New Delhi, August 9, 2016 - ?Under the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide an impetus to improve the quality of products with a vision of Zero Effect, Zero Defect (ZED), covering all sectors, the Quality Council of India (QCI) has been appointed as nodal body by the Government of India for ZED Initiative. In this context, FICCI has created a ZED Cell at FICCI Quality Forum (FQF) for the implementation of the ZED Maturity Assessment Model in collaboration with QCI.

The ZED Certification Scheme has been launched and the registrations are now open. As a first step, the MSMEs can register online to avail the subsidy under the “Financial Support to MSMEs in ZED Certification Scheme” by Ministry of MSME, Government of India.

This scheme is aimed at assessing, rating and handholding Indian MSMEs to enhance their global competitiveness. Quality Council of India (QCI) has been appointed as the National Monitoring & Implementation Unit (NMIU) for this scheme by Ministry of MSME.

ZED model will provide have many benefits to MSME, including:

* Enhanced competitiveness of MSMEs in the global marketplace so that goods manufactured have no defects and hence zero recall from the market
* Enhanced environmental consciousness of MSMEs so that there is minimum impact on the environment and reduced carbon footprint
* Assisting the ‘Make in India’ campaign as well as the Defence Procurement Policy (DPP-2016). ZED will ensure that the larger companies investing in India have a ready-made and reliable vendor base to support their activities and an expansive base of trained human capital
* A “ZED Mark” to enable an MSME to be seen as a company with a difference, and
* Other benefits expected to be announced by the Government in the near future.

The Free Registration window is now open for the first phase till August 15, 2016, hence all MSMEs are encouraged to register at the earliest. Once registered, the ZED team will update on the way forward on the registered email ID of the MSME.

The ZED scheme has a four-step process for registration:

* STEP 1: Register free on the online portal of ZED, www.zed.org.in, using the following link: http://assessment.zed.org.in/Assessment/Assessment_Before Login.aspx , using a valid (Indian) mobile number and email address.
* STEP 2: Online self-assessment on the ZED parameters followed by Desktop Assessment.
* STEP 3: Site-assessment, if selected on the basis of Desktop Assessment.
* STEP 4: Consultancy: Rated MSMEs will have the option to avail the services of authorized ZED consultants for the gap-analysis and hand holding.

Major part of the fees for desktop assessment, site-assessment and consultancy services will be covered through subsidy by the Government of India.