The Indian Institute of Technology-Powai will be adding its muscle to help Indian toy manufacturers combat the influx of cheap Chinese toys. The Industrial Design Centre (IDC) of IIT-B will help design toys that are both educational and indigenous.
According to Ashok Jain, president of the All India Toy Manufacturers Association (Taitma) the toy industry in the country has always been dependant on foreign countries for providing parts for mechanical toys. This arrangement has allowed the industry to survive and flourish, as the countries that provided the parts never got into providing the finished product.
However, in the late 90’s, China got into the manufacturing process and started flooding the markets globally with their products. As a result of this, the Indian toy industry faced a huge setback.
“Most toy manufacturers in the country run their businesses single-handedly, as a result of this there is no scope for innovations that will allow them to compete with the Chinese manufacturers. Hence, Taitma decided to seek help from IIT to provide not only ideas for new concepts in toys, but to also design toys that help children learn while playing,” said Mr Jain.
The process he said was of six months, where in, the Industrial Design Center (IDC) department of IIT would provide their ideas and also help in making prototypes of these toys. The prototypes will then be tried out on children at the Kendriya Vidyalaya School on the IIT campus, following which necessary changes would be made.
Some of the new toys that can be looked forward too are toys that teach children about the geography of the world as well as building blocks, Mr Jain said.
When contacted an official of IDC said, “We have held workshops for a few manufacturers as it was not possible to cater to all of them at once. We usually make four to six designs, of which two designs after being approved by the manufacturers are made into prototypes. While it is a new initiative there is scope for improvement as Taitma has sought a continuous partnership with the IIT,” said the official.