REDEFINING MANUFACTURING
?
Central Government is in the process of re-writing
Labour Laws
As a part of this process , Govt wants to re-define
" Manufacturing "
Eg:
Under the revised Factory Law , manufacturing is sought
to be re-defined as :
" Any process or activity resulting in any
alteration of original character , such as nature, state, shape, size, usefulness,
and/or making value addition to the original material acted upon when subjected
to the process or activity "
This new definition seeks to keep " packaging
" out of the purview of manufacturing !
This seems strange
Barring few very large " products " ( such as
Boilers / Reactors / Pressure Vessels ) , every other product has packaging as
its final operation , before leaving a factory gate
Then there are " factories " which do nothing
more than " package " a product , such as :
* Bottled mineral Water / Soft drinks
/ Milk / Oils etc ( liquids of all kinds )
* Re-packing of Bulk Chemicals / Powders in
sachets ( solids of all kinds )
* Packing of LPG gas / Oxygen / Industrial
Gases in cylinders ( gases of all kinds )
* Filling of capsules / ampoules ,
with drugs
* Packing of Vegetables in plastic
shrink-wraps
I am sure , readers will find many similar items ,
where " packaging " is the ONLY process
Then here is a glimpse of the " Factories of
Future " :
* " Production " of Vegetables in
climate-controlled buildings ( existing in Japan )
* 3D printed " Products " in
thousands of " homes " ( designs downloaded from internet )
* Warehouses ( Fulfillment Centers ) of
Flipcart / SnapDeal / Amazon etc ( only deliveries )
* 3D printed , " Mass-production
" of buildings on open plots of lands ( WinSun of China )
* Wind Farms / Solar Power Farms /
Geo-thermal power stations
And what about factories which are entirely operated by
robots ? No humans at all !
Such factories already exist
And factories where there is no " original
material " having some " original character " ?
Can someone come up with an example ?
So , what should we do ?
# Do not anchor " Factory
Act " around " Manufacturing Processes " ; however if you
must , then retain
" packaging " as legitimate manufacturing process in Factories Bill -
2014
# Re-name this Act as " Human
Enterprise Act " , and make it applicable to any
organization employing 100 or
more persons , at a single location , irrespective of the ,
*
" Original Material " having any " Original Character "
* Any " Alteration / Value Addition "
taking place
* Subjecting the material to any process (
physical or mental )
# Do not wait for 64 years to
amend the Human Enterprise Act
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hemen parekh
06 Nov 2015
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