(Articles Covered - Enhancing Competitiveness through Technology Upgradation & Engineering a Difference)

Technology refers to the efficient tools and implements and the knowledge associated with their use.
Or in other words technology refers to the knowledge whereby economic efficiency can be improved. Hence, it includes not only the "hard," possibly patentable, aspects of production, like the specifications of goods and the mechanistic details of their manufacture, but also the "soft" aspects of business processes, such as organization, marketing, and other types of managerial knowledge and skills.

Advantages of Technology Upgradation

• Increase in Productivity
• Reduction in costs.
• Expansion of scale of production (scale economies).
• Diversified product range(scope economies)
• New product development.
• New design products.
• Better quality of products.
• Penetration of international markets.
• Increase in sales and markets share.

Means of Technology Upgradation for MSMEs

• Sponsoring a research in a university.
• Supporting employees' education and thereby assess candidate technologies,
• Making use of an external R & D centre ,
• Employing consultants to help them assess the new technologies available in the market,
• Going for lisencing ,one of the widely utilised methods of technology acquisition,
• Using technical meetings, technical journals and trade shows foe assessing alternative technologies,
• Purchasing existing technology either trough the vendor/supplier or from any commercial channel.

Limited resources, expertise and time are the factors that push many firms to acquire technology from a source external to the firm rather than developing it in-house. The process of acquiring technology from external sources can be achieved through what is commonly known as "Technology Transfer".
In its most general meaning, "Technology Transfer" is seen as every process that aims at transferring technological know-how from a donor such as a university, a research Centre or R&D department of firms to a recipient - firms which may either directly use or co-develop the technology.
Technology Transfer is fundamentally the application of knowledge associated with a new physical hardware used by an MSME as machinery equipment in the production process for generating product/service which is quantitatively as well as qualitatively superior to what it was producing earlier.

Sources of Technology Transfer

• Technology information and Technology assistance are provided by means of a Technology Bank maintained by the Development Commission for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Ministry of MSMEs, Government of India.
• National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) which commercializes technologies, developed in Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) labs located across the country, primarily helps MSMEs in Technology Transfer.
• Cluster Development Program of National Manufacturing Competitiveness Program (NMCP).
• A professional technical consultant (registered with Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Government of India) might help to identify and access to acquire an appropriate technology from within the country or abroad.
• A university or an engineering institution (such as IITs/NITs/IISc or other engineering colleges), can provide lab developed technologies to MSMEs through contract research or which emerged out of their basic research. TIFAC-MSME Program facilitates such interactions.
• An R&D establishment promoted by the government such as a Technology Research Centre (TRC), which can enable a MSME to source and acquire a technology either locally or from abroad.
• India SME Technology Services Limited provides a platform where Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) can tap opportunities at the global level for new and emerging technology or business collaboration.
• Sponsor technical education and training of personnel in higher education and research institutes within the country for developing in-house technology expertise and thereby assess and access appropriate external technologies.
• Participation in technology exhibitions, technology conferences and reading of technical journals and internet access for knowing sources and channels of available external technologies.
• APCTT (a New Delhi based UN organization) periodically facilitates Technology Transfer among MSMEs in the Asia-Pacific region, through periodic events, support mechanisms and capacity building Programs.
• Technology licensing - It is a contractual arrangement in which the licensor's patents, trademarks, service marks, copyrights, trade secrets, or other intellectual property may be sold or made available to a licensee for compensation that is negotiated in advance between the parties. This compensation, or royalties, may be a lump sum royalty, a running royalty (royalty that is based on volume of production), or a combination of both.