The success of all transactional operations at the business or governance level have traditionally hinged on their quality – as planned and delivered, and as received and perceived. The quality function has performed a key role in defining standards, in the methods deployed for attaining them and closing the loop through the experience response.

However, as machines, systems and processes become autonomous, intelligent and connected, this session discusses what will be the role played by the quality function in future organizations to drive business imperatives,  productivity, competitiveness, Supply Chains, societal impacts in line with SDGs covering all segments of the industry, all functions (cross functional). It would cover the expectations and possible avenues for the Supply Chain particularly MSMEs.

The call for local to global is one of the important themes of the Self-Reliant India programme. The transition includes enhancing the domestic content under the phased manufacturing programmes balancing both the costs and quality requirements to compete with the major global suppliers.

The Indian movement is different from the isolationist and protectionist self-reliance movements across the worlds as it addresses creating the eco-system for capacity building to make India a global manufacturing hub. Critical sectors such as Defence, Railways are poised in a big way for inclusive private sector participation, while those with export potential such as Pharma and Textiles need to be upgraded to meet international standards.

The ongoing pandemic has demonstrated the fragile nature of the social fabric. Different segments of society and business sectors underwent varied experiences and hardships.  Amidst the struggle to sustain livelihoods, essential supplies, utilities, financial systems, healthcare organizations strived to maintain their standards, compounded by the additional safeguards against infection. The pandemic has allowed us to test the robustness of the prevailing systems and opened up numerous possibilities to raise the preparedness levels.

This session will focus on the emerging impact of Quality on critical sections of our society and economy such as MSME, Youth, logistics etc to build a socio-economic structure for Atmanirbhar Bharat.

The traditional pillars of a National Quality Infrastructure are standardization, metrology and conformity assessment. The NQA serves to create a quality ecosystem for businesses, trade and society. Governments also leverage the NQA to regulate quality, safety and health of citizens and to negotiate access to overseas regulated markets. The digital era brings in additional concerns of compliances to cyber security, data privacy and of seamless interoperability of digital systems and of course the Global Supply Chain.

This session discusses the evolving approaches for restructuring National Quality Infrastructures to meet the emerging imperatives and the best practices for the Global Value Chain.