QCO’s impact and challenges

QCO is bringing a big opportunity for the wood industry, with lot a lot of challenges. Whenever there is such big changes it impacts the basic nature of both business and industry.

What are the changes that QCO will bring? What will be its impact? How will it be dealt with? Such questions are arising in the mind of every industrialist.

For example, what will be the benefit of QCO to the industry? How can industrialists turn QCO into an opportunity for themselves? Till now BIS was voluntary in the wood industry. Now it is mandatory.

What changes will be required for the industrialists who already have a license?

What preparations is needed for, who will now join BIS? How important is having your own laboratory for testing samples?

What is the purpose and benefits of a cluster laboratory? The biggest challenge in QCO is how and what should be the setup of the laboratory?

How much is the subsidy in the cluster laboratory?

How much the production cost will increase with the implementation of the standard?

In this article, Vaidyanathan Hariharan, Tries to find answers to these questions.

What are the benefits of QCO to the industry/what changes will be seen in the industry?

The Quality Control Orders envisioned by the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industries (MOCI), Govt of India, have the following main functionalities:

• Regulate unscrupulous, and uncontrolled imports and dumping of consumer goods into India.
• Ensure that consumers get the best available products & services.
• Ensure balance of trade and manufacturing competitiveness.
• Ensure that local MSMEs have a fair platform for quality, quantity and competitiveness.
• Improve the overall discipline and quality of products and services.
• Keep India’s domestic interest higher than all other vested interests.
• It is also a process of ensuring National Security & National Interest, above all matters.

Changes that will be seen in the industry

• If you will not change voluntarily, the governance will be forced to change you, in the National Interests whatsoever.
• Industry will, knowingly or unknowingly, become quality-conscious, consumer-centric, and more organized.
• Industry will learn to think & ACT quality – through improved machinery & equipment renovations/additions, through improved process-control & SOPs, through improved consumer-centric approach to manufacturing & business.

What challenges will the industry face, when QCO is implemented?

A lot of time has been provided for the industry sectors, to “adapt”, “contemplate”, “reorganize”, plan, and strategize the upcoming QCOs, across all the sectors. Additional extensions have also been provided wherever appropriate. The industry has to make a habit of being self-updated with governance requirements and support the Country’s interests.

At present, Industry needs to update themselves with latest BIS Standards documents relating to their scope of manufactured products. And plan to procure required equipment, and laboratory setup in order to ready themselves, on time, for the QCO implementation.

The immediate challenges are more an opportunity, and provides a golden platform for the industry to improve and grow with quality, consistency, and competitiveness.

The minor infrastructural changes must be seen as an opportunity to enhance themselves with pride and confidence. Future will be decided based on adaptability of industry to changes & quality/technology challenges.

On a financial basis, laboratory setup for IS:303, IS:1659, IS:710, IS:2202, IS:4990 will take h8-10L of investments for BIS equipment & glassware, plus 18’x18′ laboratory setup.

For IS: 710 & IS: 4990, there is a mandatory need to establish Vacuum Pressure Treatment (VPT) equipment & loading/unloading infrastructure, with sufficient sheet output capacity. The following equipment and machinery will be of good support and benefits to the manufacturers. Number of installations may depend on productivity & production capacity.

For a 600 sheets-per 24 hours production schedule, VPT chamber will require around j20L with complete accessories, railings & cages. Good quality, vertical, hydraulic, high-shear mixer of 400L drum capacity would cost around h3L. Good quality, consistent spreading, 4′ glue spreader compatible for thick-glue spreading will cost around h4.5 to 6L. These are some of the critical infrastructures for ensuring quality & quantity.

What preparations/changes will the industries (who have licenses) have to make?

Explained already, as above. We must realize that the QCO makes BIS Standards for the listed products as Mandatory. Earlier, BIS Standards were voluntary. Hereafter, the Standards and their conformities are mandatory procedure in manufacturing & supply of goods listed under the QCO.

In view of this fact, all Production Manuals pertaining to individual licenses shall be perfectly maintained, batchwise.Internal testing & data-reporting will become a daily routine hereafter. So, we must have the required personnel for enabling this in a disciplined manner. The laboratory must be managed by a mature Quality Control (QC) person(s), in order to strictly maintain daily, batchwise Production Manual records and entries, with real-time Test Data.

Maintaining a good QC laboratory with 2 personnel will require a monthly salary expenditure of around 60K (Good QC + Help).

Rough calculation of expenses:

Laboratory salaries & wages: 60,000 x 12 = 7,20,000/-

Glassware & Chemicals: 10,000 x 12 = 1,20,000/-

Licensing & others: 1,50,000 per license per year.

Other incidental expenses: 75,000 per license per year.

TOTAL: 10,65,000/- [Lab salaries & wages will be distributed if more than one license exists]

What preparations are required, who want to join BIS now?

Ans: As mentioned above, a laboratory with all necessary equipment, tools & fixtures, complying with BIS norms for such set-up, shall be required initially, before applying for the BIS Licenses. Factories must make a detailed check-list of these infrastructures, and plan with patience and discipline.

Rushing & Panicking will lead to excess investments, costs and unnecessary financial losses, as well as time delay.

PLAN – DELEGATE – IMPLEMENT – PRACTICE

Does help of experts needed? Or, the newcomers can do it themselves?

Yes, help of experts/advisors cannot be avoided in such matters of discipline and precision.

More money & time will be lost, if factories are not guided properly.

Choosing the correct advisor/expert, is very critical to timely & economical implementation of BIS Licenses.

Is our own laboratory necessary? What is the purpose of a cluster laboratory? How can it be prepared?

The benefit of Cluster laboratories may be effectively used. But, care should be taken not to overload the cluster laboratory. If overload is observed, BIS officials may instruct to disintegrate the cluster laboratory and reduce the cluster size.

It is best to have 1 cluster laboratory, for every 5-6 hot-press lines.

Instead of considering on the basis of number of factories, it is always better to consider cluster laboratories on the basis of number of hot-press lines they can handle.

Because, after the QCO implementation, work will be hectic and time consuming in these laboratories. Appropriate number of personnel will also be required to be placed for timely delivery of work and testing.

How much is the govt subsidy in these labs? What are the other subsidies (Fees etc.)?

At present, there is no proposed subsidy in cluster laboratories. As per Gazette notification 08.03.24, there is a concession of 80 % for micro industries and 50 % for small industries, in yearly marking fees upto 31.05.26.

How much will the cost of production of these new industries increase on the finished product/how will they reimburse it?

For a 500 sheets per day manufacturing Unit, the approximate costs of operation (excluding costs of additional material/process inputs) per license, on 18mm basis would be – 0.25 paise per sqft. Higher the productivity, lower the unit Licensing costs.

One thing is for sure. Only those factories that focus on productivity enhancements, along with Quality enhancements and consistency, will be able to compensate for the additional costs of maintaining BIS Licenses, and catering to Quality & Quantity.

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