. Comment.


This is necessary to understand the nature of technological change in general and its social implication in particular. Freeman has categorized technological change into the following three categories:

Incremental innovations: These are small and marginal improvements brought about by individual units and firms out of the experience of working with the specific process or the product. These generally give rise to productivity improvements or better products/process resulting in lower costs. Although each single incremental innovation may have relatively insignificant effect on the productivity or the cost, the cumulative effect of many of these innovations taken together may result in significant improvements. Also some of the management techniques like work study, organisation and methods (O&M), value analysis, etc, are used on specific processes with objective of productivity improvement and cost reduction and most of them would actually result in accelerated incremental innovation. The R&D efforts in India have often resulted in incremental innovation e.g., developments in auto industry.

Radical Innovation: These are major changes in the process or the product generally brought about by formal research and development efforts. Radical innovations are disjointed events, difficult to predict and have a substantial effect on productivity, cost and the quality of the product. Consequently, they act as catalysts for the growth of new markets. The development of a “jumbo” passenger aircraft, or one with supersonic speed would fit in this category as would the development of so many new drugs. Sometimes, a whole cluster of radical innovations develop, interlinked with each other, giving rise to the creation of new industries and services.

New Technological Systems: Some of the radical innovation, in course of time, end up development an entire cluster of many radical innovation interconnected with each other both technologically and economically, thus creating an entire new industry. The cluster of petrochemical innovation finally created a petrochemical industry and the cluster of synthetic materials innovation similarly gave birth to the synthetic materials industry. It is to be noted that the various radical innovations forming part of a new technological system are connected not only technologically but also economically.

1) Continuous monitoring of technology transfer plan at the product, divisional and corporate levels.
2) Training of engineers in identified areas at the collaborator’s works after familiarsing them with the documentiation received from the collaborator, so that they could derive the maximum benefits from their stary asyt the collaborator’s works.
3) Analysis of documentation, technical information etc. Received from the colloborators by the R & D groups and preparation of specific developmental plans for import substitution, product improvement cost reduction, etc. Keeping in view the innovations taking place internationally.
4) Entrusting the R & D group with the responsibility to carry out product improvement research so that the technology acquired is upscaled and improved upon further.
5) Associate the Technology Management Group from the initial stages of technology transfer plans including negotiations, training, dicussions, etc. held with the foreign collaborator.
The above trategies should help the organisation to absorb/adapt imported technology and achieve self-reliance at the earliest, thereby avoiding further imports of technology.
An on-line system for monitoring tecnology changes and a system for evaluation of their relevance and impact on the organisation have therefore to be given the foremost place in the organisation’s corporate planning process.
The above discussion is also relevant for a new organisation, as it is for asn existing set-up, except that it does not have previous experience and built-up technological capabilities, and hence has to generally acquire technological from elsewhere on perhaps lesser favourable terms. Any enterprise-new or existing, besides keeping track of the changes, has to keep itself in readinees to implement the changes at the fastest speed and thus keep its resources, such as funds, men and material always in readiness.
While an enterprise, on one hand, may establish its own R & d facilities and keep up the upgrading of the facilities, on the other, its process of technology evaluation has to be active all the time in orfer to remian competitive.
An enterprise must have a system of forecasting technological changes with time schedule and organise the human resorce (HR) structure in amnner that all unit operation, s individually and colelctively, are optimal.
Technology Management in Indian Cement Industry
Technolgoy Transfer Sceario in Cement Industry
Cement Industry has only recorded substantial growth since independence (from about 1 million tonners to 63 million tonne capacity) but also has undergone dramatic technological change. Starting with high-energy intensive, high manpower and practically no instrumentation, the industry now is high energy efficient, employs low manpower and has state of art instrumentation, including automation with expert system. The industry from a stage or having 97% of its capacity under the wet process has now 80% of its capacity under the dry process system. The compulsion process had to be reduced to half of what was then for each unit of cement produced. This study gives features of the technology changes which have takes place and are skill underway. The study is based on the proceedings of the national worshops on energy management in Cement Industry held at Hyderabad on 29th August, 1991.

Industry Profile
The Cement Indsutry has recoreded substential growth in the past decades. The installed capacity which was about million tonnes in 1950 has shot up to about 64 million tonnes in 1990-91. The acutal production of cement in 1990-91 was 48.75 million tonnes representing an average capacity utilisation of 76%. The cement demand at the end of 1994-95 is expected to be around 65 million tonnes. This implies that at the average capacity utilisation of 75% the installed capacity needed by 1994-95 would be around 85 million tonnes requiring an additional capacity creation of 21 million tonnes in the next four years. But, the current indications are that the installed capacity by 1994-95 would be only about 75 million tonnes implying shortfall of 10 million tonnes.
The structure of Indian Cement indsutry has undergone a significant change with respect to plant size and process employed. The industry has grown phenomenally in that last six years and after the cement decontrol and liberalisation policies, the industry is enjoying good times now with booming markets and better realisation of prices. But this is not a matter for complacence but an opportunity to aim at higher capacity utilisation, adopt energy efficient technology, etc. In the past decades, there has been a general shift towards dry process plants which are energy efficient compared to wet process. At present there are still 71 wet process kilns representing 16% of the industry capacity. Though in terms of units wet process kilns represent 43%, their share in production capacity is low at 16% due to lower ratings ranging between 200 to 60 tonnes per day (tpa). The industry is now wetnesing a steady move to higher capacity rating kilns of 1.0 million tpa. Further, some companies are already moving towards 1.5 million tonnes per annum capacity cement plants. Many Indian cement plants have already adopted latest technologies such as the precalciners which facilitate the use of high ash coals and time stone of inferior quality which leads to substantial fuesl and electricity savings.
Energy Consumption Trend
Cement manufacturing is an energy intensive operation with energy accounting for about 30% of the production cost. In terms of direct manufacturing costs, energy constitues 60% of the total direct costs. The sector consumes about 10 million tonnes of coal and 5.5 billion units of electricity. Of the total estimated demand in the industrial sector, the coal requirement in the current industry accounts for 5% and power requirement 4.5%
Systematic studies have been conducted in the country and abroad and what follows hereinafter has been identified as the techological improvement areas. All these area not only relate to energy conservation but also to adapting state of art technology.

Energy Conservation Approaches
Considering the vast magnitude of potentiality for energy in cement plants, it would be worthwhile classsifying the options under following categories:
Stage 1: Operational improvement and optimation measures and efficient electrical load management.
Stage 2: Retrofit (modernisation, expansion etc. of old or existing plants) options for energy conservation through improved process controls, capacity enchancement etc.
Stage 3: Adoption of state of art technology for energy efficiency improvements.
Energy Conservation opportunities
• Energy conservation opportunities in operational improvements and optimisation.
• Energy conservation opportunities through process controls, capacity enhancement / add-on devices.
• Energy conservation opportunities through adoption of state of art technology.
Appropriate technology cover the following broad areas:
a) conversion of wet process plants of dry process plants
b) conversion from preheater technology to precalciner technology.
c) Conversion of planetary coller system to grate cooler system.
d) Adoption of vertical roller mille in place of the traditional ball mille for grinding control and energy conservation.
e) Adoption of the state of art micro processor based controls for effective process control and energy conservation.
f) Use of alternative fuels such as lignite and natural gas in the case of plants with precalciner technology.
g) Adoption of on-line composition analysers to monitor and maintain raw meal mix in order to optimise on kiln heat consumption.
h) Simulation pilot plants for analysis of grindability index of raw meals, clinker and coal to enable judicious belending for grinding energy reduction.
i) Adoption of bucket elevator conveying system in place of pneumatic conveying system.
j) Adoption of rope way for material transport in place of traditional dumper system which is more energy intensive.
The power consumption in cement manufacturing is mainly spent in grinding and handling operations and hearly seventy per cent of it is consumed in raw material grinding, sintering and cement grinding systems. The energy consumption pattern is found to vary from one plant to another due to factors such as:
a) Age of the plant
b) Type of process adopted
c) Plant size capacity and system design
d) Plant layout and material handling system
Hence there cannot be a universal standardised approach towards conservation and each plant is required to be examined on its own merit.
Energy audit has to be done periodically to monitor efficient use of energy. This would include studying various operations using energy, and equipment and examining their relative efficiency / performance and adopting energy conservation methods.
Mobile energy diagnostic unit (energy bus) which is a unique facility equipped with latest and sophisticated facilities and on-board computer with relevant software for faster and accurate assessment of energy use pattern is available in the country, and can be used in cement plants.
Number of cement plants in the country have adopted some of these measures in various combination and have improved energy efficiencies. This has been achieved partially through technology acquisition and partially indigenous effort. The absorption of technology for equipment, process, operations and quality control has been of very high order and it is hoped that the remaining gaps will be further narrowed down from continuous technology development and upgradation efforts on the part fo machinery manufacturers, cement manufacturers and related R&D institutions. It may be mentioned here that most of the cement machinery manufacturers had technical foregin collaboration arrangements and are producing plants based on those imported technologies. Many cement plants with huge capacities such as Modi Cement and Gujarat Ambuja Cement have been built up with imported technologies from USA and other countries. While cement plants in India have quality control and testing facilities they have really not created any substantial R&d facilities, baring a few only such as Dalmia Cement and ACC. Most of them depend on the foreign technical support or support from machinery suppliers.
National Council of Building Materials (NCBM) at New Delhi, Central Building Research Institute at Roorkee, ACC Research Station at Thance (Bombay) are some of the main R&D institutions related to cement industry. The cement costs in India are not internatioally competitive due to various factors including technological deficiencies. Pollution control, waste utilisation, optimisation of operations are some other area which need more attention of the cement industry.

Read more