When 19-year-old Heiko Dijker from the Frisian village of Oentsjerk hitchhiked to India in 1993, he had no idea that his life would change forever. During a concert in Delhi, he fell in love with the tabla, the classical Indian drum. "Virtuoso," Dijker recalls. "As if there was a whole orchestra in those drums." Dijker decided to dedicate his life to this versatile instrument. After 25 years of practice, he now belongs to the crème de la crème of Indian classical music and performs all over the world.
Inspiration from India led to mastery at Dijker, to product innovation at Philips, and to tapping into a new market. "Philips had to adapt its medical equipment specifically for India," says Jos van Haaren. "The resulting highly simplified and cheaper equipment was not only sought after by Indian hospitals, but also by physiotherapists and midwives in Western Europe. India is such an enormously cost competitive country that it is a perfect test market for new products."
Jens Groot of Basic Water Needs finds this story familiar. His company in Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, produces low tech water filters for Asia, Africa and Latin America. "If you are making a product for India or similar emerging markets, the obvious choice is to develop and produce in such a country," says Groot. "From the Netherlands, it is difficult to assess the needs of the users. If you try to do so, you're likely to miss the mark."
Want to read more about innovation from India? IndiaConnected partner Maarten van der Schaaf published about jugaad innovation in Management Team.