The Hindu Business Line : `Planning scalable units a challenge'

Planning scalable units is a challenge for manufacturing industries today, according to Mr Jukka Lehtela, Director - India Operations, Nokia India Ltd.

Speaking at the `Manufacturing Conclave 2006', a two-day seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, he said companies must plan for growth and scalability while abiding by the laws of the land with regard to eco-friendly practices.

Scaling up not only includes assessing core businesses but also taking responsibility for developing support areas such as infrastructure, power, water and transportation requirements, he said.

On infrastructure, he said the Tamil Nadu Government had to focus on building better roads to ensure safe and fast travel between the city and its periphery areas.

He expressed concern about the delay in moving cargo from the Chennai airport to the Nokia factory in Sriperumbudur, on the outskirts of Chennai. "Moving imported material from the airport to the factory normally takes about two days. Now it is taking about six-seven days," he said. If the State Government did not take up the matter, this situation could worsen as companies such as Motorola and Flextronics would start operations near Chennai soon, he said.

Growing subscriber base

On the growing mobile subscriber base in India, Mr Lehtela said growth had not yet started in India. Indicating the latest subscriber base estimate of about 12 crore (subscribers of CDMA and GSM technologies), he said subscriber base in India would grow phenomenally only after two years.

The Manufacturing Conclave 2006 offers a platform for manufacturing companies to share their best practices, and includes sessions on business planning, product and process innovation, and human resource training.

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