K.P. Ashwin, director, National Productivity Council, Bengaluru, on Friday said that the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has launched ‘Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme for MSMEs’ to enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.

MSMEs will be assisted in reducing their manufacturing costs, through proper personnel management, better space utilisation, scientific inventory management, improved process flows, reduced engineering time and so on, he added.

He was addressing MSMEs from Mysuru and Nanjangud at a session organised by CII Mysuru in partnership with QCFI Mysuru chapter here on Friday.

The scheme was launched in July 2009 on a pilot basis covering 100 clusters across the country and owing to the success, the scheme has been up-scaled for 500 more clusters.

The approach involves engagement of Lean Manufacturing Consultants (LMC) to work with selected MSMEs in the chosen clusters for one year with financial support by the government.

A maximum of 80 per cent of the project cost for each cluster will be borne by the government. He welcomed the MSMEs to take advantage of this scheme and assured full support in implementing this scheme in Mysuru.

N. Muthukumar, Chairman, CII Mysuru, said it is imperative to adopt best manufacturing practices like lean manufacturing to achieve the productivity and enhance the quality of the product.

“Thousands of companies worldwide have achieved tremendous productivity and return on investments through these techniques and in automotive sector, we have witnessed many success stories.”

CII and QCFI Mysuru chapters have joined with an objective to form minimum 4-5 lean manufacturing clusters and urged MSMEs to join and take advantage of the scheme which is intended to expire in March 2017. Over 50 MSMEs took part in this session.