World Trade Center Bhubaneswar collaborated as a Regional Partner with Quality Council of India, Government of India to organised the 13th Regional Quality Conclave (RQC) Bhubaneswar on the theme “Sustainable Strategies for Make in India, Digital India and Smart Manufacturing.” 

Mr. C K Biswas, Chief Executive Officer, National Board for Quality Promotion, Quality Council of India in his address welcomed the delegates and spoke about the purpose for which the Conclave was being organized in Bhubaneswar. He further shared that the objective of such regional conclaves is to spread awareness amongst the Industry and MSME fraternity of the States about the importance of quality which needs to be achieved by adopting a quality culture. He also encouraged the participants to think out of the box and focus on innovation when it comes to quality improvement.

Mr. Tusharkanti Behera, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Department of Electronics & IT, Sports & Youth Services, Government of Odisha graced the conclave as Chief Guest. Mr. Behera in his inaugural address highlighted the vision of the State Government for industrial development and also shared some of the milestones achieved by the state specifically in the IT sector. “The vision of our dept. is to use IT and electronics to transform Odisha into an innovation & knowledge based society focusing on inclusive growth through citizen centric participatory governance.” said Mr. Behera.

Speaking on the occasion as Guest of Honour, Dr. Arun Kumar Panda (IAS), Secretary, Ministry of Micro Small and Medium, Government of India shared his views on the how MSMEs could enhance their competitiveness through effective quality management. “Quality and Standards go hand in hand. Only Quality matters in the market and by maintaining it we can compete in the global market” said Dr. Panda. 

Dr. HP Kumar, Former Chairman & Managing Director, National Small Industries Corporation in his address encouraged the participating delegates to venture into more of manufacturing activities. “Manufacturing is one the factors which will give thrust to our GDP, so it has to be dully taken care of.” Said Dr. Kumar. 

Mr. T. Ramchandru (IAS), Former Principal Secretary, Department of Industries, Government of Odisha in his address appealed to all entrepreneurs focus on innovation. “Innovation is highly essential for survival of any industry in any sector, if we will not innovate we will perish” said Mr. Ramchandru. He further explained the need to understand the essence of innovation rather than just imitating. He deliberated on how one has to internalize and understand any innovation before implementing it. 

The Conclave further witnessed three panel discussions on topics namely Conventional to Smart Manufacturing, Digital Tools for the Future Businesses and Implementation and Design for Industry 4.0.

Mr. C K Biswas, Chief Executive Officer, National Board for Quality Promotion, Quality Council of India proposed the vote of thanks. More than 200 delegates attended the Conclave making it a huge success.