Industrial design and graphics design are next in line in the bandwagon of outsourcing. Until now, India does not have very high reputation either in manufacturing or producing high end industrial designs. However, things are changing and outsourcing of design may become the next big thing for India. Already, some large multinational companies are sending their design works to India to cut cost and some other big foreign companies are on the way of setting up their deisgn centers in India. However, I feel that this will not be an easy ride for India as industrial design is a very high end work.
The key advantage that India has is of that cheap labor. For example, automotive design in Europe that requires an expense of $800/hour can be reduced to 60$/hour if sent to India. Secondly, Indian workers are much more flexible when it comes to work at odd hours or even on weekends. Thus a company can ensure 24/7 operations in India at a much lower expense compared to Europe or USA. However, cheap labor is not everything in industrial design. Quality rules here. If you cannot get a good design then it does not matter if you paid $60 or $800 an hour.
Of course, quality is a major issue for Indian workers as they do not have too many success stories to offer. Second problem is that India has shortage of highly skilled designers and their number is just 1,500-2,000. So, if India wants to become a serious contender in this field, it must increase the number of skilled designers within a very short time. And, India better do that as the market is growing and becoming very attractive. The good thing is that FDI in the manufacturing sector is growing rapidly in India and that is why a local market for industrial design is flourishing here.
The number of cars is expected to be double in the next few years in India and more and more automakers are in a rat race to increase their production capacities in the country. So, Indian designers will get more opportunities to work and that is why I feel that design outsourcing may be the next big thing for India. That means few thousand more designers in USA and Europe will see their works moving to India. After all, who will go for $800/hour expense if they can have it done by $60/hour!
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