Bar coding to protect SMEs

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of the region will now be protected from imitation. The MSME Development Institute, Kanpur, has proposed a plan envisaging the use of bar codes to prevent fake products from reaching the market.

The institute will provide free information and training regarding copyright, trademark and ISO certification to units in the the SME clusters. The new system will help in keeping track of the large number of items in a store and also reduce instances of shoplifting (since shoplifters could no longer easily switch price tags from a lower-cost item to a higher-priced one).

Umesh Chandra Shukla, deputy director (Technical), MSMEDI, Shukla told Business Standard that the process of identifying such clusters has already begun and the bar coding of their products would ensure that requisite quality is maintained by the manufacturers, failing which the allotted licences would be cancelled.

“Both the consumers and retailers will be benefited from the savings generated,” he added. The institute will also lend up to Rs 15,000 to entrepreneurs who register for the new coding scheme. The process would make it easy to obtain crucial information like place and date of manufacture and product weight at the click of a mouse.

Shukla said products like soap and detergents, paints and corrugated boxes will be registered in the first phase.

The ailing SME industry of the state, which forms the core of state’s exports, has been facing severe losses due to duplication. “We have been losing goodwill with our customers due to supply of spurious products of degraded quality for quite sometime now,” says a unit-owner.

The volume of business transacted in these products runs into crores besides providing employment to about 1.5 million people across the state. The local artisans/manufacturers will also need to get registered with the district administration for preparation of database to identify the legitimate manufacturers.

The initiative has evoked mixed reactions from the manufacturers. While the organised and large manufacturers are pleased by the decision, families which run cottage and small scale industries seem to be apprehensive of the stipulation for registering with the administration. “How will we pay the kickbacks which the officials are used to?” asks Ashfaq, a local resident, who manufactures saddlery accessories at his home.