Fast changes in technology, competition, and most importantly customer expectations are creating an increasingly uncertain atmosphere for business. People tend to get attracted towards short-term gains putting aside the advantages of having long-term strategies. The manufacturing sector is being victimized by this phenomenon. While it has been recognized that manufacturing holds the key to development, less emphasis has been given to it. Enhancement of manufacturing practices in the process industry has always been a lesser priority. While many solutions can be developed to counter the challenges in the process industry, it needs comprehensive and concentrated efforts in designing its strategy to meet competition. This paper discusses the characteristics of process industry and tries to focus on developing some specific strategic options, which can be useful in confronting competition.

While there has been significant contribution of the services sector in the recent past, manufacturing sector will hold the key for the development of any economy. The prosperous nations of today owe their success to their wealth creating sector, of which manufacturing is a key factor. Yet, the manufacturing sector is facing a tough competition from the non-manufacturing sector. Industries are taking the marketing and other functional activities more seriously than the manufacturing function. With the changing consumer needs, the industry, all the time, looks at offering newer products with latest technology. Meeting the dynamic customer needs and the emergence of newer technologies will demand for devising superior overall-manufacturing capabilities.

The process industry has to address these issues and design a, somewhat, different operational strategy for competing, more so in the wake WTO's prophecy in favor of intellectual property. The competition is multifaceted. On one side it is from multinationals setting up manufacturing base with `new-technology' advantages and on the other, it is competition from non-process industry where imports help counter cost and quality challenges. The process industry has to look to improve not only the manufacturing processes but also the entire chain of activities in the market place.