The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : ``Understand true sense of innovation''

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 27, 2006
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

``Understand true sense of innovation''

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI : "Innovate to sustain economic growth." A tad clichéd statement, but speakers at a recent conference on `Innovation and new product development" organised by Product Development and Management Association India in city stressed that students and professionals alike must understand the true meaning of innovation and not simply be carried away by using it as a tag line.

At the inaugural ceremony of the conference held at a five-star hotel in Vadapalani, L. Ganesh, chairman, RANE Group, said that only new product development and innovative processes would fuel a consistent economic growth.

Thinking caps

He urged small entrepreneurs in the country to wear their thinking caps and come up with innovative products rather than act as `sub-contractors' to bigger companies.

Gerald M. Katz, executive vice-president, American Marketing Sciences Incorporated, said that often only technological breakthroughs were treated as innovations. "It is possible to innovate in various sections ... such as product performance, supply chain, customer innovation and business process."

C. Narasimhan, advisor, Automotive Components Business, Sundaram Clayton Limited, said local companies suffered from legacy systems and needed to weed out outdated processes in order to remain competitive.

A book on "Innovation Management" by Shlomo Maital and DVR Seshadri was released at the conference. The conference was held at RMK Engineering College in Kavarapettai near Gummidipoondi.

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