The Manufacturer June 2010 issue

Celebrate Manufacturing for a Better Britain Having emerged from the recession stronger, leaner and with many new initiatives in place, UK Manufacturing is ideally placed to make a better Britain!

www.themanufacturer.com June 2010 Vol 13 Issue 06

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www.themanufacturer.com June 2010 Vol 13 Issue 06

Established over 10 years ago, The Manufacturer of the Year Awards competition is specifically designed to celebrate the strength and diversity of UK Manufacturing. So enter today and showcase your achievements.

For further details visit www.themanufacturer.com/awards

Corporate Sponsor:

The categories this year are: Leadership and strategy Innovation and design World class manufacturing People and skills IT in manufacturing Supply chain and logistics Operations and maintenance Sustainable manufacturing SME manufacturer of the Year Financial services Advanced manufacturing And the winner of winners category: The Manufacturer of the Year

For further details contact Laura Williams on 01603 671323 or email l.williams@sayonemedia.com The winners will be announced at a black tie gala dinner and Awards ceremony at Chesford Grange, Kenilworth on Thursday 18th November 2010. If you are interested in sponsoring an Award, please contact David Alstin on 01603 671307 or email d.alstin@sayonemedia.com

Interview Juergen Maier

Managing director, Siemens Industry UK

MACH 2010 The ultimate barometer of recovery

People and skills

www.themanufacturer.com/awards

Combating the negative perception of manufacturing

MX Awards Preview

Who is in the running for MX recognition?

Achieve growth without spiraling costs

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Editor’s comment

Walking the tight-rope of investment in automation The economic imperative for manufacturers to deliver operational competitiveness has been made even more pressing with Chancellor Osborne’s closing of the public purse. While the promised pre-budget cuts are yet to hit industry directly, the necessity for cuts to reach far and wide could mean that industry will have to tighten the investment belt if manufacturing funds and initiatives are reined in.

The drive towards growth will always require investment and innovative thinking.

One of the pinnacles of modern production systems engineering is robotics. The ability of steel appendages to perform human tasks faster and with less waste has led to the development of a multi-billion pound automation industry.

However, with the rise of the automation of manufacturing processes globally, across sectors from aerospace to food production, do workers have a legitimate concern that their jobs are steadily being outsourced to automatons? Perhaps unsurprisingly, those in the industry contend that quite apart from reducing employment levels, increasing automation in manufacturing – thus becoming more globally competitive – may actually increase employment levels. The reality is case-specific, but careful implementation of automated systems in specific areas need not necessarily unsettle a workforce.

Siemens Industry UK makes and services automation systems, variable drives and system controls to manufacturers and infrastructure companies. Its managing director Juergen Maier is a member of the currently suspended Ministerial Advisory Group on Manufacturing and has some key messages to UK industry about investment in automation and the advantages of end-to-end technology solutions – see page 20.

Staying abreast of developments in the robotics, machining and manufacturing technology industries is a full-time job. Attendance at MACH 2010, the UK’s premier showcase for precision engineering equipment of all shapes, sizes and capabilities, reduces the scale of that task in a time-efficient manner. The biennial exhibition offers the latest in manufacturing technologies for those working in metal cutting and forming; automation and robotics; CAD/CAM; engineering lasers; tooling and workholding; welding and metal fabrication and rapid manufacturing, among other – our selected show preview is on pages 73-74.

The Manufacturer has a stand at the MACH show, running from June 7-11 at the Birmingham NEC. Come and see us, we look forward to meeting you.

Tim Brown / Edward Machin / Mark Young, Associate editors, The Manufacturer

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News and features 04 News

Manufacturing news

10 Manufacturing appointments On the move

Find out who’s heading where in manufacturing

12 The big picture

Our industry is making new industries

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Finbarr Liversey says the future of the UK economy depends on being able to create and exploit new industries

13 Economics Putting out

Confidence is starting to return to the sector, says EEF’s Steve Radley

15 Business as unusual Grow without bloat

Preparing your company for the next recession

16 Lead story

Mach – the ultimate barometer of recovery

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Biennial MACH, the biggest UK manufacturing trade show, is a well-timed yardstick for the recovery of UK manufacturing

20 Interview

Vorsprung durch Technik Juergen Maier tells Will Stirling why, despite economic unease, Siemens Industry UK feels cautiously bullish

24 Leadership and lean Widening your horizons

Mark Young considers the role of UK Trade & Investment in taking advantage of opportunities abroad

30 Special feature Lifting solutions You lift me up

Roberto Priolo investigates the world of lifting solutions and equipment

Finance and Professional Services 35 The new economic world order Business services firm BDO LLP offers a snapshot into the post-recession business landscape

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39 Finance news 40 Special feature BT dinner

Innovation in IT for manufacturing Manufacturers discuss how can a network services provider help businesses improve

Contents People and skills

Can you smell teen spirit? 44

Jane Gray finds out that young people are beginning to get a better impression of manufacturing

Employee of the month 50

Andrew Black of Hyco Manufacturing

Opperations, maintenance 51 and repair Man versus machine

Edward Machin investigates automation in manufacturing, one of the industry’s rising stars

Special feature Microsoft dinner 58 Tucking in

In late April, TM met with food and drink manufacturers from across the UK

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IT in manufacturing

Yet more IT acronyms 61

Simon Holloway unlocks the secrets of CMMS and OEE

IT News 68

Keeping you up to date with what’s new in IT

Special feature MX awards 73 Leading the way

Tim Brown introduces the companies in the running for the MX Awards

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Manufacturinginaction Sponsored by TBM Consulting Group

Factory of the month

76 Corus Colours Green steel Roberto Priolo speaks to Corus Colors, the pre-finished steel products manufacturer that has made workforce empowerment and sustainability its war horses

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Elddis Steady supply plans

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Nylacast A cast of their own

102 Shasun Pharmaceutical The rebukes of hazard 107 Deutsch UK The right connection 117 Caterham Cars Record time

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Newsinbrief AUTOMOTIVE

Nissan International has announced the all-electric Nissan LEAF has been competitively priced compared to a diesel or hybrid vehicle with similar specifications.

In the United Kingdom, the purchase price of the Nissan LEAF will be £23,350 after government incentives. The price, which includes the battery, is £28,350 (Eu33,353) before incentives. The Government recently announced that it will refund 25% of the purchase price of a pure electric vehicle, up to a limit of £5,000.

Forecasts for new UK car and van registrations have been increased following a better than expected first quarter market performance.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) yesterday announced the improved 2010 registration forecast, increasing its outlook by 107,000 units since the last projection made in January this year. The 5.6% (car) and 7.7% (van) increases in expected annual totals is a positive sign for industry, reflecting increased confidence and stability and a sustained level of consumer demand.

SKILLS

BAE Systems apprentice Kai Burkitt has been named winner of the Composites UK Trainee/Apprentice of the Year Award.

Twenty-one year old Kai, from Stockport, Manchester, impressed the judges with his knowledge and enthusiasm and the fact that he had not missed a single day of his apprenticeship training. Based at BAE’s training centre in Preston, Kai has undertaken various placements in manufacturing engineering.

Britain’s first regional academy for manufacturing and engineering proves a sell out success with Staffordshire’s youth as applications overwhelm the institution. The JCB Academy has been forced to open a waiting list for places at the unique £22 million regional centre of learning after becoming fully subscribed months ahead of its September opening. A total of 170 young people have enrolled for Year 10 and the Sixth Form places at The Academy.

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POLITICS

New government and new cabinet announced David Cameron became the new Prime Minister last month and has pieced together a cabinet which will include Nick Clegg as his deputy under a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.

An agreement was reached between the two parties which will see senior Liberal Democrats take up positions in the Cabinet.

Some cabinet positions have already been announced. For one, Tory George Osborne will take up office at number 11 Downing Street as Chancellor. Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable has been announced as Minister for business, innovation and skills. William Hague has been chosen as secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs.

Other prominent Conservatives to be given jobs so far include Lansbury as Health Secretary and Liam Fox who will be in charge of Defence. Theresa May

is the new Home Secretary. Ken Clarke, who has served as both Chancellor and Home Secretary under former Conservative administrations and was Shadow Business Minister, will be the new secretary of state for Justice. Chris Huhne – the Liberal Democrat who narrowly lost out to Clegg in the party’s 2007 leadership battle – is expected to become Energy and Climate Secretary.

The new coalition cabinet in the Number 10 garden

DEFENCE

The man who would be king The Defence Industries Council has announced that Ian King, chief executive of BAE Systems, will be its new chairman.

The DIC, which played a central role in developing the Government’s 2005 Defence Industrial Strategy, represents the UK-based defence industry in direct discussions with the MoD and meets a minimum of four times per year as the National Defence Industries Council, which is chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence.

It facilitates discussion between the industry and Government to ensure that the best possible equipment and services are

provided to the UK armed forces.

Ian King, Chairman of the DIC, said: “I am very much looking forward to my role as an advocate for the 300,000 people across the UK who work in our defence industry and are proud to support the men and women of the armed forces. In a very short time the future of defence in the UK will be shaped by the decisions taken in the forthcoming Strategic Defence Review. We believe that we can play a constructive role in this process.”

ManufacturingNews TRANSPORT

New red Wrightbus The London streetscape will undergo an emphatic redesign when the first of the newly designed red London buses take to the road at the end of 2012.

The final design by Wrightbus, based on the much-loved Routemaster, was unveiled this week by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and London’s Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy. The bus will use the latest green technology. It will be 15 per cent more fuel efficient than existing hybrid buses, and 40 per cent more efficient than conventional diesel double decks and much quieter on the streets.

The pioneering design makes use of lightweight materials, with glass highlighting key features and producing a light and airy feel inside the bus. An impressive glass ‘swoop’ at the rear and offside pick out the two staircases and provide a dramatic visual effect. An asymmetric design for the front-end completes the futuristic look.

The open platform is a defining feature, shared with the Routemaster of old, and allows the reinstatement of a hop-on, hop-off service. Three doors and two staircases will aid speedier

and smoother boarding. “This iconic new part of our transport system is not only beautiful, but also has a green heart beating beneath its stylish, swooshing exterior,” said Johnson. “It will cut emissions, and give Londoners a bus they can be proud of, complete with cutting edge design, and the freedom of an open platform.”

Manufacturing Excellence Award winners Wrightbus and Transport for London have been working with Heatherwick Studio as a collaborative design partner taking the lead on the styling of the bus to support Wrightbus in the design and development process. he contract for the design and build of the New Bus for London was awarded to Wrightbus in January 2010. The stylish new buses will however come at a cost of £7.8m for the first five buses and about £300,000 each when in full production. While that is comparable to the current hybrid double decker, it is nearly three times the cost of a standard red bus.

Newsinbrief SKILLS

Food manufacturing companies are being invited to join a top-level working group tasked with setting out a strategy for boosting engineering skills in the industry.

The National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing wants to bring together employers and specialists in engineering training to study how the development of engineering skills in the industry can evolve to drive up productivity and profits. “As more and more technology is introduced into food processing and manufacturing, the importance of engineering is going to increase,” said Justine Fosh, director of skills solutions at the National Skills Academy.

Collaboration is critical to developing a strong future for UK manufacturing, according to a debate involving senior manufacturing experts held at Cranfield University.

Knowledge transfer and collaboration was placed as a top priority for a UK manufacturing renaissance, was the message from a panel of speakers at the National Manufacturing Debate, organised by Cranfield University in mid-May. As Derek Gillespie, Portfolio Manager, Manufacturing and Design, Materials, Mechanical and Medical Engineering Programme at EPSRC said: “Working together is key. We need to focus on our current strengths and the supporting research that will underpin the emergent technologies of the future.”

AEROSPACE The new red double decker bus designed by Wrightbus

Boeing has announced London-based Monarch Aircraft Engineering Ltd as a maintenance, repair and overhaul partner for the aerospace company’s GoldCare service offering for the 787 Dreamliner. Under the agreement, Monarch will provide scheduled maintenance operations in support of the 787 fleet. “Monarch Aircraft Engineering has a long history of successful, high-quality maintenance and is a great fit to provide the maintenance component for our 787 GoldCare,” said Bob Avery, vice president, Fleet Management for Commercial Aviation Services, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

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Gerber Technology Let Gerber give you the advantage: Best of breed automation solutions to improve your business

G

erber Technology (www.gerbertechnology. com) since more than 40 years develops and manufactures the world’s leading brands of integrated software and hardware automation systems for the sewn products and flexible materials industries.

Offering computer-aided design, manufacturing, product development and lifecycle management tools the solution provider’s mission is to support users to increase, productivity and profitability – key factors to successfully survive in times of challenge and global competition. Gerber systems automate and significantly improve the efficiency of information management, product design and development, pre-production and production processes. Over 22,000 customers, large, medium and small sized companies around the world rely on the markets leader’s solutions for CAD and CAM along with their global network when it comes to competent and customized consultancy, implementation, training and after sales services. The company

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offers specialized solutions to a variety of end-user markets including apparel, aerospace, transportation interiors, furniture, composites and industrial fabrics.

As a business unit of $553 million corporation Gerber Scientific, Inc. (www.gerberscientific. com), Gerber Technology’s world headquarters are located in Tolland, Connecticut, U.S.A. with regional offices, agents and distributors in more than 126 countries and 16 Customer Solutions Centers on six continents. The company engineers and manufactures its products in various locations in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Bentley Motors at their production facility in Crewe rely on 8 Taurus leather cutting systems. For low and medium-ply fabric cutting the premium automotive brand uses a GERBERcutter GTxL along with AccuMark software for pattern design and nesting .

In 2007 Gerber launched the XLs series for automated material spreading systems. Today more than 600 GERBERspreaders of this type are installed. Companies from all kind of industries rely on the affordable automated spreading solution that assures tension-free lays and perfect alignment of flat folded or rolled fabrics.

ManufacturingNews AUTOMOTIVE

275 jobs at Land Rover Land Rover is to create 275 new jobs at the company’s manufacturing plant in Solihull, West Midlands.

The additional positions are required to support an increase in demand following the seventh consecutive month of improved sales. March sales in the UK recorded the highest figures for any month in the company’s 62year history.

Phil Popham, Land Rover managing director, said: “These additional positions are excellent news for the manufacturing industry in the Midlands. It comes as a result of a phenomenal response received from customers and the media to the award winning 2010 model year range, giving Land Rover an incredible start to the year.”

More than 5,000 people work at the Solihull plant. The extra 275 agency positions are required to start immediately to boost the build rate in light of the increased demand for the new vehicle 2010 model year range.

In March 2010, Land Rover sales in the UK were up 67% on the same month last year, selling over 11,300 vehicles.

The Land Rover Range Rover Sport

DEFENCE

Thales UK has been awarded the second phase of a contract for the provision of interactive 3D media to be used for longrange radar on the Royal Navy new Daring-class destroyers. This second phase, under contract with BAE Insyte, is to provide SCORM conformant, web-enabled, training media for Type 45 maintainer trainers. Thales was awarded an initial contract in April 2007 for the provision of 3D training media for the RESM and medium-frequency sonar systems.

BAE Systems has been awarded a five year, £150m contract by Eurofighter GmbH to provide repair support service on the Typhoon fleets for the air forces of Germany, Spain and the UK. The contract changes the current repair contracting method on Typhoon by placing an incentive on BAE Systems to provide resolution to technical problems more quickly and to continue to reduce the volume of repair activity undertaken.

CONSTRUCTION

AUTOMOTIVE

Aston Martin releases Rapide The first four-door V12 Rapide sports cars have begun leaving the Aston Martin Rapide Plant for delivery to eagerly awaiting customers.

First shown in 2006 in concept form at the Detroit Auto Show, the Rapide project received an immediate green light from Aston Martin’s new shareholders in mid-2007. Just over two years later, the company’s design and engineering teams have delivered a new car from the ground up.

The state of the art Austrian Rapide facility in Graz was custom built by Aston Martin’s specialist automotive partner, Magna Steyr, to ensure achievement of the same exacting standards set by the marque’s other models.

Newsinbrief

The elegant Rapide, functional yet luxurious, provides space for up to four adults combined with an engaging driving experience synonymous with all Aston Martins.

A 301 litre luggage compartment affords generous space for belongings for all four passengers, creating an Aston Martin which can be enjoyed on any occasion, anytime, anywhere. The vehicle will cost close to £140,000 while at its heart lies an evocative engine providing effortless power and torque: a hand-built 6.0-litre V12 engine producing 470 bhp (477 PS / 350 kW).

Kitchen manufacturer Rixonway Kitchens has won two industry awards for its strong commitment to health and safety. The Gold Award, which is related not only to the reduction of accidents and ill-health at work, but also to the development of efficient health and safety management systems, was presented at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Occupational Health and Safety Awards ceremony in Birmingham on May 11.

energ y

PricewaterhouseCoopers has announced the sale of the business and assets of Sea & Land Power and Energy Limited, a subsidiary of SLP Engineering, to Zefir UK II Limited. Seventeen jobs were secured.

The buyer is a subsidiary of the Smulders Group, which works in the renewables industry. The deal includes an exclusivity period for Smulders to complete due diligence on SLP Engineering with a view to purchasing that business as well.

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Datesfor yourdiary June

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Alumet Systems is holding a Sustainability open day at their Southam facility in Warwickshire. The event will include seminars on saving energy and reducing waste. For further information or to confirm attendance contact Rob Henson at: rob.henson@alumet.co.uk.

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MACH 2010 is being held at the NEC in Birmingham. Visit: www.mach2010.com Subcon 2010 is being held at the NEC in Birmingham.

For info see: www.subconshow.co.uk

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is hosting an employee health and absence conference, focusing on the debate surrounding workplace health, sponsored by Pfizer. For further information contact Gemma Fisher on: 020 7395 8012 or gemma.fisher@cbi.org.uk

15-16 23

IMECHE is holding an R&D project management course. Email: events@imeche.org for details.

The AeroSpace, Defence, and Security Industries (ADS) is holding a one day conference focusing on the chance to expand operations in the United States with regards to cyber technology or operations. For further information contact Tracey Higgs on: 01428 602614 or tracey.higgs@adsgroup.org.uk

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The Process & Packaging Machinery Association is holding a seminar on changes to the New Machinery Directive at the Marriott Hotel, Nottingham. For further information contact Christine Jordan on: 0208 773 8111 or christine.jordan@ppma.co.uk

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The CBI is holding a business summit, debating the key issues on employment models, to be held at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in London. See: www.cbibusinesssummit2010.com

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The British Wind Energy Association is holding Renewable UK Offshore Wind in Liverpool.

For further information visit: www.bwea.com/offshore/conference2010.html

July

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The Food & Drink Federation is holding a Parliamentary reception at the Members Dining room at House of Commons. This event is by invitation only. For further information contact Abigail Cross on: 020 7420 7127 or abigail.cross@fdf.org.uk

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Manufacturing Advisory Service is hosting an inside industry visit to Muntons Malt. This will focus on green manufacturing and 6S. Contact Kevin Cassidy on: info@insideindustry.co.uk or 0870 125 3311

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EVENTS

Brammer sponsorship confirmed Brammer, the UK’s leading supplier of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) products and services, has been confirmed as a major sponsor of The Manufacturer of the Year Awards 2010.

Brammer will sponsor the Operations & Maintenance Award at this annual event organised by The Manufacturer magazine and attended by companies across all sectors of industry, highlighting the diversity and strength of UK manufacturing.

Its sponsorship includes The Manufacturer Directors’ Conference, which is designed to help manufacturers by arming them with the knowledge they need to succeed in these challenging times.

Brammer is one of a select group of organisations invited to speak at the conference which headlines some of the UK’s most prominent industry leaders.

Henry Anson, managing director of The Manufacturer, said: “We are delighted to secure Brammer as the sponsor of one of our key awards at the 2010 event.

With a proven track record of working consistently with its customers to help improve production output and efficiency, reduce the overall costs of purchasing MRO spares and reduce working capital, Brammer is well placed to associate itself with our prestigious event.”

The Manufacturer of the Year Awards 2010 will be held on 18th November 2010 at Chesford Grange Hotel, Kenilworth, Warwickshire.

EDUCATION

Thales sets school challenge Sixth form students have invented a device that could reduce the incidence of Afghan troop casualties caused by improvised explosive devices or IEDs. Set the task by a team of engineers from Thales UK, the students from Hazelwick School in Crawley, West Sussex, were charged with constructing a remote-controlled robot platform that can carry sensor equipment to detect roadside bombs.

The device was one of several innovations devised by schools and presented to companies at the University of Brighton for the annual Royal Academy of Engineering’s ‘Engineering Education Scheme’ which supports Year 12 students.

“There are techniques to suppress interference on detectors, but the students’ have come up with one we have not investigated before and this could be used in future activities,” said Tabraze Malik, hardware engineer with Thales UK.

ManufacturingNews Manufacturingoutput

Newsinbrief GOVERNMENT

Manufacturing output fuels economy Manufacturing provided a big boost to UK GDP growth expectations today, after the Office for National Statistics revealed a 2.3% jump in output during the month of March.

It is the strongest monthon-month rise in almost eight years and may mean the 0.2 per cent growth in the UK’s economy in the first quarter of 2010 is revised upwards. Analysts had expected a rise of around just 0.4 per cent.

Output rose in 12 of the 13 manufacturing sub sectors, with the basic metal and metal products industries (3.9%), the paper, printing and publishing industries (2.7%) and the machinery and equipment industries (4.2%) the biggest gainers.

The textiles, leather and clothing industries was the only subsector to decline (-0.5%).

Earlier today, PricewaterhouseCoopers released a report which said mergers and acquisitions may increase in the UK as a result of decent manufacturing activity here and Graeme Allinson, head of manufacturing at Barclays Corporate, reiterated this possibility when commenting on the output figures.

“The manufacturing bounce back continues as the sector made up significant ground in March

compared with where it stood 12 months ago,” he said. “The UK’s recent growth mirrors that of other international markets where increasing economic stabilisation has bolstered manufacturing output.

“Barclays Corporate has noted that along with a recent pick-up in applications for M&A funding, there is increased sector interest in public to private deals. This in part reflects the fact that UK markets are not adequately recognising how well the manufacturing sector has dealt with the current crisis, and therefore, we believe, leaving it somewhat undervalued.

“With an undervalued sector, international buyers may also smell a bargain and UK manufacturers could become cross border acquisition targets, as interest in UK plc increases and the Sterling continues to make such ventures an attractive prospect.”

Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics, said the GDP estimate is likely to be revised up to 0.3% on May 25 as a result of the strong manufacturing output.

New business secretary Vince Cable has announced the creation of a new Business Advisory Group which he will use as ‘a sounding board’ to obtain ‘private and informal’ advice. The group will be chaired by pension fund manager Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay. He is a Liberal Democrat peer of Cable’s and is the party’s spokesperson for Treasury and Work and Pensions. “Tackling the challenges facing business requires new ideas from a range of experts. Economic knowledge and commercial experience are essential to developing policy and this new panel will be critical to finding new ways to move the economy forward,” he said.

EEF has called for new Chancellor George Osborne to introduce far reaching tax reforms to amend a regime which is currently tilted against manufacturing and stands in the way of promoting high-tech investment and innovation. The current tax system is not fit for purpose, is close to breaking and simply cannot deliver an economy that allows the UK to pay its way and generate the wealth necessary to repay our debts,” says EEF director of policy Steve Radley.

ROBOTICS

Vicon, the developer of motion capture products for the life science, engineering and entertainment industries, sold two T-Series systems to Strathclyde University. They will be deployed in the university’s Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE) and Bioengineering departments. The EEE will use the system to test the accuracy of directional algorithms for autonomous robots. energ y

Gripple Limited, the manufacturer of wire joining devices, was one of the ten companies across the UK that won the 2010 Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development. The group is also believed to be the only SME in the UK to have won an award in all three Queen’s Awards categories in consecutive years. Mark Edmonds, Gripple’s managing director, said: “This award, which is a unique achievement for a company of our size, is highly valued by us all.”

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ManufacturingAppointments UK Appointments Ian King The Defence Industries Council

The Defence Industries Council, representing the UK-based defence industry, has announced that Ian King, chief executive of BAE Systems, will be its new chairman.

The DIC, which played a critical role in

developing the Government’s 2005 Defence Industrial Strategy, facilitates discussion between the industry and Government to ensure that the best possible equipment and services are provided to the UK armed forces.

Graham Chisnall A|D|S

A|D|S, the UK’s Aerospace, Defence and Security trade organisation, is delighted to announce the appointment of Graham Chisnall as managing director of commercial aerospace

and operations. A|D|S has been seeking a new director to drive the ambitious agenda on behalf of the UK aerospace industry, now that the merger to form A|D|S is complete.

Tony Lyons Sheffield Forgemasters

A highly experienced senior engineer has been appointed to oversee an exciting new arm of manufacturing specialist Sheffield Forgemasters. Tony Lyons joins the company from Volker Wessels, a major

Dutch contracting company. Lyons will be project director of Steel Propeller Ltd – the latest subsidiary of the 200 year-old company, set-up to manage large-scale projects both in-house and for clients.

Clare Snaith Norbert Dentressangle

Norbert Dentressangle has appointed Clare Snaith in the new role of general manager – sales, consumer electronics and drinks. Snaith joins from a major parcel carrier where she was responsible for key accounts including Boots and

Estee Lauder, and will work with major customers and prospects to drive growth. Snaith will also be developing the company’s proposition to meet and anticipate the changing needs of customers in key sectors.

The North West Aerospace Alliance has recruited eight new members of staff, whom include Neil Booth as commodity group co-ordinator, Diane Lee as commodity group manager and Mark Roberts as innovation manager. Others include Paula Stell as project manager for shared services and Malachy O’Conner as innovation coordinator. Six staff will be based at the NWAA’s Bamber Bridge office whilst Stephanie Haworth (programme co-ordinator) and Barbora Miklikova (project co-ordinator for skills) will work out of the NWAA’s headquarters in Nelson.

A|D|S, the UK’s aerospace, defence and security trade organisation has welcomed the forthcoming appointment of Allan Cook CBE, chairman of engineering design group Atkins, as the new chairman of the employer-led sector skills council, Semta. Cook will take over from Sir Alan Jones of Toyota who has been chairman since 2006.

CBI President Helen Alexander CBE has announced that Stephen Green, group chairman of HSBC Holdings, has been nominated for appointment as deputy president of the CBI. Green’s nomination will go forward to the CBI’s Annual General meeting on 24 May for election as deputy president. He will serve as Alexander’s deputy with a view to succeeding her as president on 1 June 2011 for a two-year term.

PROjEN PLC has announced the appointment of Simon Forshaw as their head of projects. Forshaw joins PROjEN from James Fisher & Sons with a successful track record of delivering outstanding results.

In his most recent position as commercial director he was responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of James Fisher’s strategic asset management business unit, building relationships with blue chip organisations globally.

International Appointments Cécile VionLanctuit Eurocopter

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Cécile Vion-Lanctuit has been appointed as Eurocopter group’s vice president of corporate communications. In her new role, Vion-Lanctuit reports to CEO Lutz Bertling and oversees all internal and external

communications for Eurocopter.

Prior to this new position, Vion-Lanctuit was Eurocopter’s head of international media relations since January 2007, and previously worked as one of the company’s press officers.

To notify The Manufacturer of your company’s appointments, please contact Daniel George at d.george@sayonemedia.com and 01603 671300

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7-11 June 2010

Visit Siemens at: MACH 2010 Stand 5569, Hall 5, NEC

50 years of experience and innovation

1960

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1996

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1976

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2000

1985

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Top speeds were achieved for …

Fifty years of experience and innovation …

Up to 248 axes

SINUMERIK 828D and SINUMERIK MDynamics

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Answers for industry.

The big picture Our industry is making new industries The future of the UK economy depends not just on a rebalancing between manufacturing and services, but critically on being able to create and exploit new industries, says Finbarr Liversey of the Institute for Manufacturing.

Finbarr Liversey Institute for Manufacturing

There

is much discussion Finbarr Livesey is head of post-credit crisis on how the UK’s the University of Cambridge economy needs to be rebalanced.

Institute for Manufacturing’s Some see this as an opportunity Centre for Industry and to castigate those who ignored Government. He conducts the making of things and focused research on the changing nature of manufacturing and its purely on the making of financial contribution to economic growth. products. However, the nature of the debate is distracting many from asking the real question – how do you increase the share of manufacturing in a developed economy?

The response should be to remember your history.

The UK was the home of the industrial revolution, creating whole new industries and reaping huge benefits along the way in economic terms. It is only by becoming the maker of industries again that we can have a strong manufacturing sector in the UK, holding valuable activities within the UK and controlling needed activities around the world to service those industries and access foreign markets.

We are in danger of forgetting our past, too caught up in cost reduction, lean principles and other short-term attempts to keep the status quo.

This local optimisation provides some immediate relief to companies under pressure on price or trying to reduce bills, but it narrows our vision and means we end up fighting over a smaller and smaller piece of territory as industries mature, commoditise and internationalise.

Why will this not work? Firstly, we cannot compete on cost. The convergence of hourly compensation for production workers between developed and emerging economies is slow, with UK costs 10 times those of Mexico and 4 times those of Taiwan. The availability of large numbers of workers at significantly lower wage rates will continue to be the norm in these economies.

Secondly, according to business consultancy PriceWaterhouseCoopers, emerging economies are producing more multinationals. The number of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) multinationals in the Fortune Global 500 has more than doubled from 27 to 58 in five years, and PwC predict it will increase by a further 40% by 2024.

Perhaps more importantly, competition in this space is intensifying. BRIC multinationals will move directly into developed country markets in services and high value manufacturing.

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For more details visit: www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk

These challenges are coming as the global economic and social landscape undergoes massive change.

The rise in environmental pressures, combined with peak oil, mean the ability of companies to globally source and produce will be in question. Our economies are also getting older. The UK is heading for a situation where there is one pensioner for every two workers. This will put greater strain on social services and demands a new set of products aimed at a longer-lived population.

These trends are radically changing the manufacturing landscape. As they play-out the footprint of companies will fragment, leading to greater regionalisation as transport costs rise and stronger environmental regulation becomes standard.

Manufacturers will need to find alternative methods to reduce energy consumption in production. As demographics change, preferences will change and young, skilled labour will become scarce.

Creating challenge-led industries How can the UK increase its manufacturing base in this context? Any attempt to hold on to industries where production is commoditised or to re-enter sectors we have already lost is playing a weak hand.

The activities that can provide growth in the UK will be close to the technology frontier, demanding high levels of technical knowledge that will be hard for other countries to emulate. Finally, they will be challenge led – addressing issues such as climate change, food security, and health.

And that is where our history of creating new industries, from the industrial revolution to the present day, comes into play. Only by making ourselves the creators of industries again can we hope to redress the imbalance and provide a foundation for future growth. If our industry is to create industries, we will be able to exploit production that is not yet commoditised where we are addressing leading challenges such as those outlined above. Regenerative medicine and new energy technologies are just two examples. Other industries will emerge in an unpredictable way, so we will need to be forward looking and flexible, not tied to a pre-defined list. Finally, we should also be capturing the market for new production processes and ensuring we build both the machines that make and the things they make.

Making is back in fashion and we should be making industries.

Economics Putting out Steve Radley, Director of Policy, EEF

In

the run up to the election, politicians of all shades talked about rebalancing the economy with a manufacturing playing a greater role. And EEF has been highly vocal in setting out what a new government should do to achieve this. But the latest evidence suggests that manufacturing is already starting to mount its own recovery.

For example, the production figures for March show manufacturing output up by 1.2% in the latest three months on the previous three – equivalent to annualised growth of close to 5%. And a range of business surveys, including EEF’s, suggest that this is set to continue, with order books at home and particularly abroad rising. Of course, there’s still a lot of ground to make up with manufacturing output remaining 10% below where it was in 2007, but the trends are encouraging.

A number of factors are driving this improvement: in particular, the pick-up in world markets and the competitiveness of the pound, though some of this has been unwound by recent weakness in the euro. But largely overlooked has been the big improvement in efficiency manufacturers made in the recession that leaves them well placed to take advantage of the recovery.

Going round the country, I have heard countless accounts of companies that are now profitable despite the collapse in their markets in the previous two years. As output starts to expand, this should show up in the productivity figures.

The big question is whether this can be sustained, and there are certainly a lot of uncertainties out there. For example, manufacturers’ major market – Europe – narrowly averted a major crisis over the public finances in Greece and a number of other economies. So far, it looks at though the action taken by the ECB, the IMF and by EU member states has staved off a Lehman’s-type crisis, but the situation is likely to remain volatile and it will force a range of economies to speed up action to cut their deficits, which may depress growth in the shortterm. The good news, though, is that many other global markets remain vibrant and UK manufacturers

With production figures showing manufacturing output up and growth of close to 5%, confidence is starting to return to the sector, says EEF’s Steve Radley. Now, for government to make good on those promises... have got better at tapping into them. Fiscal tightening at home will also weigh on our economy in the short-term, highlighting the importance of developing markets abroad.

Another danger is inflation, which is some way above the Bank of England’s target and would lead to higher interest rates if the overshoot persists. Though we shouldn’t be complacent about inflation, much of its recent rise has been due to one-off factors and it should start falling again soon. Also encouraging is the fact that manufacturers are reporting a significant rise in pay deals, though pay pressures will prove harder to resist if inflation remains high. Perhaps more worrying is the rise in commodity prices and concerns over shortages of metals and other essential raw materials.

A combination of higher costs and the need to place larger order to secure supplies will place some manufacturers under cashflow pressure, particularly if their own order books remain short. If this continues it could increase the need for working capital, but so far the evidence is that demand for this has remain fairly muted and EEF’s latest survey suggest that the recent improvement in credit conditions has held firm.

One of the traditional constraints on recovery is skill shortages. With firms telling us that they are starting to hire again, this is likely to be a growing concern. However, the actions companies have taken to minimise job losses should mean that fewer of them are held back by skill shortages.

Nonetheless, it is vital that government supports industry by continuing to invest in apprenticeships and ensuring companies can access the right training.

Despite all these uncertainties, it feels that confidence is starting to return and this is reflected in improving investment intentions. And it is here that the government can help by sending out the right signals in this month’s Budget that it will support manufacturers looking to invest and drive their business forward.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

13

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businessasunusual Grow without bloat Anand Sharma, Chairman and CEO, TBM Consulting Group

Economic

recessions kill complacency.

They kill inefficiency. They kill wasteful activities that proliferate as a company grows. The fight for solvency and survival will see to that.

The recent recession was the deepest in decades.

But as wrenching as it was for manufacturers that had to shutter their factories, to the people who lost their jobs, and to homeowners who saw thousands of dollars of equity vanish, I fear that it was not long enough or deep enough to remain a permanent part of management consciousness.

This recession paled in comparison to the 20% plus unemployment levels of the Great Depression, and the food shortages, material rationing and other deprivations of World War II. Those events had an enduring impact on how several generations of British and Americans thought, lived their lives and ran their businesses. Today, quarterly sales for many corporations are already showing signs of returning to where they were just two or three years ago, and projections for British manufacturing output recently hit a 15-year high.

After every recession that I’ve been through — which is a few more than I’d care to admit — when sales begin to bounce back it isn’t long before the trend lines on sales forecasts all start pointing upward again. Companies will soon jump back into the cycle of borrowing and spending and construction and hiring and spending more, laying the groundwork for restructuring when the next downturn hits. Such bloat and growth don’t have to go together.

Recessions force executives to make decisions that they should be making on a continual basis: decisions about which product lines to keep and which ones to discontinue; decisions about which projects to keep funding and those to cut off; decisions about fixed costs and assets that must be restructured; decisions about which people to keep and who must be let go.

Creativity before capital Making such decisions requires business owners and executives to always be looking, not just during a crisis, at what matters most to the survival and vitality and growth of their businesses and, by extension,

The decisions you make over the next several years will determine how well your company reacts when the next recession hits. at what matters most to their customers. Cash flow, of course, is at the top of the list. Companies with superior cash flows will always outlast and out-earn their competitors. When markets began to turn downward in 2008, the companies that were most in sync with market demand were able to react and adjust their cost structures accordingly. Over subsequent months such companies had the financial leverage to snap up struggling competitors at bargain prices. They could also invest in developing new

When sales begin to bounce back it isn’t long before the trend lines on sales forecasts all start pointing upward again products — which are just beginning to come to market — and many even took the slowdown as an opportunity to train and boost employee knowledge in order to enhance overall customer service.

Employees are another critical element of business vitality. In recent years I’ve seen some of the most creative ideas for improvement in more departments and areas of many businesses than I’ve ever seen in my career. Like a forest fire, the recession cleared out accumulated undergrowth and dead wood, releasing employee ideas like the seeds that only germinate following such a fire. In lean manufacturing circles we frequently talk about putting “creativity before capital.” With capital unavailable from internal or external sources, companies had no choice but to be innovative, and in many cases their employees rose to the challenge.

There are many other lessons from 2008 and 2009 and the moves that managers made to streamline their businesses and survive that are equally valid and effective during periods of market expansion. In the best cases those decisions about how to manage suppliers, serve customers and treat employees reflected the core values of the organisation.

Hopefully, when the next recession rolls around, you’ll be ready.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

15

MACH –

the ultimate barometer of recovery

Biennial MACH, the biggest UK manufacturing trade show, is a well-timed yardstick for the recovery of UK manufacturing. Formal interest and orders placed at MACH will give machine tool manufacturers – from ABB to Yamazaki Mazak – a good prognosis of companies’ order books in 2010/2011. TM asks some of the exhibitors for their views on manufacturing recovery and reports real optimism following a tough period, plus we review the new MACH Education and Training Zone. See you at the show! By Brian Davis and Will Stirling.

Figures

from the Office for National Statistics in midMay showed a 2.3% jump in manufacturing output during March, the biggest month-on-month rise in almost eight years. The ONS showed that output rose in 12 of the 13 manufacturing sub-sectors.

Is this a sign of sustainable recovery or a peak before more trouble in 2010? Andrew Smith, KPMG’s chief economist, says: “The surge in output in March, coming after a chunky gain in February and combined with buoyant survey evidence, suggests that the manufacturing recovery is building momentum. Transport equipment has led the improvement but other sectors are also strengthening. To put this in perspective, manufacturing is still some 10% down from its peak.

But it looks as if the weak pound is indeed benefiting exports and output.”

A very good barometer for manufacturing strength on the ground are trade shows, like MACH 2010.

Orders of and ‘registered interest’ in machine tools, automation systems and software at this show will give the industry a sound impression of how OEMs and subcontract manufacturers are faring, and their confidence levels looking to 2011. While exhibitor numbers are down on 2008, this year is a very different business environment to that two years ago and, as a sign that business confidence is rising, more exhibitors have signed up to MACH in the last 3-4 months than in any previous MACH. “There has been a late surge, which is atypical, but it shows better business confidence and that they prioritise this show in their marketing budget,” says a spokesperson for MTA, the show organiser.

TM asked some exhibitors about their expectations for MACH and if they see signs of wider recovery.

Yamazaki debuts seven new machines “Prospects for UK industry are looking very encouraging,” says Damien Cleugh, European marketing manager, Yamazaki Mazak. Yamazaki (stand 5348) is in bullish mood with the launch of seven new machines across the metalcutting range with turning centres, machining and a new multi-tasking series. New turning machines include the Slant Turn Nexus 550M, Megaturn Nexus 900 and the UK-built Quick Turn Smart 350.

“We’re not just talking about facelifts,” says Cleugh.

“We believe people are looking for greater productivity and versatility from machining centres, with significant increase in machining capacity.” Mazatrol Smart control offers significantly faster ‘conversational’ programming compared with traditional EIA/ISO CNC systems, for two-axis turning and three-axis milling operations. Some functions, like Y-axis and 5-axis machining, have been stripped out for ease of use and a cost effective solution.

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Yamazaki also addresses a key trend towards ‘one hit’ machining with pioneering ‘Done-in-One’ machining, particularly in the Integra range. The Integra J series is claiming to take multitasking to the next level. Mazak’s new Hyper Variaxis 630 multi-surface 5-axis machining centre makes its debut at MACH 2010, along with the Horizontal Center Nexus 6000, a machine targeted at the general subcontract and automotive sectors, providing high productivity in a compact competitively Yamazaki Mazak’s priced machine.

HYPER VARIAXIS 630

Leadstory MACH 2010

Siemens launches innovative CNC Siemens (stand 5569) is cautiously optimistic about the market.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel but most companies are simply maintaining capacity, having run down stock and desperate to restock as the market turns up,” says Andy Hodgson, UK sales manager for motion control at Siemens IA&DT. “People are looking for machines that offer flexibility and diversification.

There is definite demand for five-axis one-hit machines, like the Sinumerik 840D,” he adds. “Traditionally engineers used DIN standard G-code programming, which was time consuming, complex and esoteric. Today it is high level five-axis machining in concert with CAD/CAM leading up to full PLM with programmes like Siemens NX and the Teamcenter suites of software.”

Siemens will be demonstrating the full scope of product at MACH 2010, with its latest Sinumerik 828D CNC machines, targeted at the job shop market and small batch sizes, including ISO code programming, shopfloor communications, interactive animated elements, automatic measuring cycles and production-status text messaging. Siemens ShopMill and ShopTurn offer graphical assist, easy-touse interfaces for generating small batch sizes and one-off components.

Hardinge Bridgeport debuts compact 5-axis VMC

Hardinge MWC 2579 - GX 250 5AX

Hardinge Bridgeport (stand 5475) has repositioned itself to offer ‘premium’ quality machines, says UK sales manager Simon Rood. “We see demand for a higher level of machine tool technology, with multi-cutting tools on one turret offering reduced cycle times, reduced part cost and increased quality.”

Mori Seiki sees the upturn “There’s a definite upturn and it’s coming from a host of industries – aerospace, hydraulics, automotive and general engineering,” remarks Steve Finn, VP Sales at Mori Seiki UK. Finn reckons “customers are looking at top-end technology for increasing throughput with less cost and effort. ‘One hit’ is very important, and the general theme is latest technology at affordable cost.”

Mori Seiki (stand 5310) will be showing Mori Seiki NT1000 the latest NH horizontal machining centre NH4000 fitted with a Fanuc robot. Step over to the Renishaw stand (5439) to see the NMV5000 DCG dynamic rigid directive drives, and a DuraTurn machine demo on the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre’s MANTRA vehicle (stand 4470).

Both the NT1000 and the NMV3000 are fitted with Mori Seki’s new MAPPS iV high performance operating system, which incorporates CAM software for programming 3D parts, as well as interference checking.

Hardinge Bridgeport is to launch a compact, 5-axis vertical machining centre (VMC), the GX250 5AX, which offers a very small footprint and a 20-tool capacity magazine and high speed cutting capability of up to 20,000 revs/min. The new Hardinge collet ready spindle GS51A CNC lathe for fully automated machining will also be demonstrated.

New Fanuc CNC Series Oi controllers Fanuc NC UK general manager Andrew Myhill also sees an upturn on order-books in all areas. Fanuc (stand 5470) will be exhibiting the latest generation of CNC Series Oi controllers, extending axis capability, with high performance machining functions and compatibility with the latest Machine Directives for safety and environmental performance. There will also be demonstrations of showing the how machine control links to an M1Oi six-axis Fanuc robot loader.

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Renishaw QC20

Maximising machine utilisation Measurement technology is a competitive marketplace for users of machine tools and co-ordinate measuring machines (CMMs), but with the anticipated growth in advanced manufacturing, Renishaw is wellplaced. Marc Saunders, Renishaw’s UK general manager says: “With many manufacturers looking to get the most from their existing assets, we’re focusing on new systems that allow the capabilities of both three-axis and five-axis machine tools to be quickly assessed, plus products that increase machine tool automation, improve process control and allow advanced onmachine part verification.”

For visitors wanting to improve their off-line measurement capabilities, Renishaw (stand 5439) will be showing a new 5-axis probe head for touch-trigger measurement and will talk about its growing retrofit service for CMMs. This includes MODUS, the company’s first metrology software. Utilising technology developed for the award winning REVO measurement system, the new PH20 probe head offers unique ‘head touches’ for rapid touch-trigger measurement, and fast infinite 5-axis positioning to guarantee optimal feature access. “The new PH20 probe head is exciting in that it accesses our new technologies for most existing users of CMMs, with parts measured up to three times faster than current touch-trigger systems,” Saunders says.

Renishaw will also demonstrate a range of new motion control products, including a new 1nm resolution incremental encoder, and an absolute optical encoder for rotary and linear applications that is capable of 10 atoms resolution at 220mph.

flexibility in business models,” says Tinsdeall.

“Larger companies are using PLM to support outsourcing operations for “design anywhere, build anywhere” strategy.”

PTC (stand 5394) will be demonstrating Windchill 9.1 which includes new modules - Manikin, Spark Analysis and others, alongside Pro/E Wildfire 5.0 and CoCreate 17.0, a robust 3D CAD modelling solution. New product analytics in Windchill will enable companies to understand the environmental impact of new product designs.

New CAD and CAM releases Delcam (stand 4010) marketing manager Peter Dickin sees distinct investment in high-end, multitask machine tools “aimed at doing more in a single, one hit operation.” Delcam is launching the latest version of Powermill, featuring a 64-bit operating system running on Windows 7, “so you can programme more quickly and machine more efficiently,” he says.

A new version of PowerInspect for inspection will be released and CopyCAD reverse engineering software which incorporates Parasolid 3D modelling software. Integration of Parasolid means CopyCAD can act as the reverse engineering front end for

PowerMILL 2010 5-axis

PLM at the cutting edge “The education phase in Product Lifecycle Management [PLM] is over, particularly for larger companies,” claims Richard Tinsdeall, VP (UK) at software company PTC. What’s more, PTC reported 61% year-on-year revenue growth in the UK small and medium-company sector from Pro/Engineer and Windchill ProductPoint suites, rebounding well from the economic downturn.

“We are starting to see PLM move beyond traditional product data management (PDM) to represent more full use of PLM to sustain more

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CAD systems based on Parasolid, SolidWorks, and Siemens PLM’s Solid Edge and NX software.

Verisurf (stand 5548) is releasing a new version X4 with automated inspection routines and a new graphical operator interface for ease of use.

Gordon Drysdale, director of SolidCAM UK (stand 5395) sees increasing demand for integration between CAD and CAM systems, in a bid to become leaner. The latest version of SolidCAM iMachining, intelligently maps the toolpath for greater metal removal.

Lead story MACH 2010

BLOODHOUND SSC modelled in NX. Imaging by CURVENTA

Education & Training Zone Invest now to stay competitive, says MTA

MACH 2010 targets young aspiring engineers For the first time ever MACH 2010 is targeting young people with the aim of inspiring a new generation of engineers and technologists. The Education and Training Zone is sure to excite interest with a range of educational tours for 14-16 year olds, and a wider focus on students studying manufacturing and engineering diplomas.

The star attraction will be a 1:1 version of the Bloodhound Super Sonic Car (SSC), which will attempt to smash through the World Land Speed Record at 1050mph on the Haskeen Pan in South Africa next year. Richard Noble and members of his engineering team will be on hand to describe key features of this British-built hybrid rocket car.

Bloodhound SSC (stand 4771) has gone through 10 design evolutions and features a 1000kg EJ2000 Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine and 200kg rocket – sufficient to develop 47,500lb of thrust, equivalent to 180 Formula One cars. 3,600 primary and secondary schools have already signed up to the Bloodhound Education Programme. Some pupils have said they are “blown away” to be involved in such an exciting project.

Kids are also likely to be thrilled by Formula Gravity (stand 4476), high-tech boxcar racers which are being built at 50 schools and colleges. Here the world land speed record stands at 100km/hr, “admittedly without an engine and racing downhill at Beachy Head!” explains ex-science teacher David Ackroyd. “Formula Gravity gets boys and girls involved in design and engineering together with Loughborough University and industry partners Vauxhall, Michelin and the Daily Telegraph. The project offers a 100% achievable goal for kids and

Bob Hunt, president of the MTA is cautiously optimistic about UK industry prospects. “We are moving forward in areas such as aerospace, medical and automotive, but it is not a universal picture. Companies realise that if they want to be competitive, now is the time to invest ready for market pick-up.”

encourages interest in engineering.”

The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and Boeing are wheeling in a specially equipped The MTA anticipates 22,000 to 25,000 HGV, called MANTRA, visitors will attend MACH 2010. with the latest advanced manufacturing technology.

As a general trend, Hunt suggests: AMRC (stand 4470) “People will invest in faster machines, demonstrations include seeking more capability and cost a Mori Seiki multi-axis effectiveness in order to boost lathe, virtual assembly/ competitiveness. UK industry has to of a Rolls-Royce jet be looking at added-value products, engine using Virtalis 3D, with high innovation and products and displays of tooling produced in one hit production. The optimisation, damping key to success is to produce more and post-machining complex components for innovative inspection, in partnership new products accurately, to highest with Sandvik Coromant. quality in the shortest possible time.”

ABB (stands 4475, 5395) is to debut a small 6-axis IRB 120 robot with the new IRC5 compact controller, and has introduced the RobotStudio educational package which allows up to 50 students to programme virtual robots with free-of-charge licences. ABB should also excite interest in the main hall with their ‘Fanta Can Challenge’ using two IRB 1600 6-axis robots.

Young visitors will also be able to strap into a VR glider on the British Gliding Association’s simulator .

Filling the young engineering skill gap has never looked more appealing.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

19

Vorsprung

Technik durch

Business is getting greener, leaner and more automated.

Transportation systems and buildings are becoming more energy efficient; electric motors are converting more power for the same input. Juergen Maier tells Will Stirling why, despite economic unease, Siemens Industry UK feels cautiously bullish about the recovery and urges British industry to take long term innovation investment seriously.

“Is

the Carbon Reduction Commitment a big deal to Siemens?” I ask. Juergen Maier’s eyes light up. “Absolutely. The environmental agenda and the requirement for our economy to be more green is the single biggest opportunity for Siemens for the next five years,” says the managing director of Siemens Industry UK. The green agenda should excite Siemens. Its Industry division, which in the UK covers three broad business sectors — mobility including transportation infrastructure, building technologies and the manufacturing of automation and drive systems — provides end-to-end technology solutions that power, control and automate companies’ operations. An end-toend product portfolio is key to finding efficiencies, and Maier is emphatic about both the savings and carbon emissions reductions that organisations can make by operating these processes with modern, high efficiency motors, drives and systems. “We have calculated that we can reduce the energy consumption of both electric motors and buildings by between 30 and 40 per cent,” he says.

“Independently verified figures show that, if all the currently

20

Interview Juergen Maier

installed electric motors were replaced with the most efficient models, we could save 40 million tonnes of carbon. That’s not far off 10 per cent of the total carbon emissions of the UK.” He laughs at these bald facts, and we shake our heads wistfully. But this is not a sales pitch, Maier adds. “There’s no way we could supply that many motors! This is a huge opportunity. It’s a very competitive market, but there no other company has the spectrum and depth of solutions that we do.”

Siemens Industry UK has strong footprints in all its markets in the UK. In the last 10 years, Maier says, the company has grown exponentially, from a turnover (for the UK division) of about £250m then to £1.5bn today. “In the last year, building technologies and automation took a slight downturn but the transport infrastructure side was pretty buoyant,” he says. “The overall market trend was down, but our main growth engines, buildings and manufacturing, were selling technology that enables customers to improve their carbon footprint which has been robust through the recession.”

This raises the question, how good could it be if we played our investment card even more?

Juergen Maier , managing director, Siemens Industry UK

From Meccano to MAG Born in Germany of Austrian nationality, Juergen Maier has engineering in the blood – his father was an engineer, as is his older brother. As a boy he stripped down and rebuilt washing machines and household bits. “I was more interested in Lego and Meccano than playing music and singing,” he says. With this background, he was sponsored

by Siemens through a manufacturing engineering degree at the University of Nottingham. There was no guarantee of a job offer, but he applied and got offers both from Siemens and other companies.

He joined Siemens in 1986 — “I made the right decision,” he says.

His first job was as a manufacturing engineer for three years, from where he went into shop floor management, production and materials management, purchasing, covering all the factory management functions. He was general manager of the drives factory in Congleton, Cheshire for six years. “I joined when it was first being established as a variable drives factory. I started the whole lean journey there in 1992, through total quality, six sigma, all those good things.” Congleton is now more efficient than Siemens’ German drives factories.

Why did Siemens chose to locate a high-tech electronics manufacturing factory in Cheshire, England? “Strategically, we always look for opportunities to add value and invest in markets where we serve our customers. We pride ourselves in not just shipping components in from overseas but doing our part to add-value in local economies. Of the total 17,000 people employed in the UK, 5,000 of those are directly in manufacturing. And we generate about £1bn of added value, in predominantly exported goods, through those factories. It’s evidence that we see the UK as, not the only, but one of the favoured places in Europe to manufacture.”

The Strategy and changing government Maier was a member of the Ministerial Advisory Group for Manufacturing (MAG), a 19-strong panel of experts from industry, trade associations and Sector Skills Councils, established with the launch of the Government’s Manufacturing Strategy in 2008 to advise policymakers. MAG, the Strategy and its multiple-subordinate strategies (New Industry, New Jobs; Composite Materials Strategy etc) is in limbo, awaiting its fate from the new Department for Business under newly appointed Business Secretary Vince Cable MP. The department is deciding whether to carry on with that group. “We’ve already started lobbying, I was down in Westminster yesterday,” says Maier. “I doubt they will kill it – it would send out a very wrong signal compared with the message about business and manufacturing in recent months.” It’s plain that Maier is passionate about manufacturing and engineering and their contributions to society and the economy.

Has the Strategy performed? “I was very positive about it,” says Maier, who was with MAG for two years. “The most positive aspect was that a strategy document was created, I think it was the first time we had a formal strategy document for manufacturing. It created more focus within Westminster about the importance of manufacturing.

It’s important to make the point that several people – in Westminster and manufacturing activists – had begun this journey before the financial crisis, but the crisis accelerated this and gave it more momentum.”

“The detail on how we were to execute the strategy was missing, but that didn’t concern me because you don’t make up 20 years of lost ground in two years. We had dialogue and action in the form of funds going into manufacturing technology

21

centres, the Technology Strategy Board, MAS, initiatives into supporting areas like renewable energy and low carbon. My only criticism is that it ended up being a little bit ad hoc. With several initiatives running concurrently, it was difficult to strap these back to the original Strategy – it became activity rather than strategically-led. But I knew at some point we’d get back around the table and check that this was the right thing to do for UK plc.”

A new government – is the election result good for manufacturing?

“Vince Cable has voiced his support: in the Chancellors’ television debate he said manufacturing is an essential component of a strong economy. What is not encouraging is that the coalition Government Agreement document [published May 13] doesn’t mention manufacturing or engineering once. It covers debt reduction, spending, banking reform, tax, immigration, schools – important stuff, but business and industry is totally missing. That’s deeply disappointing.

Clearly reducing the deficit is important, but you can’t deal with deficit reduction alone without looking at value creation. In fact, if you just went down deficit reduction alone, you would destroy value creation. A key part of value creation is the manufacturing and engineering sector, so this was a gross omission.”

Cultural differences

Biography Juergen Maier 1964:

Born in Germany with Austrian nationality.

1974:

Moved to the UK.

1986:

Joins Siemens after obtaining a BSC (Hons) in production engineering from Nottingham Trent University, Juergen held a number of manufacturing roles including manufacturing director of Siemens Variable Speed Drives factory in Congleton, Cheshire. Juergen has since held a number of senior business and manufacturing roles within Siemens in the UK and Germany, most recently as Director of European sales and marketing for Siemens low voltage controls business, and Managing Director of Siemens Shared Services UK.

2008:

Takes the position of managing director of Siemens UK Industry Sector, a leading global supplier of production, transport and building technologies. In the UK this activity represents a business volume of around £1.5bn, and employs around 5000 people.

Juergen supports a number of UK wide initiatives in support of manufacturing and engineering skills including board membership of the Sector Skills council SEMTA.

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Taxation, contends Maier, needs to be more in tune with the long term investment decisions of manufacturers, where capital allowances need to be kept stable. “But the bigger problem [for manufacturing] is culture,” he says.

As a businessman having worked both in the UK and Germany, Juergen Maier is close to the cultural differences of business in the two countries. “The attitude to investing, both into and within manufacturing and engineering businesses, is very different. Generally, in this country we don’t invest for the long term, there is more short-termism. We don’t invest as much in capital equipment and innovation as Germany, and Japan for example, and our inventory levels are very low. This is not about taxation – in Germany tax is equally as complex. The difference is that within business management [in Germany] there is just a more long term attitude and a more positive attitude towards innovation and investment driving long-term productivity improvement at the board level.”

“Do the managing directors and boards of engineering companies see innovation and investment as a necessity to drive up productivity and be competitive on a global stage? Often the answer is no – that’s the bad news. If the UK is really going to have a manufacturing renaissance, this needs to be addressed.”

And the good news? “Despite our low investment levels, our productivity levels are damned good.

The question that raises is: how good could it be if we played our investment card even more? I think we could be even more competitive on the global manufacturing stage, if we use the things we have that are well established – very good, lean practices; generally a good culture towards manufacturing, flexibility of labour, and we’ve been much more practiced at managing upturns and downswings than our European neighbours.”

UK manufacturing coped admirably with the recession, says Maier. “Frankly, we’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt. In Germany it was mad panic; they weren’t as practiced as the UK at

Interview Juergen Maier

managing their way through it. So here we’ve got a really good manufacturing base without investing enough. If we really invest, and carry on doing the things we’re doing well, we should be world-beating.”

UK a tougher nut to crack on total integration The investment attitude Maier refers to applies directly to his business. Siemens supplies automation systems and technology to improve productivity to the manufacturing and infrastructure industries. “In the UK more than in Germany there is less value placed on the technology solutions that we supply. In the UK there are not as many customers to whom Siemens can present the whole suite of integrated technology; from a top-level automation system down to some low level controls or drives, to whom we can say: “this is all integrated and if we get it right, we can make a real difference to the costs of your factory.” It often gets driven down to a purchasing department who will look for cheaper options. All that potential value is lost by going down a much more purchasing and commercially-driven more than strategically-driven and engineering-led way. That is a major barrier in the UK.”

It’s a culture thing at the end of the day – it is easier to convince board level people of this strategic approach in Germany than the UK Maier says Siemens is breaking that down, and the company has several strategic partnerships with large organisations where Siemens is the default technology partner and over a 10-year period “will work with that company to make sure that the best values are generated from the technology we’re supplying them. But it’s a culture thing at the end of the day – it is easier to convince board level people of this strategic approach in Germany than the UK.”

Lean – corporate HQ or local drivers?

Siemens made sharp cuts to its pan-European workforce in 2009, axing over 5,000 jobs outside Germany, as part of a programme to cut Eu1.2bn of costs between 2009-11. Lean manufacturing is a philosophy that runs through Siemens, which has a lean programme and a toolbox. But the programme has to be driven locally. Why are some UK factories more ‘lean’ than those in Germany? The answer is revealing. “In Germany, the general culture to do things systematically and of a high quality is almost innate. You have to do less to create the culture, there is a lower need to do it and hence many organisations don’t bother. Whereas here the start point is lower.

People here don’t come and work for Siemens to increase Siemens’ productivity – their prime objective is to earn some money, period. Therefore you have to work much harder with that culture to create that lean

philosophy. We’ve had to put in more resources – but when we’ve done it, the results are fantastic.”

A word about wind In March, Siemens said it would invest £80m in a new factory to make offshore wind turbines, which would create around 700 jobs. This followed pledges from other big companies like GE to invest in offshore wind manufacturing in the UK, and in the Budget the Government announced a £60m offshore wind infrastructure port development competition.

Less than a year earlier, Danish turbine manufacturer Vestas had shut its plant on the Isle of Wight, citing crushing red tape and planning delays in securing wind energy projects as the reason. Many in the wind industry thought this might ring the death knell for serious large wind system manufacturing in the UK. The move surprised Maier. “[Vestas] felt the environment for investment, especially planning for offshore wind, was too complex. We found this extremely strange because at the same time we were booking big orders for turbines and blades in the UK, both offshore and onshore. You can read into that what you like, but the market for wind energy in the UK is buoyant.”

Siemens had also looked at sites in Denmark and Germany for the factory – why did the UK prevail?

“The support we received from the Government was key to helping us. The Danish and German governments were also willing to invest, so you have to get on a level playing field and then the other factors matter, like being close to the customer, having the right skills, supply chain etc, which the UK has.”

Environment for opportunities Despite the economic unrest in Europe, in the long term Maier says Siemens Industry UK is in a very exciting position. Each of its core business sectors face growth opportunities. “The UK has an old transport infrastructure by developed world standards, but there’s a massive opportunity there in the next 20 years.” There is a greater need to construct more energy efficient buildings, where the need for technology to reduce operating costs will benefit Siemens, and Maier expects a “mini-renaissance in manufacturing, not a boom but an uplift”, especially in energy efficiency, which will feed the company’s automation, drives and ancillary systems.

Looking beyond Siemens, as the recovery matures Maier sees the sectors which fell the most recover the most, like automotive and aggregates, and there will be a relative decline in some areas that were largely resilient through the recession, namely defence and aerospace, which have had fairly high investment cycles in last two years. “There’ll be ups and downs but net gains, and overall it will be quite good.” Whether or not factions of British industry can overcome their cultural reticence to end-to-end, high technology investment, Juergen Maier’s company is certainly wellplaced to serve it as business and transportation gets leaner, greener and simply better.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

23

Widening your

h o r i z o n s With exports leading UK manufacturing’s revival, Mark Young considers the role of UK Trade & Investment in helping manufacturers taking advantage of opportunities abroad.

Countless

caps have been doffed recently to manufacturing’s border-defying knights in shining armour. The low value of sterling might not be good for your summer jollies, but it is great for selling products overseas. Export opportunities are there for the taking, it seems.

Exchange rates aren’t the only thing that’s out there to help you export, though, and that’s good news because there’s a lot more you’ll need — especially if you don’t have a spare half a million pounds to wave under the Duchess of York’s nose.

There are also a raft of consultancy and support organisations to provide market analysis, strategy planning, cultural significance advice and networking.

Government’s UK Trade and Investment organisation (UKTI) is the largest. With over 1,300

24

advisers in more than 90 countries worldwide, it has a presence which covers 98% of global GDP and last year helped more than 23,000 companies across every sector of the economy in some aspect of international trade. For every one pound it spends, nineteen pounds are contributed to the UK economy, the organisation finds.

Its offerings cover a vast spread, both geographically and in services. Take its Passport to Export and Gateway for Global Growth programmes for starters. Delivered through UKTI’s regional teams, Passport is for new exporters while Gateway is for more experienced ones. Passport includes an International Business Review to assess capability to export; advice to help develop an export action plan; customised training; access to UKTI market research; and help in visiting potential markets.

Leadership and Lean

Matched funding of up to £1,500 is available.

Gateway, meanwhile, is for innovative companies with two to ten years exporting experience and seeks to engage companies with other specialist private and public sector providers, examples of which are noted below. It also includes training and has a specific focus on global value and supply chains.

A recent case study on the UKTI website tells the tale of one happy participant of the Passport programme. The organisation helped Truro-based tea maker Tregothnan Estate display its wares at the British Fair in Osaka, Japan, and meet with potential customers at the Embassy in Tokyo. As well as successfully finding stockists for its products, the company was then invited back to the Embassy to provide teas for the Queen’s Birthday celebrations.

“We have made some fantastic contacts and have some really exciting business opportunities about to take off,” says Tregothnan, commercial director Jonathan Jones. “We simply couldn’t have achieved this without the face-to-face meetings that the UKTI market visit allowed us. There are so many openings in Japan and now we are well on the way to making a significant impact in the market.”

Show time UKTI holds an array of events worldwide, including seminars, socials, conferences, courses and delegate trips. Brazil played host in October last year when more than 40 UK manufacturers, chaperoned by UKTI and British manufacturing heavyweights BAE Systems, JCB and Rolls-Royce, met with over 100 Brazilian firms to seek partnerships in advanced manufacturing ventures.

One Leicester-based polymer company, Nylacast, expects to gain £1m worth of business through companies that it established relationships with.

Next, over June 23-24 the organisation will host a showcase of UK Advanced Engineering capability in Shanghai at the same time as the Shanghai Expo 2010 Conference. Coinciding with this will be several business missions in the vain of the Brazil trip. One of these has been organised in partnership with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders for the UK automotive supply chain to build relationships with Chinese car makers so that the former can provide the technology required for the latter’s shift towards electric vehicle production.

A recent UK Trade and Investment report highlighted extensive opportunities to this end. As well as pre-arranged meetings in Shenzhen and Shanghai through UKTI’s business matching service, companies will have a poster stand exhibit at a top Shanghai hotel to promote their expertise; will receive an invitation the UKTI VIP Gala networking; and will participate in interactive seminars covering key areas of UK expertise and cooperation.

In the UK, UKTI recently held an Achieving Your Goals in Africa conference at Wembley Stadium which saw over 250 firms that are established on the continent give advice to other companies that are looking to set up links there. In April, a Nordic

& Baltic States Roadshow seminar took place at Haydock Park, St. Helens, where firms could explore opportunities and meet commercial directors from Denmark, Finland, Norway and more. UKTI will also be present at the MACH 2010 conference at the Birmingham NEC in early June where it will be arranging one-to-one meetings between UK and International delegates.

Other ways to roll?

UKTI’s work is generally regarded highly, though criticisms have been aimed at it. Many other organisations have taken up the challenge of aiding international exploits including trade associations, accountants, high street banks and private companies, and some contend that they are able to offer a more effective service given that they are not subject to administrative red tape.

Steve Parker now runs his own export consultancy – Steve Parker International Company Development – following a 20 year career in export director roles for manufacturers, specialising in the Middle East and Asia, followed by a five

All the evidence from companies is that Overseas Market Information Service reports are valued by the companies that ask for them Jamie Clements, UKTI

year stint as a senior international sales adviser for UKTI. Parker acts on behalf of companies, using the extensive contacts he has built up and the market idiosyncrasies he has learned to find customers, create sales and ensure the companies he looks after get paid afterwards. His niche, he says, is that he is able to truly get to grips with a company’s products and culture and can therefore act decisively on their behalf when he represents them. While UKTI has some very talented people that are capable of adding value to a business’ export proposition, the organisation is bound by bureaucracy and this inhibits its ability to fulfil this same vocation, he contends.

“UKTI has a slightly prescriptive idea about whether a business is capable of exporting. It’s based on a checklist scoring system like the banks use for loans,” he says. “This is fundamentally flawed because whether you can export or not simply comes down to the attitude you adopt.”

Furthermore, says Parker, because the organisation has targets to fulfil in terms of the number of companies it helps and the budget it uses, whether or not a company is granted support could essentially be a lottery, depending on when the company applies.

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Leadership and lean

Jamie Clements, spokesperson for UKTI, says Parker’s analogy is misleading. “UK Trade & Investment offers help that is appropriate to the company,” he said. “We do not use a bank loantype scoring system to decide which companies are eligible. Generally we will assess what we can do to help a company on a bespoke basis.”

Parker says that the UKTI also has targets for the number of Overseas Market Introduction Service reports (OMIS) it has to sell to companies, costing from around £600 to £1,200, which consist of contact details compiled by foreign embassies. “Firstly, any company director can usually find this information themselves,” says Parker. “Secondly, if they are pushed for the time and want UKTI to compile the report, they’ll receive it two to three months after they request it and will still have to make contact, send out literature, develop the relationship and work out how they are going to get paid at the end of it.” He also says certain ‘heavy duty civil servants’ within the organisation lack the industry experience that would help them succeed.

“All the evidence from companies is that OMIS reports are valued by the companies that ask for them,” responded Clements. On its advisers, “UK Trade & Investment’s staff are drawn from the civil service but there are many who also have a background in the private sector,” he says. “UKTI also employs a network of private sector specialists who bring industry experience.”

Perfect TEN? Paul Gilbert is director of the Export Network Limited (TEN), a member of the national council at the Institute of Export and a director of three companies in all. TEN’s service goes above and beyond finding customers and clinching sales, as valuable as that is.

The company can set up distribution links, including sourcing trucks and drivers abroad, and set up sales offices and even factories anywhere in the world, sourcing both blue and white collar workers to operate them.

He believes UKTI is a valuable resource but agrees with Parker that its organisational structure restricts it. “You could argue it’s unfair that UKTI is

heavily subsidised with government money while competing with companies in the private sector but, that aside, it does a good job. They have expanded into being more than just a network – instead of just supplying reports they’ll actively seek and arrange meetings and will go along.

“However, as a government organisation, they can’t risk doing anything which could go wrong and which they could subsequently be found at fault for.

We will because we’re confident of getting it right.”

Jamie Clements says: “Staff abroad will lobby for UK companies and will do so to the best of their ability. Deals can benefit from high-level support but ultimately whether a business deal is concluded or not will be decided between the two parties.”

You could argue it’s unfair that UKTI is heavily subsidised with government money while competing with companies in the private sector but, that aside, it does a good job. They have expanded into being more than just a network Paul Gilbert, The Export Network Ultimately, As Paul Gilbert points out, the organisation or service that’s best – public or private – depends entirely on the individual company’s needs. With major trade organisations including EEF, the Confederation of British Industry and the Food & Drink Federation united in endorsing exports as our best route to post-recession prosperity, it can only be a good thing that there’s a wealth of organisations with varied service offerings and differing expertise ready to steer manufacturers in the right direction. And – with a plethora of statistics from these same usual suspects already pointing to a marked rise in UK goods leaving for foreign shores – public, private or both, at least someone seems to be getting it right.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

27

Allay the naysayers Change is inevitable. Unfortunately, so is employee resistance to change. Stuart Smith, MD of Bourton Group offers some tips for getting staff on side.

Stuart Smith, Managing Director of Bourton Group Stuart Smith has been managing change at board level for over 20 years. Stuart has particular expertise in delivering large scale, operational performance improvement using Lean Sigma methodologies for some of Europe’s largest manufacturing companies.

Many

CEOs will tell you that their biggest challenge lies not in knowing what the business needs to do but in getting their people to do it.

Resistance to change manifests in every industry and, the greater the change, the more entrenched the resistance. People feel they have much to lose and little to gain.

Letting go of old ways is difficult for one person, let alone a whole factory or organisation.

Companies often fail to sufficiently consider the human pressures of change programmes.

This approach leads to the high failure rate recorded in every study on change and transformation – they are remarkably consistent in finding that 70% of efforts fail to deliver the changes planned for. There are a myriad of factors to consider; overcoming natural resistance is affected by how you engage people, the management style adopted, the degree of involvement allowed, the amount of resource allocated, and the speed and degree of the change sought.

Increase the likelihood of success Before any change programme can succeed, there needs to be dissatisfaction with the current state among the people who are being asked to adopt new ways of working. This may relate to business performance, culture, or working methods. It’s essential to be clear

28

what is causing dissatisfaction at the outset to ensure that the future state eliminates it. Where employees are happy and are not seeking to improve, it may be necessary to fuel dissatisfaction by showing them what “good” looks like to establish desire for the future state.

This vision of the future state needs to emphasise both how the business will benefit and what’s in it for the employees. If the individual is clear about their contribution to the future state they will be more willing to take on the extra stress and workload required to manage the existing state whilst building the future one.

Effective communication of the process is vital Clear, informative, timely, outcome focused and two-way communication of the planned journey is critical. It is common for the nature of this communication to be sub-optimal. Never underestimate the ability of even a very small number of people to totally misunderstand each other’s perceptions when they do not have a common and clear understanding of the steps that are being taken.

It is critical to: Define a vision Determine the current state, identify gaps, assess capability for change Develop a strategy for the transition, with redesigned processes and behaviours

Gain the commitment of the key stakeholders – particularly those who influence others (these may not necessarily be reflected in the organisation’s hierarchy but are the hidden but highly influential network of people who staff listen to and believe more than official communication channels or management) By doing this at the very beginning much of the “heat” and natural anxiety is dispelled. Energy is instead directed at finding solutions that meet the business need.

Sometimes, the belief seems to be that the later in the process people are told the less they are able to object. In reality, the reverse is true. By involving those people most affected early, reactions are less extreme, solutions are implemented more quickly at less cost and the business becomes more comfortable with embracing a continuous improvement culture.

Perceptions and feelings are not constant but they are somewhat predictable.

In change programmes employee emotions do not remain constant; everyone involved will experience their own ‘journey’.

Outlined opposite is a typical emotional journey: Individuals go through this journey at different speeds and with varying degrees of severity. Managers who knew about the changes in

Perceived performance

2: Denial that change is necessary

Focus

What is important?

Structure

How will it be pursued?

Discipline

Will we stick to it?

Ownership Do we care about the results?

3: Awareness that change is necessary

5: Search for meaning, understanding reasons for success and failure

1: Shock - surprise in extreme cases panic and immobilisation 4: Acceptance of reality, ‘letting’ go of past comfortable attitudes

Bourton Group

The Emotional Journey

5: Experimentation and testing of new approaches and skills

Time

advance of employees may be at the awareness phase at the point when employees are in shock and denial. Some individuals may remain stuck in the difficult stage of being aware, but not prepared to let go. Being sensitive to the emotional factors in change programmes and factoring in its impact in the execution will significantly improve both the speed and quality of the outcome.

Papering over the cracks of these emotions and just telling people to change will ultimately come back to haunt change leaders. Dealing with these issues should not necessarily take more lapsed time.

Additional resources and sensitive leadership from the top are required A key factor for success in change management programmes is whether you have the internal skills and people resources to enable change to succeed, and that you deploy these correctly. If you believe that you lack the resources then seek outside help at the outset. Resist a “suck it and see” approach when you start and then ship in outside help when things start to go wrong. Deploying the necessary resources at the outset demonstrates to the business that this is a priority, builds trust and confidence in the team and sustains early momentum. Allowing stress levels to build through a lack of

resources increases the likelihood that the whole programme will cost more and deliver less.

The style of leadership adopted will to some extent depend on the business culture. Taking a command-and-control, task focused approach will achieve change quickly but may prove difficult to sustain – those involved in the day-to-day running of the activity will feel less ownership. The secret is to balance “transformational” leadership of creating visions and developing ownership with old fashioned “transactional” leadership of getting it done in a structured, disciplined way.

Providing focus and generating ownership alone is not enough.

There is a real need for these ‘inspirational’ aspects to be supported by good honest leadership in structured and disciplined approaches.

Generating ownership of goals and tasks requires a change leader to be clear on who has the greatest impact on performance and how to motivate them. Ownership will also come if leaders engage teams in generating a shared vision and help them recognise the contribution that they make to achieving targets.

Above all, the objective of change leadership is the development of higher levels of performance.

Change leadership is an active process that uses the best of transformational and transactional

styles to achieve this and in parallel recognises and manages the natural resistance in the organisation.

While the change leadership style should be adapted to the nature of the work, it does not negate the need for sufficient commitment in management time, financial and human resources. As a manager, if the programme is not high on your agenda then it will not be high on the agenda of the team working on it.

Change management and the future One thing is certain, change, as a constant challenge, is something every business will have to engage in more and more often. Businesses will also have to get better at managing change. Consider carefully the need and desire for change, the skills and resources required, the emotional state, the leadership style and the outcomes you seek. As Bruce Barton, politician, author and advertising executive, put it: “when you are through changing, you are through.”

Stuart Smith is Managing Director of Bourton Group and its subsidiary company The Six Sigma Group www.bourton.co.uk Tel: 01926 633333.

For more information please visit: www.bourton.co.uk

29

me up Roberto Priolo investigates the world of lifting solutions and equipment, finding that varying price points, a keen culture of safety and legislative compliance each play a key role in defining the sector.

Lifting

solutions have been a crucial part of any attempt to build large constructions and raise heavy loads. We might still debate on the details, but it is widely accepted that, for instance, the Egyptian pyramids were built using some kind of lever system that was used to put the blocks of stone in place.

In today’s world, lifting equipment is used by manufacturers and other users in several sectors (nuclear, automotive, aerospace and steel, among others) and environments such as ports and off-shore platforms. In particular, tower cranes, which are a constant presence in urban landscapes, are considered a universal symbol of prosperity and development.

There are many types of cranes, and their use varies with the industry and site they are deployed at.

Tower cranes are used in the construcion industry to erect tall buildings. Other types of equipment have specific purposes, like a nuclear polar crane, that is used to lift heavy equipment in a nuclear plant such as the steam generator.

Another important category of lifting machines is represented by gantry and overhead cranes. They have similar mechanisms and are both used to lift extremely heavy loads — by using a hoist fitted in a trolley and able to move horizontally on one or two rails mounted under a beam.

The supporting beams of a overhead crane stand on wheels running on rails positioned at a high level, on the side walls of a factory, with the hoist moving across the width of the building. This type of crane is most commonly deployed in the steel industry: all by means of a overhead crane, the material is poured in a furnace, hot steel is stored for cooling and finished coils are positioned on lorries or trains for delivery.

A particular type of gantry crane is used to load and unload containers in ports: in this case, the machinery can move along the entire lenght of a ship.

Some gantry cranes are fixed, especially when they

30

have to lift loads that can be easily moved beneath them; train cargoes, for instance.

Extra, extra The strongest crane to date is Taisun, in Yantai, China. It can safely lift 20,000 metric tonnes.

However, not all the cranes are made to lift massive loads: some smaller versions can be used, for example, in workshops to lift engines out of cars.

Taisun may symbolise a problem well-known within the sector. Manufacturers in the lifting equipment industry have been facing growing competition from low-cost economies for at least a decade. The recent economic downturn has added pressure on them.

Companies that generally do better are those that can offer the customer a number of extra services, like modernising and refurbishing of old equipment and support in solving problems.

Derrick Bailes, technical consultant at the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA), agrees.

“Those who do best seem to be companies which have a niche market for solving problems. They will manufacture or modify equipment for specific applications which ‘off the shelf’ equipment cannot satisfy. They use a combination of standard equipment and bespoke items. Also in this category are companies which refurbish or modernise older equipment,” he says.

Price points Many customers choose their equipment based on the price. There are considerable risks related to this approach: many suppliers that offer cheaper products for sale, even on the web, often don’t have relevant knowledge or expertise.

To have an advantage over them, companies need to be always up to date with legislation, standards and industry codes of practice, as well as providing extensive day-to-day service and support. “As experts in their field, their added value is their ability to

Specialfeature Lifting solutions

advise and guide their customers rather than simply supplying what is requested,” Bailes adds.

Buying used equipment is a measure several businesses have adopted in a bid to cut costs. This shortcut is not always necessary, however. Belowthe-hook equipment (such as beams, weighing solutions or grabs) and portable lifting machines are not expensive to repair, and even new items are very cheap. Overhead cranes have traditionally a long existence, and are generally worth refurbishing and modernising on site. If they need to be moved and adapted to a new location, however, costs can be very high.

Safety does it...

When it comes to used items, safety is even more paramount. Bailes explains: “There is no fundamental reason why used equipment cannot be moved, refurbished or modernised, but the job must be done properly and the temptation to cut corners to save money must be resisted.”

Health and safety are the main concerns in the industry, with ever-changing and strict legislation that ensures cranes can tolerate weights and that they are fit for the job. Before a safety certificate is issued, a crane needs proof-testing: this test is not carried out based on the actual weight the crane is built to tolerate, but on that weight plus an extra 25%.

Equipment that cannot manage 125% of the rated capacity is considered unsuitable for the job.

Steve Wass, Konecranes’ branch manager at Agusta Westland, explains: “You have actually overloaded the crane, but then you check the deflections on the bridge, on the steel work, and certificate it.”

The legal framework Safety is intrinsically connected to training.

Operating cranes is a high-responsibility job, and it remains particularly important that workers in the lifting equipment industry are properly coached.

Legislation regulating the way lifting equipment is taken into use and safely put in service (the Use of Work Equipment Directive) includes the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER).

“They address both the condition of the equipment and they way it is used,” Bailes explains.

PUWER requires the equipment to comply with the Machinery Directive when deployed and to be maintained, while LOLER requires it to be inspected and thoroughly examined regularly to ensure it is still safe (usually every 12 months, but for lifting gear and machines that lift persons need examination every 6 months).

Another important piece of legislation dealing with safety is based on a European Directive. The 1995 Machinery Directive was implemented in the UK by The Supply of Machinery Regulations 2008, which outlines the safety requirement for both power and

manually operated lifting machines and accessories (e.g. below-the-hook equipment).

Thorough examinations must be carried out by a ‘competent person’. They include all the tests that person considers necessary, and a record of the results must be kept. As a widely-accepted rule, equipment that has been stored for a period of time needs to be inspected before being used again, and extra care must be taken when machineries are outdoors, as the environment around them might cause them damage. In the offshore industry, for example, salt water can ruin components relatively quickly due to its corrosive effect.

The examination requirements date back to the Factory Acts, before current lifting equipment regulations came into force: there is no official licensing system or appointment to determine who a ‘competent person’ is.

Looking to the future To tackle this problem, LEEA came up with its own qualification scheme over 50 years ago. It is still recognised worldwide. Employees of LEEA members can take the association’s Diploma Examination.

Once they pass the exam, they are entitled to the TEAM (Test Examine And Maintain) card — a credit card-sized photo ID card proving they are fully qualified to carry out examinations on equipment.

Bailes comments: “Well trained and qualified personnel working within a proven legal framework of inspection and examination has ensured a high level of safety. Since the LEEA qualifications started, many thousands of persons have qualified and their track record to date is second to none. Regrettably, most lifting equipment accidents occur as a result of the way the equipment is used rather than because of any failure on the part of the equipment examiner.”

Compliance to health and safety regulations and the offering of a wide array of products and services represent a successful strategy. It is important to help customers to save money and avoid down time (which is an inconvenient that can cost tens of thousands of pounds a day), by offering a full-time assistance or being able to supply replacement parts quickly, for example.

Being able to provide customers with something more than the mere supply of products is an effective way of dealing with a competitive industry.

When asked how the lifting industry is coping with the recession, Bailes says: “It’s hard to say. Most companies are managing to survive. Many are long established and have had previous experience of managing economic downturns. Before the current recession, there was already considerable rationalisation going on due to the effects of globalisation, and that is likely to continue with acquisitions and mergers.”

A good example of how a cranes and lifting equipment manufacturer can overcome many of the most common problems in the industry is offered in the Konecranes profile at page 33.

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THIS CRANE COMES WITH 9000 SPECIALISTS Every Konecranes product comes equipped with the knowledge and experience of each one of our employees. From the design lab, to the research department, right down to the service technicians on your site. Their role is ensuring you get the highest productivity possible. We have a specialised crane manufacturing design facility to compliment our service branch network throughout the UK providing you with year round support, enabling our specialist service technicians to respond to your needs 24 hours a day. When you invest into a Konecranes product, you receive something that is deeper than just a piece of material, peace of mind.

www.konecranes.co.uk

Casestudy Konecranes

Checksandbalances Roberto Priolo speaks to Konecranes, a cranes manufacturer and maintenance service provider that has become an important player in the lifting equipment industry thanks to substantial investment in R&D and a wide offer of services.

Konecranes’

way of dealing with its customers is one of its biggest assets. The company doesn’t stop at the supply and initial inspection of cranes and other lifting equipment, but also offers a range of services specifically designed to meet customers’ needs.

Headquartered in Finland, Konecranes is a giant within the industry, present in a total of 43 countries, with 500 sites. It employs over 9,700. In the UK, Konecranes has 15 crane service branches and a crane manufacturing factory in East Kilbride.

The company provides a wide range of lifting solutions and equipment for a number of sectors, with general manufacturing, ports, pulp and paper, steel and automotive being its main markets. Its customers include Cummins Engines, Rolls Royce and Siemens.

James Bow, marketing manager at Konecranes UK, says: “Keeping costs down is very important.

We register the cost of downtime our customers can incur in and work to minimise it. We also make sure the machinery works efficiently to maximise their productivity.”

Steve Wass is Konecranes’ branch manager at Agusta Westland, the helicopter manufacturer. He says: “Sometimes you need to be more than a crane manufacturer, offering more than one service. We always find new ways of assisting our customers. It’s very competitive out there.”

Service represents 37% of the Konecranes’ business. The company can rely on thousands of technicians and other employees to deliver the high-standard performance it promises, which includes providing spare parts, repairing machinery, maintaining about 370,000 cranes (25% of which are manufactured by Konecranes), offering a 24/7 on-call service and five different levels of service a customer can choose between: contact, condition, care, commitment and complete.

Wass explains: “We can install a crane in China and monitor it from Finland, thanks to our round the clock Global Technical Support. This way we

give the customers something more: we service their cranes, we inform them all the time about their machinery. For some of them it is very important, because their cranes work 24 hours a day and they can’t afford for them to go down.”

Despite the success, the economic downturn had an impact on the business. Bow comments: “The recession has hit our customers. They use cranes, and therefore our services, less. But we are happy that the demand for our maintenance services hasn’t dropped, which means we not losing them. Our advantage is that we don’t rely on a single industry.”

Last year, Konecranes focused on savings costs (its operating income went from €248m in 2008 to €98m in 2009), and yet the company’s investment in R&D was €22m – 1.3% of net sales. Its large number of customers means the business can easily have an understanding of the market needs, and come up with effective solutions accordingly.

The Smarton is an example of what Konecranes’ R&D division does: it’s a crane designed for small environments, that can lift up to 500 tonnes.

An environmentally-friendly solution (made of 98% recyclable materials and with its braking energy returning to the power grid), designed to raise productivity while cutting lifecycle costs, it monitors its own condition, suggesting preventive maintenance tasks.

According to current regulations on safety, one of Konecranes’ biggest concerns, examinations need to take place at regular intervals. Together with his team of 20, Wass inspects a total of 11,000 items a year at Agusta Westland. “Inspections generally come every 12 months, we do two for the cranes at Agusta, first the visual one and then a major preventive maintainance. The reason why we do the visual one is that it gives the customer the heads up, and spots problems when it’s still cheap to get rid of them,” he comments.

The possibility to plan investments ahead of time is a great advantage for companies, as it will avoid suddenly having to face unexpected costs that can compromise the business’ overall well-being.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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EntEr nOW

Celebrate Manufacturing for a Better Britain Having emerged from the recession stronger, leaner and with many new initiatives in place, UK Manufacturing is ideally placed to make a better Britain!

Established over 10 years ago, The Manufacturer of the Year Awards competition is specifically designed to celebrate the strength and diversity of UK Manufacturing. So enter today and showcase your achievements.

For further details visit www.themanufacturer.com/awards

Corporate Sponsor:

The categories this year are: Leadership and strategy Innovation and design World class manufacturing People and skills IT in manufacturing Supply chain and logistics Operations and maintenance Sustainable manufacturing SME manufacturer of the Year Financial services Advanced manufacturing And the winner of winners category: The Manufacturer of the Year

For further details contact Laura Williams on 01603 671323 or email l.williams@sayonemedia.com The winners will be announced at a black tie gala dinner and Awards ceremony at Chesford Grange, Kenilworth on Thursday 18th November 2010. If you are interested in sponsoring an Award, please contact David Alstin on 01603 671307 or email d.alstin@sayonemedia.com

www.themanufacturer.com/awards

Finance and professional services

The new economic world order In February 2010, BDO LLP announced a series of reports outlining how the post-recession landscape is changing for businesses in the UK. Here, the business services firm offers a snapshot into of the first of these.

boost injected by the 25% fall in sterling’s tradeweighted exchange rate since early 2007 (which might have been expected to make UK products and services more attractive), evidence of such a rebalancing so far has been limited.

Over the past three years, the four-quarter current account deficit as a share of GDP has fallen, but only from 3.4% to 2.2% in Q2; a good start, but much more needs to be done. Further, as LloydsTSB show, the improvement would not appear to have been driven

UK implications For those determined to stick their heads in the sand, the rapid change to the new economic world order presents a significant threat to the UK’s competitive position. But, says BDO LLP, we believe the change provides unprecedented opportunities in an expanded market place for those keen to identify and adjust for the implications of the new world order.

For the UK it’s a question of balance – and not just because our government, a coalition forged regardless of ideology, will be treading a tightrope over a hung House of Commons. As a priority the UK has to restore a better sense of balance to public and private finances. But balance will be key to the longer term as well, with the UK having great opportunities for leveraging its influence, sitting at the fulcrum between the United States and Europe, and between the Western and Eastern economies, India in particular.

In part, future UK growth depends on a shift of the balance from consumer spending and towards international trading. As LloydsTSB report in their first UK Quarterly Bulletin for 2010, notwithstanding the

We should not forget that the UK is a larger manufacturer than France, and some of its companies – notably in pharmaceuticals and defence – are world class by a rise in exports but by a marked fall in imports – reflecting the decline in domestic spending that is inevitable in a recession. An import-induced narrowing in the current account deficit is not a sustainable means for rebalancing growth. As domestic demand recovers, imports are likely to rise again, and with them the trade deficit. The UK’s deficit on trade in goods and services widened to £3.8bn in January 2010, compared with a deficit of £2.6bn in December 2009. After narrowing a little in February, the gap widened further to £3.7 billion in March – worse than March 2009, as well.

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Finance and professional services

A helping hand for manufacturing As Gerard Lyons, chief economist of Standard Chartered Bank, has argued, the countries that succeed in the new order will fit into one of three categories: • They will have the financial and human resources • They will have natural resources • They will have the ability to innovate and change Paying renewed attention to the UK’s manufacturing sector has to be at the heart of a strategy for restoring balance. Many observers have argued that the UK has recently depended too much on the financial sector. We should not forget that the UK is a larger manufacturer than France, and some of its companies – notably in pharmaceuticals and defence – are world class. BDO’s own manufacturing specialists published a report identifying six recommendations for policy makers for helping the manufacturing sector:

1 2

Dealing with the deficit, and thus providing stability to foreign exchange and interest rates.

Establishing an environment that allows manufacturing to be competitive, starting with a much promised taking down of unnecessary red tape.

3 4

Setting a clear strategy with defined and measurable targets.

5 6

Creating and supporting investment in emerging technologies.

Providing specific support to mid-market manufacturers; government initiatives tend to be aimed at the very big and the very small, with insufficient attention paid to the engine room of the economy in the £30-300m turnover bracket.

A recommendation not to forget the traditional manufacturer, and the innovation that happens (and will need to happen) within the UK’s traditional industrial base.

Shifting markets The UK needs to ask questions not just about ‘what?’ but also about ‘where to?’– recognising the shift from traditional markets in Europe and the G8 towards new economies. A recent study by Leeds University Business School, sponsored by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), Global Market Attractiveness Post ‘Credit Crunch’, ranks the UK’s 52 major trading partners using an index based on International Monetary Fund data on past and projected Gross Domestic Product and Purchasing Power Parity growth levels and the share of these countries in British exports.

Collectively, the 52 countries account for 95% of global British exports and around 90% of global GDP. Between 2005 and 2007, the countries offering the best opportunities were mostly Britain’s long-established trading partners: United States (1); Germany (2); France (3); Ireland (4); the Netherlands

(5); Belgium (6); Spain (7); Italy (8); China (9) and Japan (10). Looking forward the report forecasts some startling changes. Between 2012 and 2014, the top ten is predicted to be: China; USA; India; Libya; Ukraine; Russia; Romania; Korea; Mexico; and Singapore.

Many of the UK’s biggest trading partners in the West slip dramatically: Germany (30); France (34); Ireland (42); the Netherlands (37); Belgium (44); Spain (47) and Italy (46). “The results of this study were really surprising,” argues Professor Peter Buckley, the report’s lead author, “and show just how quickly the world is changing following the downturn in the wake of the global financial crisis.”

“We didn’t expect to see some of our closest neighbours and trading partners, like France, Germany and Spain, being replaced as key business locations by former Eastern Bloc nations such as the Ukraine and Romania in just five years time.

It’s perhaps not surprising that China and India will become increasingly important for British trade, but I think the prospect of Egypt and Pakistan potentially becoming a bigger draw for UK PLC than Canada and Saudi Arabia is an eye-opener.”

The government has a key role when it comes to ensuring the UK economy adjusts to the demands of the new order.

Taking advantage of fiscal and policy levers the government can help the UK economy nurture the capabilities and advantages at its disposal Where do we go from here?

The government has a key role when it comes to ensuring the UK economy adjusts to the demands of the new order. Taking advantage of fiscal and policy levers the government can help the UK economy nurture the capabilities and advantages at its disposal and make the changes necessary.

But good business leaders have never waited for or relied on politicians and regulators to initiate change.

Furthermore, such business leaders will recognise that it is easier to effect change when times are hard than when times are easy.

For those companies who understand their core capabilities, work hard to nurture them and are able to adapt to and fully understand the rapidly evolving international market place and can identify the opportunities, growth will be available on an unprecedented scale. As Michael Porter observed in 1990: “A nation’s competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade.

Companies gain advantage gain advantage against the world’s best competitors because of pressure and challenge.”

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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Finance and professional services

Financenews..

US economy falters

Osborne faces-off with EU On his first day representing the new British coalition government in Europe, Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, told his new partners it is “unacceptable” for Brussels to demand a 6 per cent increase in its 2011 budget at a time of crisis and belt-tightening.

Commenting on the suggestion he said: “I put to [fellow ministers] that there should be a cash freeze for 2011 in the budget, given what many member states are having to do.”

Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne

The pace of the US economic rebound may be slowing, manufacturing data suggested on Monday, as concerns grow about the impact of Europe’s debt crisis on global growth. The New York Federal Reserve said its gauge of manufacturing in New York state showed the pace of growth slowed in May, though the jobs index component rose to its highest level in about six years. “This is just confirmation that the recovery is not exactly robust,” said Peter Kenny, managing director of Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Industry needs clarification

Acquisitions on the cards

Britain’s manufacturers have urged the new coalition government to move swiftly to set out a credible plan for reducing the public sector deficit and a vision for creating a new economic model and a more balanced economy with a stronger role for manufacturing. Commenting, EEF the manufacturers’ organisation Chief Executive, Terry Scuoler, said: “Industry will be relieved that the uncertainty of the last few days is behind us. But now it needs to see clarity from government on how it will tackle the big issues such as reducing the deficit and rebalancing the economy. This new model of government gives it a great opportunity to think and act differently in how it approaches these major challenges. It is vital that it now grasps it.”

Despite turbulence in the Euro-zone and increased levels of volatility in the equity markets, activity is building up in the manufacturing sector. Barclays Corporate reports that it has seen increasing numbers of companies approaching the bank for acquisition financing, pointing to large acquisitions on the horizon. According to the bank, “the financing behind these deals is shifting from debt funding, as was seen in the past, to more broad funding packages incorporating bonds, US private placements and new equity. Companies that have developed a long-standing strategic approach to growth are looking at the financial benefits of enacting their plans in the current environment of distressed pricing, and beginning to make their moves. As ever with acquisitions businesses should be careful to ensure that their actions fit within their wider business plan and not just buy on price.”

The need for new tax

Corporation tax cut welcomed

The Engineering Employers Federation has urged the new Government to grasp the opportunity for tax reform, claiming that the current system was “close to breaking”. The EEF complained that taxes were tilted against manufacturing and stood in the way of promoting investment and innovation. The EEF said taxes needed to encourage manufacturing investment and be competitive enough to attract international companies to the UK. Director of Policy Steve Radley said: “The current tax system is not fit for purpose, is close to breaking and simply cannot deliver an economy that allows the UK to pay its way and generate the wealth necessary to repay our debts.

Commenting on George Osborne’s speech at the CBI Annual Dinner on May 19, Stephen Herring, Senior tax Partner, BDO LLP said: “We warmly welcome the Chancellor’s commitment to cut the rate of corporation tax significantly; this should include an immediate cut to 25% with further reductions to 20% during the lifetime of this Parliament.

Indeed, we have consistently argued that the single most important feature of the UK tax system for businesses is to have a competitive headline corporation tax rate; it is a shame that we had to fall behind the likes of Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and much of Central Europe in this respect.”

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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Innovation in IT for Manufacturing

a roundtable debate How can a network services provider improve corporate visibility, better connect engineers on multiple sites and identify cost savings and new business opportunities for manufacturers?

At

a sponsored dinner in March, representatives from global telecoms group BT, and IT and manufacturing professionals from Britvic Soft Drinks, Rolls-Royce, SaintGobain and Solaglas, discussed the need for more holistic visibility of the business needs of multi-site companies, how network service providers can improve supply chain management, the role of outsourcing and Cloud computing, and whether manufacturing is behind the IT technology curve compared with the service sector.

The participants were: Dr Tony Amorelli Lead Technologist – HVM, Technology Strategy Board Mike Halloran echnical Architecture Manager, Britvic Soft Drinks Dr Matthias Holweg Reader in Operations Management, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge Paul Marchant-Smith Technical Services Manager, Solaglas, a division of Saint-Gobain Duncan Morris Manufacturing Manager, Saint-Gobain Glass UK Ged O’Neill Senior Marketing Director, Manufacturing, BT Global Services David Ray IT Service Management Director, Rolls-Royce Aviation and Aerospace Sarah Strang IT Manager, Solaglas Neil Woolerton Director of Global Manufacturing, BT Global Services Henry Anson and Will Stirling The Manufacturer (The roundtable debate that follows is abridged).

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Specialfeature BT roundtable debate

BT presented their understanding of what innovation looks like in a manufacturing company.

IT and network services in the Supply Chain A large supply chain has many diverse players – raw materials providers, departments within the home company like manufacturing and packaging, and occasionally competitors need to be involved.

Often top secret information is being exchanged in collaborative environments to improve the efficiency of supply chains.

Different parties in the supply chain have different methods and metrics – the systems they use will rarely give them visibility of the goals and metrics their supply chain partners use. Not only are they not synchronised, they may be in flat out conflict with each. These conflicts of interests can persist for years.

Example: The packaging department of a manufacturer decides to reduce the amount of packaging it uses, because it frees up space and working capital. But if that initiative means it increases the time to pack goods and distribute goods, it might compromise the ability of the logistics department to hit on-time delivery targets.

This is based on a real case study. Left to their own devices there is every incentive for each of these parties to focus on their own goals and objectives at the expense of the other parties, often because they don’t even realise their goals are in conflict.

The role of a network service provider is to: 1) provide a data network over which all this information can be exchanged but also 2) provide audio and video conferencing that overcome the problems of the disparate IT systems in their supply chain that don’t allow them to visualise end-to-end, rather just their own component.

The complexity of large companies’ IT systems, where different sites run different operating systems and ERP, makes clear communication essential. In the order-to-cash cycle for one of our consumer goods customers, there were at least 36 instances of SAP supporting the company globally.

The CEO was concerned that it took the company 40% longer than its competitors to process orderto-cash. A leading strategy consultant helped identify the root cause of the problem. There were blind spots in the CFO’s visibility because some of the production sites were running their own ‘rogue’ applications outside the range of the central applications.

BT’s analysis found out how many applications there were, what they all did and how they talked to one another. The customer worked with the consultant to reveal inefficiencies in the way information was being exchanged between sites, which was causing the order-to-cash cycle to go slow. The exercise revealed that activities being carried out serially could have been done in parallel, and dead-ends in the system were identified. This sped up the order-to-cash cycle.

Making a commercial case for IT solutions Woolerton, BT: How do we make it clear how it benefits a company commercially? BT does a billing presentation for aerospace company EADS, it’s a great way to demonstrate the tangible benefits to a company. BT can also help to manage your supply chain billing, the commercial contracts and potentially the people management as well.

Holweg, Judge Business School: We’ve done similar work in automotive – mapping from the final customer back to the first tier supplier. We ran into the same problems in showing the financial benefits of changing it – it’s not something you can easily simulate, and the greatest impediments to changing this situation, common in most companies is showing what will happen.

Strang, Solaglas: In any organisation, understanding data is vital. You might have only one, two or three people who fully understand the endto-end data flow. At Saint-Gobain we understand the need to visualise the whole supply chain, but within individual businesses we don’t necessarily understand it. Solaglas is a bespoke manufacturing business, so we have to respond to the demands of our customers every day, we’re not manufacturing for stock. It’s an extremely difficult business to run efficiently because you’ve not only got difficult product to order and manoeuvre, but also wildly changing demand flow – we’re making-to-order the whole time. We have multiple sites but they are independent profit centres. From a management point of view it’s difficult.

Woolerton: CFOs and CIOs say they’re not receiving this management information, because each individual business unit is managing their own business and are not able to consolidate that information on performance, on lead times or whatever. A simple example is a tool we run a on mobile phone expenditure. You would not believe how crucial that is to a CFO, “I could take 20% out of my business like that by taking that out.” It’s about presenting quality information to senior people for them to make decisions, to get better efficiencies and more from their business.

Holweg: The inherent assumption when discussing supply chains is that all the companies want to work together but we always forget they are separate entities who are commercially independent. We must not forget there is a good reason why the ideas of supply chain management are not being adopted as fast as we want, because we’re all looking after ourselves. We need to find a mechanism to persuade people that as individual companies, that there is value in collaboration.

There are two means: 1) you have the commercial power, you’re Coca-Cola or P&G and you can dictate this will happen if you don’t do this you’re out of business with me or 2) commercial incentives, shared gains. Unless you have one or other of these two mechanisms, all what we’re talking about is nice ideas, it’s putting the cart before the horse.

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O’Neil: Ironically, IT is often the last department to find out that some new supply chain initiative has been launched.

Halloran, Britivic: Even worse, by the time IT gets involved, all the IT systems for each of the companies has been decided, not as a group but individually. So at Saint-Gobain, you might have a systems provider and your suppliers will have a different one.

A boardroom issue Strang: Part of the issue is where the IT sits. At S-G, it has always sat within finance, which is control, but it’s common for many to be outside of finance. When our parent company went international they shifted it to sit under business control. If you go to B&Q, for example, it’s certainly not in the finance department.

Halloran: IT is not on the board at Britvic.

There is no part of our business that doesn’t have IT implications somewhere, in the broader sense not in the traditional, corporate sense. That’s what I’m trying to do, break out and bring some sort of realism to integrating IT throughout the company.

Woolerton: Retail, where we have great experience, is a great example of IT not being under the control of finance. IT here is about driving the business, cost effectiveness, getting more customers through the door, from manufacturing to point-of-sale more quickly.

We have two challenges – 1) changing the mindset as I see it, that IT can bring some visual value to a company, and 2) what BT can do to help. Manufacturers have not realised the full potential of IT yet.

Ray, Rolls-Royce: At Rolls-Royce we don’t have the same supply chain issues that have been discussed, we get “I’m building a new plane, it’ll be on the runway in three years time, this is the type of engine or gas turbine.” Our issue is not managing the supply chain but the costs within the supply chain.

We give a cost for something that we’ll manufacture in five years time; the costs of raw materials will rise in that time, sometimes we win, usually we lose – how do we manage the cost of the supply chain to a forward point in manufacturing, rather than cost of getting hold of the raw materials.

Outsourcing O’Neil: Are most companies trying to outsource IT now?

Strang: We are reasonably clear about what gets outsourced and what doesn’t. Our network is outsourced, it depends what we classify as IT. The intellectual property rights, the skills – no. We outsource various bits of it, we have remote data centres, but a core of in-house IT skills will stay.

Marchant-Smith, Solaglas: Some things commonly fit into outsourcing. From the acting directory exchange to the ‘big things’ – the hosted machines and managing hosted machines – the business-specific stuff needs to stay close to the business. The harder it is to change, or the longer it take to change, and you lose that competitive advantage in the market. When you try to centralise everything it just doesn’t work.

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Halloran: If there is something that is not core to what we do that is easy and sensible to package up and outsource we’ll do it, but not what’s core to us.

Cloud computing Marchant-Smith: In the UK we have a mass of IT that we could actually outsource, but instead we use internal Saint-Gobain people to put that up into the Cloud, rather than outsource it to IBM or a third party.

Strang: We don’t use the Cloud for security reasons, but that may change. Saint-Gobain has a standard security throughout its manufacturing businesses — the same IT security policy is applied to Jewson as it is to us. The board / senior management recognised the differences in manufacturing a little later so we’re tidying up.

Halloran: Regulation is also important. You can “cloud” some things but with others you’ve got to be quick to respond, you don’t want a long term rule on anything if you have to drag it back in at short notice if a new directive comes from Brussels.

Ray: On outsourcing, I disagree. Our exchange would be the last thing to outsource. I’d be more interested to outsource some of our business systems, but not the control systems. With the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which partnered with Rolls-Royce initially, today the back of the engine is a completely different design, there’s now a wave shape. It’s a noise reduction feature as it cuts down vibration. That has been picked up by our gas turbines business from our marine business, because stabilisers on ships vibrate at a certain speed. Knowledge from one business has been put it into another – so our internal communications are critical and we’d maintain that in-house.

Collaboration O’Neil: Aerospace is an IP-sensitive industry – do you have to use the same engineering systems as your partners, do you work virtually, how do you exchange files?

Ray: We don’t tend to exchange files. A plane has been designed, the manufacturer says this is the type of engine I want, these capabilities, with this engine spec and this fuel consumption and you design to that specification. For IT, we have Rolls-Royce Supply Chain Management. We service the management, we do on-wing care, so a lot of planes are serviced at airports, where a Rolls-Royce mechanic goes out and services the engine. We monitor them in realtime in flight from Derby, so we know exactly what’s happening to all the engines in the air and we know exactly which parts might be needed.

Morris: Rolls-Royce’s example is a very good one in design engineering, in terms of the product you make being used, there are all sorts of IT parameters to draw on. Glazing is different – it depends on the end application. Here we’re talking about parts that are moving in a controlled environment – repeatability.

Woolerton: Companies will realise they can buy in to a percentage of a network, a percentage

Special feature BT roundtable debate

of time required to support their services, for companies with a common supply chain link. The pay-as-you-go approach.

We need to work on our flexibility to do this, rather than focus on five or 10-year contracts, we need to adapt to pay-as-you-go.

Ray: We have 13 different ERP systems from 13 diff providers. The main one is SAP. We would like to consolidate, the main system was put in 3-4 years ago. They’re slowly retiring the other systems but it doesn’t happen quickly.

Marchant-Smith: It’s economies of scale for us. We tried to move SAP, move it literally on the road, somebody said it wasn’t going to fit in our data centre. Why would I pay SAP 3-4 times as much for putting it in a bespoke data centre with an 84% SLA when I can leave it in Coventry? Get real.

Woolerton: If I could offer you the same package for SLAs, around the same capacity as your data centres, which is a big capex, you wouldn’t have the £5m or more constant servicing costs, but housed in the cloud – it is a risk, it’s not a completely secure solution, yet, but it does take a lot of the cost out of the business. What happens if one of your core data centres is damaged in a terrorist attack or other extreme event?

O’Neil: The opportunity for cloud computing isn’t there yet with the enterprise systems, but it will start with the low hanging fruit – Windows-based portals, intranet sites etc.

Strang: But they can’t control that at a local business level – so they have to be selective about what can be controlled at that level. There will be opportunities for cloud computing like Sharepoint and portals, it’s not corporate data, it’s a mechanism to sort and arrange it.

Woolerton: We need to demonstrate cloud computing works at the local business level with simple data transfer, it’s early days. Microsoft is putting a lot of money behind it, but it is catching up. BT has partnered with Microsoft, Google is offering the same. It’s about taking risk with a new technology, and knowing when to jump.

Stirling: Jaguar Land Rover last year migrated its email exchange for 14,000 users to the Cloud, quite successfully. It is ‘low integration curve IT’ like email, e-commerce and HR that gets adopted for the cloud first.

Immersive video teleconferencing Marchant-Smith: A video teleconference with someone in Paris can be tedious – it’s a culture thing. Sometimes it’s better to put the message in an email. And time delays can make it frustrating.

Strang: I don’t see video conferencing getting into the mainstream. Voice conferencing we use all the time. Video conferencing needs a lot of physical effort.

Halloran: It’s well-established at Britvic – as we add a site we just put it in and we do multi-pointing as well. It’s restricted by bandwidth but you can work around that.

O’Neil: When you get immersive video right, it’s wonderful. You hear stories using some systems where a pen would roll off a desk in Singapore and someone in London reaches out to catch it.

Strang: We have lots of small sites. To install videoconferencing and the required bandwidth is not cheap. We’re a low margin business – it’s OK to install this if you have major head offices, but not for local sites.

Morris: There is sometimes a need to get physical bodies around a table. Our management direction is to meet face-to-face every two months, you fly to the location and look them in the eye.

Strang: We are more green today, we travel less to the continent now and we do more WebEx meetings. We’ve cut face-to-face meetings to once a year now, that’s about half.

Halloran: Our business support people at each site do that. It paid for itself within three months in reduced travel times, between the three key sites in Peterborough, Chelmsford and Solihull. In our IT transformation programme, the amount of people travelling between UK and Ireland has been phenomenal. As you get to know people better you can do this long distance communication more via video. I’m surprised that the others here don’t use it all the time. At Britvic it’s been commonplace for years. Every production facility has one. Chelmsford has three.

Woolerton: ROI is absolutely vital. Generalising, but perhaps manufacturing is still in a “buy” mentality where they’re geared up to examine ROI on the purchase. Going forward it has to change and that is a big deal for many companies.

Strang: The investment required to capitalise on these IT projects is high – cash is the problem in manufacturing.

Morris: When you present your case for IT innovation, is it often lost in translation to the people you present to?

Woolerton and O’Neil: In retail and financial services, IT is board level and the ROI is more instantly recognised. In finance, it’s proportionate to what they earn from the technology – they invest eight times more on IT than manufacturers.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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Lee McKenna receives the Best MD Award at the Make It Enterprise Challenge Final

Can you smell teen spirit?

The negative perception of manufacturing among important demographics like young people has become something of a cliché. Most people agree that, as a sector, its image needs modernising. But, as Jane Gray finds out, young people are beginning to get a better impression.

The

furore of the general election campaign in May culminated in the final gaudy but popular prime ministerial televised debate, involving an impassioned discussion about manufacturing’s role in rebalancing the economy and how the parties plan to enable that cause.

The three would-be PMs discussed ways to support economic recovery linked to the need to provide employment for the UK’s struggling workforce. This topic found particular resonance with the youngest voters watching the debate, according to a poll by The Times showing unemployment to be young voters’ biggest concern. This is not wholly surprising, when you consider that as of May 12 unemployment hit a record high of 2.51 million, of which 941,000 are 16 to 24-year olds.

The alignment of these employment issues and economic regeneration in the public eye exposes the

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way in which the UK’s industrial needs have failed to be communicated to the job market or fed effectively into the skills development of the workforce.

However, this alignment is also an opportunity.

Under the conditions of youth culture the issues of a manufacturing renaissance and job opportunities have been cast under the same spotlight, and there follows a real chance to highlight the potential of manufacturing as a career destination for young people today.

The importance of taking this opportunity should not be underestimated. There is a great deal of work going forward in the continuing professional development of our workforce, but if UK manufacturing is to develop the capability it desires in emerging markets and advanced technologies and follow the strategy for growth set out in publications like the Government’s white paper New Industry:

People and skills

New Jobs then it is the next generation of workers who need to be enthused and made aware of the opportunity that the sector holds for them.

Today, this is far from the reality. Statistics from this year’s National Strategic Skills audit by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills show that from 2001 to 2009 there was a decline in the take up of technical-level jobs in manufacturing such as metal making operatives and quality assurance technicians. Moreover, the top five fastest growing occupations included jobs in legal services and leisure or theme parks. Both of these growth areas displayed rises of over 100%, showing that the service sector is still far outstripping industry in creating and filling job opportunities in the UK.

If she can do it, I can do it It is true that the decline in manufacturing intake can be attributed to falling demand as processes are offshored and disruptive technology causes certain jobs to become redundant. However, this is too easy an escape from the additional explanation that industry is not taking responsibility for communicating job opportunities to the emerging workforce or being proactive in influencing their career choices while their opinions and interests are still malleable.

It is also easy to say that this task is the remit of teachers and careers advisors, but Science for Careers, a report from the Science and Society Expert Group, identifies that careers advice is generally outdated and inaccessible. It needs to change so that users feel that it “is their information, available for them, in a way that they want to use it,” the report says. This feeling is echoed by Cogent, the Sector Skills Council, whose research canvassing the opinions of 2,000 14-16 year olds showed that only 5% included their careers advisors as a source of influence in their career ambitions (49% confidently stated that their main influencer was themselves and 39% identified their parents as primary motivators).

This information gap is openly recognised by those young people who have managed to defy it and are now enjoying unforeseen benefits from industrial careers. Phoebe Gentleman and Jarryd Lawley, both 17-year old production operatives at Power Panels Electrical Systems, relate their experiences to TM. Phoebe: “I went to college after I left school to study health and social care but it really wasn’t for me. My mum works at Power Panels and she told me there was opportunity here. I thought it couldn’t hurt to find out some more about it and found a really good job that was something I could see I would progress in. My school was quite open about telling us that there were other options apart from ‘A’ levels and telling us that you can keep getting qualifications at work, but I know some people at grammar school and all they ever get told is about going to university.”

Jarryd: “I left school and went to a construction college for a year and a half butthere was nowork out there. My Mum has worked here [Power Panels] too

for five years and progressed from the bottom and is working her way up. I thought: if she can do it, I can do it. My school didn’t really tell me about options of going straight into work, and my friends who have gone to college have got some really wrong ideas about what goes on in manufacturing. They just like paperwork – they don’t want to get their hands dirty and they want to be at the top straight away. I want to work my way up.”

(em)Power Panels Alison Dowd, manufacturing manager at Power Panels, recognises that capturing two such motivated young people as Jarryd and Phoebe has been an asset which the company could easily have missed. “Both Jarryd and Phoebe left education with an idea of what they wanted to do, and it did not include working in a factory. Family influence and their own work ethic brought them to us and we took them on because they are hard-working and care about what they do.

I believe that these two guys will do really well.

They’re not sure yet what they want, they’re just reaching for the stars but with a bit of systematic education in the work place I hope they will progress to be our managers in the future – because I don’t want to do this forever!”

Speaking further on the subject of work ethic, Dowd said: “I really don’t know what is going on in schools to prepare young people for work. Often I find that the young people who come here without a family link or local knowledge of the factory are not confident of what they want of get from our opportunities. They are not prepared for being interviewed and have no idea how to communicate with me as a potential employer. It must really hold a lot of young people back from getting their foot in the door with their first job.”

While it is great for some companies to capture the proactive talent of young people like Phoebe and Jarryd, the potential interest which could be unlocked if young people were better informed about the variety of jobs and routes into manufacturing work is huge. Rachel Hockaday, an apprentice from Kawasaki Precision Machinery in Plymouth, agrees.

Rachel is currently studying for her NVQ Level 3 in Performing Engineering Operations, which is provided by leading vocational awards body, EAL.

Please Sir, may I know some more?

“I’ve never been good at sitting down and learning but have done well when I can get hands-on,” Rachel says. “Unfortunately, the school I went to didn’t give information about apprentice routes so I went straight to college because I thought that’s just what you do next. I was able to take a BTEC National diploma there that really sparked my interest in engineering but I quickly realised I didn’t want to do more further education but to be gain qualifications while working. That’s when I found out about apprenticeships and NVQs.

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The Manufacturer.indd 1

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People and skills

“At careers evenings at school we had people from loads of different universities, but we never really had anyone from any businesses. It’s a bit better now in schools but I definitely feel that if employers or even just careers advisors could highlight apprenticeships and were able to explain clearly what they entailed loads more people would want to go into manufacturing and engineering.

“My own ideas about manufacturing have changed a fair bit since I took up my apprenticeship. It’s not the clock-in, clock-out day that I thought it might be. It’s way more varied and skilled. There’s problem solving and programming, quality work and lots of communication between functions which is exciting. If I could speak to teachers and careers advisors in schools now my key message would be: don’t dismiss apprenticeships. It’s been the best possible route for me, but I could have got here a lot quicker if there had been more information early on.”

Business is child’s play There is evidence, however, that this lack of communication and information is being redressed – and in the most dynamic and engaging way. On Thursday April 28, The Manufacturer attended an inspirational event run by The Manufacturing Institute’s Make It campaign. This event, the grand finale in a series of Enterprise Challenges, tasked teams of children aged 13-14 from schools across the north-west with creating micro-businesses for a specific product development initiative. They would then compete in front of a Dragon’s Den-style panel of leading regional manufacturers for the prestigious prize of Best Company and Design. This year the winners were from Kirkbie Kendal School, Cumbria.

The teams were required to attribute key business functions, such as finance and marketing directors, manufacturing managers and managing directors, to appropriate team members according to their interests and skills sets. Working together, the children easily overcame the obstacles of silo working and lack of strategic alignment that so often beleaguer adults. They created an overwhelming range of innovative products backed by consideration of the choice of raw materials, environmental regulation, cost restrictions and customer demand.

This process was supported throughout by ambassadors from local manufacturing organisations from a range of sectors. Companies who have taken part over the course of the competition include Jaguar Landover, BAE Systems and Robert Wiseman Dairies. They made themselves available for interrogation about their jobs and even shared information on their salary scales.

To say the children attending this event were surprised and intrigued would be an understatement. Feedback has showed that their perceptions alter from seeing manufacturing

as a dead end, low paid, boring and dirty work environment to one of creativity, team work, technology and potential wealth.

Lee McKenna of St Thomas More Catholic High School, Cheshire, said: “I’ve learnt a lot a few new things about what manufacturing involves – there can be a lot more pay in it than I thought for a start and apart from working on machines there’s a lot of technology involved as well as office roles. Also I learnt that I’m quite good at working with teams. I got a special mention for being the best managing director after the first round.”

Courteney Leech of Haslingden High School in Lancashire, added: “It’s been really exciting, which is not what I expected when my teacher said we’d find out more about what happens in factories. I was a bit iffy about whether to come but my Mum said ‘what have you got to lose?’ In the first round I was financial director but this time I’m managing director. I really enjoyed being financial director because I’ve always liked maths, but it’s so much more real when you have to use it like this. After today I would definitely give working for a manufacturing company a shot.”

My own ideas about manufacturing have changed a fair bit since I took up my apprenticeship. It’s not the clock-in, clock-out day that I thought it might be – it’s way more varied and skilled Rachel Hockaday, apprentice, Kawasaki Precision Machinery

Where do we go from here?

Schemes like the Make It campaign and Manufacturing Insight (an independent government body established in 2009 under the wing of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) are battling on several fronts to change outdated preconceptions about manufacturing and show young people how attractive it can be. A passive approach will only result in further job decline as more dynamic industries compete for the best talent emerging from schools and universities.

Nicola Eagleton-Crowther, Make It campaign manager, delivers this parting shot: “The starting point for making manufacturing seem relevant and exciting for kids today is industry itself. Too many people are quietly ashamed of associating themselves and their sector with the word ‘manufacturing,’ preferring to use shinier terms like engineering and product design. If we can’t embrace the terminology ourselves, what does that say to ambitious young minds who want to be proud of what they do?”

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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RBS Manufacturing Fund assists UK manufacturing sector Despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the ‘old’ economies of the world and especially the Eurozone and its major trading partners, RBS is seeing some good examples of UK manufacturing demonstrating its resilience and capacity to look ahead.

Peter Brotherton, Director in RBS’s Manufacturing & Infrastructure Sector Coverage team explains.

In

our May article we provided details of the fund RBS launched recently to help Britain’s manufacturers develop and grow their businesses after the severe recessionary pressures of 2009. We are very pleased to set out below some live examples of how the fund has been used to support our customers this year. We understand that manufacturers continue to operate with a great amount of caution, but we hope you will be encouraged by these examples and we would welcome direct contact from companies interested in learning more about the RBS Manufacturing Fund.

Counterline Ltd.

Knowsley-based Counterline Ltd was the first North West business to benefit from the Manufacturing Fund.

The specialist manufacturer of food service counters and displays needed the funding to help cover the costs of new orders worth £2m. It secured a £546k loan from the Manufacturing Fund as part of a £2.3m finance package,

48

which also included funding via the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme and from the Bank’s specialist Invoice Finance arm.

Counterline approached RBS to increase its working capital facilities after winning several new orders, including one with supermarket giant Tesco and another with a major distributor of food service equipment in the Netherlands. The new contracts are expected to boost Counterline’s turnover by £2m.

Established in 1983, Counterline’s products are used by the majority of high street food & beverage chains and major retailers such as Marks & Spencer, BhS and Debenhams. All products are designed and manufactured at the company’s Merseyside base on Knowsley Business Park.

Counterline has a turnover of £8m and employs 95 people.

Simon Dutton, Finance Director at Counterline Ltd, said: “As we continue to grow the business by winning new orders it is important to have strong working capital facilities in place so that we can absorb any initial increase in production costs. The Manufacturing Fund is a good solution as we have been able to secure investment finance on very competitive terms.”

Seward Limited

Seward Limited has been manufacturing and developing the Stomacher® blender for over 40 years to those companies serious about food safety. More than eight million food samples a day are prepared on Stomacher® paddle blenders around the world. With their UK base in Worthing and a US Subsidiary in New York, the company has expanded at a rapid rate and required larger premises to increase their production capacity.

The purchase of their latest premises, Dominion House in Worthing, was financially supported by NatWest and has enabled expansion of the company from its leased premises to freehold premises it owns. Seward employs 10 people locally and with the expansion of existing production lines it anticipates increased staffing levels in coming years.

Seward Limited has enjoyed continued profitable growth under the ownership of managing director John Patrick, Howard Matthews and Stuart Ray, who took over the business five years ago and are looking to expand the business even further over the next five years and more. The management worked with our Worthing Business Centre to agree £450k finance facilities through the Manufacturing Fund – the first Sussex company to receive funding since the fund’s launch.

TT Electronics plc

in May 2010 TT electronics plc, the global electronics and technology group, refinanced its bank loan facilities with a new banking syndicate including RBS .

TT electronics manufactures and supplies electronic components to some of the world’s leading manufacturers in the defence and aerospace, medical, transport, and industrial electronics markets.

Based in Weybridge, Surrey, the group has developed into a global player over the past 20 years by combining organic growth with a series of acquisitions in the UK and overseas. TT electronics employs 6,300 people worldwide, 1,400 of them in the UK at its sites across

so has been a testing time for us, and indeed most manufacturing firms, as we worked hard to overcome the challenges of a global economic recession.

Despite that backdrop, we have made good progress against the strategic plan we announced last year. We have significantly reduced our cost base and improved the way we serve our customers while focusing particularly on the markets we believe provide the best opportunities for growth and enhanced margins in the medium term. We have also reduced working capital in order to strengthen our financial position.

Refinancing our bank debt was key to our plans, so I’m delighted to have secured the support of our banks in this deal.”

RBS

John Patrick, Managing Director of Seward Limited, commented on the new finance package and the prospects for the company: “The business has expanded at a rapid rate and we are firmly established as a leading player in our field – manufacturing, developing and marketing Stomacher® paddle blenders on a global scale. NatWest has been very supportive from the outset and suggested the Manufacturing Fund would fit all of our requirements as well as providing access to a range of flexible terms on the loan, which we are confident is the right decision.”

the UK. The company also has manufacturing and sales facilities in Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, China, Mexico, Barbados, and North America.

RBS contributed £20m to the £70m refinance package, working alongside TT electronics’ existing bankers HSBC and two other banks new to the syndicate in Fifth Third and Santander. What was unique here was that RBS was able to draw upon its specialist manufacturing sector fund, launched earlier this year, to provide a significant share of the refinancing requirement in a flexible funding package.

With these funds TT will now look forward with the confidence of a strengthened financial position.

Shatish Dasani, Group Finance Director at TT electronics, said: “The last year or

Loan options: Option 1

Option 2

Loan term

2 years

3 years

Arrangement fee

0.75%

0.75%

Capital repayment holiday

Two years

Up to three years

Option to repay capital during the term of the loan

No

Yes, but only in year three

Interest rate

Fixed rate 3.40%

Fixed rate 4.30%

The overall cost for comparison is 3.8% APR for 2 years, 4.6% for 3 years Amounts available for drawing, interest rates and drawing periods for subsequent releases will be announced in due course. The £1 billion fund is available across the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

Terms and Conditions

Available to eligible UK manufacturing companies of any size. Lending is subject to demand, status and borrowers satisfying our credit criteria. Loans must be drawn no later than 10 business days after the date the Agreement is signed by the Customer, and no later than the expiry date of the relevant release. You will be required to pay interest quarterly throughout the term of the loan. Early repayment charges may apply during the fixed term period. Upon maturity of the borrowing, any amount outstanding will need to be refinanced. If you choose to defer the capital repayment in the third year you will still be required to pay the interest accruing over the deferred period. Over 18’s only.

For further information please contact your RBS or NatWest Relationship Manager or alternatively Peter Russell, Head of Manufacturing Sector, RBS on 020 7672 1007, peter.russell@rbs.co.uk

49

Andrew Black Hyco Manufacturing With Hyco Manufacturing in the midst of rapid growth, purchasing manager Andrew Black has lent his talents to the warehouse operation to ensure the company can cope with heightened demand without incurring extra costs on behalf of its customers.

Hyco

Manufacturing is a small Castleford, West Yorkshire-based producer of water and air heaters, hand dryers and hair dryers, fly zappers and fans. It has enjoyed a 50% rise in sales in the last three months and the company now handles over 100 products and 160 spare parts. This means effective warehouse management has taken paramount importance.

Since adding warehouse and dispatch to his purchasing management role at the start of 2010, Andrew Black – a man revered among his colleagues for the stream of innovative ideas that he has made his signature during his twelve year career with Hyco – has risen to the challenge with a number of initiatives to ensure that the company’s CV in brief – materials handling Andrew Black runs as smoothly as possible.

Age: 29 “Mistakes Employment: don’t just cost January 2010 – Present: us, they cost Operations manager – Hyco the customer.

Manufacturing If someone is February 05 – January 2010: waiting for a part Purchasing manager – Hyco that is mission Manufacturing critical to their May 2003 – February 2005: operation then it Stock controller – Hyco is essential we get Manufacturing it right,” he says.

September 1998 – May 2003: “And with the cost Production operative – Hyco of things going up Manufacturing globally it’s my job Education to date: to look at what we Snaith Secondary 1991-1996, can do internally GCSEs, English, Maths, Science etc to keep the full impact of those Interests: rises away from Playing Sunday league football, as the customer. well as coaching his son’s under Simply put, we 12s football team. Walking in the countryside, and visiting new and have to get things interesting places in the world. out to customers within 24 hours

50

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

as quickly, as neatly, at as little cost with as few mistakes as possible.”

Andrew’s strategy has been to reduce the chances of human error. Firstly, in designing a new system for managing spares, including new picking bays, to enhance dispatch performance, he has created a computerised uniform labelling and location system whereby items are ‘booked in’ to the warehouse as they arrive. This takes away a reliance on employee knowledge for where items are and what they look like. Daily checks have been introduced to ensure things are where they’re supposed to be.

Secondly, he has implemented a new picking and packing process whereby the two functions are separated and performed by different employees. This ensures any mistakes made at the first stage are picked up at the second. It has helped towards a 75-85% reduction in dispatch errors: from around 20-30 per month across 1,200 orders to now just five.

That will be good news for the warehouse employees as they have more than pride in their work riding on efficient delivery – Andrew is now introducing a performance related bonus scheme to add a little bit more incentive for success.

“The problem of people thinking they know where items are and trusting that judgement without checks could be major,” he says. “When somebody is waiting for a part the last thing they want is to be delivered the wrong one. That’s why we’re working towards completely eliminating the chance of human error. The work we’re doing the warehouse in geared towards improving our service, rather than making money, but we see exemplary customer service as a key enabler of our growth.

Managing director, Mike McHugh, comments: “Andrew’s enthusiasm has transformed our operations in just a few short months. As an employer we can’t always promise to recruit internally, but it is always the first place we look and it’s great news when things work out so well for everyone involved – including of course our customers.”

Operations maintenance and repair

Barr & Paatz’s Delta 3 robot, used for high speed pick & place applications

Man versus machine

Edward Machin investigates automation in manufacturing, one of the industry’s rising stars given its potential to increase machine time, flexibility and reduce waste material. Just don’t mention the whole unemployment thing…

Human

labour employed solely to serve their robot masters; Ethernet-based information technology driving all aspects of production; and, at worst, the rendering of entire workforces surplus to requirements. While it may seem like a bleak, dystopian vision lifted from the pages of Orwell, Huxley or Vonnegut, to the uninitiated automation can represent precisely such a nightmare.

However, one has to conduct only a cursory investigation to understand the increasing importance automated processes hold to manufacturers the length and breadth of Britain.

And far from phasing out the decisive role that humans play in maintaining the UK’s worldclass manufacturing base, automation enables

51

companies to become more competitive, thereby protecting jobs. The associated benefits are myriad, too, says Rockwell Automation’s sales director for UK and Ireland, Dominic Molly: increased innovation and productivity; a reduction in material wastage; maximising machine time; and meeting sustainability/energy reduction targets.

China alone is expected to install 100,000 industrial robots by 2015, with increased demand for robotics also seen in the economies of Eastern

Europe, South East Asia, India and Russia. “If that doesn’t sound alarm bells, it should,” says Stirling Paatz, managing director of Barr & Paatz, a robot integrator and partner of technology brands such as ABB, Mitsubishi, Stäubli and Festo.

“If we accept robot density as an accurate indicator of automation, then with less than 50 robots per 100,000 people employed in the UK’s manufacturing industry, we are below almost every other advanced or emerging nation,” he adds, ominously.

Siemens/Microsoft case study Industrial automation is rapidly evolving as information technology drives new levels of efficiency and productivity across the entire value added chain of manufacturers — from product design and development to production, sales and maintenance services.

Seeking to more clearly envision an efficient factory floor, Microsoft turned to a long-time partner, the Siemens Industry Automation Division, a specialist in automation systems, industrial controls and industrial software.

Engineers from both companies sought to conceptualise how information could travel from the factory floor to the IT center and back again — creating a feedback loop that optimises production resources. From their drawing boards came a Proof of Concept (POC) that connects a wide range of factory floor technologies, from sensors to servers, enabling increased levels of efficiency and productivity.

52

Enterprise connectivity

The Siemens-Microsoft industrial automation POC made its global debut at Hannover Messe 2010, and features production line stations including Enterprise Management, Materials Inbound Logistics, Assembly Line and Quality Assurance.

At the heart of the POC is an end-to-end enterprise connectivity architecture that spans from production line sensors to IT datacenter servers. Realtime access to factory floor data from enterprise applications allows for continuous production process optimisation and increases in overall factory productivity.

The system runs on Siemens’ industrial automation product range that include SIMATIC IPC model such as 19” Rack PCs, Box PCs, embedded PCs, the modular embedded Controller S7-mEC, Mobile Panels, Flat Panel monitors and the failsafe Software PLC SIMATIC WinAC RTX F. Windows Embedded operating systems used for the POC include: Windows Embedded Standard 7 for the specialised devices; Windows Embedded Enterprise for enterpriseclass equipment; Windows

Embedded CE for the handheld terminal and Windows Embedded Server for the industrial server appliances.

A solid foundation

The POC looks to give manufacturers confidence by leveraging the highperformance and reliability of the Windows Embedded platform and Siemens industrial automation systems.

For example, as a robust and dependable operating system for all PC-based industrial automation devices, Windows Embedded Standard 7 increases the flexibility and reliability of the complete production line system.

Moreover, safe and secure communication, based on standard web service protocols, enables connectivity between existing legacy systems and modern factory devices — while still supporting firewalls, encryption and real-time networking.

From the manufacturer’s perspective, using Windows Embedded from sensors to servers increases the reusability of existing applications and reduces the need to integrate a multitude of hybrid solutions from different vendors.

Operations maintenance and repair

From days to minutes First coined by Ford Motor Company’s vice president, Delmar S. Harder, in 1948, twenty-first century automation is broadly defined as ‘the use of control systems, in concert with other applications of information technology, to control industrial machinery and processes.’

In its wider applications, too, but never more so than with regard to manufacturing, automation wears a coat of many colours. Robotics; motion control; motors and drives; machine safety; wireless connectivity; systems integration; and electrical panels account form but a fraction of its rich tapestry.

Indeed, reducing set-up times in complex applications from days to minutes — as with Inmoco’s Ormec XD Series of Indexer Servo Drives, for example — goes some way to explaining why many in the industry now consider automation very much worth investigating.

Unsurprisingly, and echoing Paatz’s warning call to UK manufacturers, worldwide demand for the gamut of automated tools is increasing. According to data from IFR’s statistical department, for example, which publishes an annual World Robotics study, the global shipments of industrial robots has risen steadily year on year: from 70,000 units in 1998 to 115,000 in 2008.

(Auto)making a comeback On 5 May 2010, IMS Research, a supplier of market research to the global electronics industry, announced results indicating a strong Q1 performance for the industrial automation electronics market — and predicting growth for the majority of automation equipment in 2010/11.

First quarter 2010 growth will likely have been 25% over that of Q1 2009, during which all regional

markets experienced the highest declines. Robust order books developed through both restocking efforts and new orders are expected to lead to a similarly strong second quarter in 2010, IMS says.

Based on a healthy anticipated first half of 2010, even a flat second half will result in close to doubledigit revenue growth for most product areas.

Replacing labour with machinery will result in redundant labour in that particular operation.

However, failure to do so will result in the same eventuality with a wider and more permanent effect Michael Hill, Optima Control Solutions

Additional findings in the report include: During the economic downturn the market for industrial automation electronics equipment was estimated to have declined 14.3% in terms of revenues: from $87.4bn in 2008 to $74.9bn in 2009.

The low voltage AC & DC drives market — estimated to be worth $8.6bn in 2009 — managed to outperform the low voltage induction motors market, thanks in part to the energy efficiency benefits that drives provide through retrofitting.

The market for PLCs and I/O modules are tied closely to new machinery and, as a result, experienced significant declines during 2009. However, both are predicted to see double digit growth in 2010.

53

Sales in Asia Pacific were buffered by China’s GDP, which remained positive during 2009. Following the region’s strong early recovery from the downturn, it is predicted to grow by 9.6% in 2010, and is forecast to become the largest regional market for industrial automation electronics equipment by 2011.

technology a key component in levelling the playing field. As a result, we all benefit from higher quality product, produced at higher rates and with relatively lower costs. Automation has a lot to answer for… mostly good.”

Given that automation equipment markets — such as PLCs, IPCs and I/O modules — rely heavily on machinery production growth, it is perhaps to be expected that this facet of manufacturing has blossomed with the industry’s wider technological advances.

Explains Michael Hill, managing director of Optima Control Solutions, a specialist in variable speed drive, PLC and SCADA applications: “Picture just about any manufacturing process in any vertical sector, from the automotive industry to food production and all points between, then reflect on how those industries manufacture their products today compared to three, two or even one decade ago. We see profound differences with each passing year.”

Manufacturing machinery has increased in its capabilities, complexity, flexibility and reliability.

Similarly, the sector has seen competition develop from beyond our western borders, with automation

And so, at last we lay eyes on the elephant in the room — holding that for every push closer to automation there exists a counter-weighted pull towards the dole queue.

Not so, insists Rockwell Automation’s Dominic Molloy. “By investing in automation you will become more competitive on a global scale. In doing so, your organisation thus becomes more profitable, creating additional jobs in the process,” he says.

Hill concurs. “It is a simple model: replacing labour with machinery will result in redundant labour in that particular operation,” he says. “However, failure to do so will result in the same eventuality with a wider and more permanent effect. It is an extremely unfortunate reality, and one that demands serious political consideration.”

One practical ramification of this unfortunately reality is highlighted by the British Automation Robotics Association. It cites the example of Nissan’s painted surface inspection system, in

Robot wars

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Operations maintenance and repair

Automateordie “How many more old-fashioned factories will go out of business in this country before we grasp the nettle that is automation and invest in our manufacturing sector?” asks Stirling Paatz, managing director of Barr & Paatz, a robot integrator and partner of technology companies including ABB, Mitsubishi, Stäubli and Festo. It is now a matter of automate or die, he says. Paatz gives the following reasons to automate.

Your competitors will. Rival producers in this country many not automate, but be sure that companies you’ve never heard of on the other side of the world will.

Global competitors are the most likely to steal your next order and those with the leanest, automated manufacturing process will grab market share.

It’s the right time. Coming out of the recession is a great time to take business from competitors, especially as it is easier to implement new systems when not running at full capacity. There are deals to be done on prices and, when the market improves, you’ll be leaner and more productive.

Cut back labour costs.

Automation allows you to take out labour costs from the

production process by using robots to load machine tools, handle raw materials, pick and place components, offload conveyors and replace many manual tasks. They also ease the worry of recruiting, training and retaining labour.

Protect employees’ jobs.

However, automation shouldn’t be seen as a threat to the workforce, but as a means of becoming more productive and competitive, thereby protecting jobs.

Automation increases the revenue generated per employee and allows machine-tenders to be reassigned more demanding tasks.

Robots don’t get sick. Industrial robots are designed to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with extremely limited downtime.

They don’t get sick, need to rest or take regular breaks, nor do they get bored with tedious, repetitive functions, carrying out each cycle precisely as before.

More production flexibility.

Industrial robots increase flexibility in the manufacturing process, whether it’s their ability to handle multiple products in one process, the multi-function flexibility of performing different concurrent tasks or the capacity for

which laser lighting is used to detect dust or dirt causing imperfections in a vehicle’s paint work. Introduced — serendipitously, we hear the numerologists cry — in 1984 to an area of production where high levels of concentration were required over extended periods of time, the fault detection rate rose from 60% to 100%.

A Brave New World Now, it is not to say that humans cannot undertake such tasks with aplomb; simply that machines, given their capacity to virtually eliminate error, do them better.

That said, it remains counter-productive to define the man versus machine debate as a zero sum game alone. Both have critical roles to play in the modern

reprogramming and deploying as the product mix changes. This, in turn, helps reduce time-to-market and in-process inventory.

Meet safety standards. Health and safety standards mean restrictions on heavy lifting, handling hazardous materials and working in explosive environments for manual workers — with strict legal sanctions for employers. When the task is potentially difficult or dangerous, a robot can do it instead.

Automation is ‘greener’.

Meeting energy reduction and carbon footprint targets are easier, because today’s servo-controlled robots use less power than hydraulic or pneumatic machinery and can operate in darkened or unheated environments. Robots will also turn off power-consuming peripherals and require less airflow velocity in closed booths.

If not, semi-automate. If you simply cannot justify the cost of full automation, you should at least consider semi-automation, which entails implementing a robot work cell for a specific production process. A strategic, affordable automated work cell can eliminate a production bottleneck, remove a hazardous manual function and cut associated labour costs.

manufacturing eco-system — the success of each, with no little irony, dependant on the endeavours of the other.

“UK manufacturing has always been very innovative and flexible, and to continue to operate in that mode we need to use the technology such as automation and control to make our businesses more successful,” says Rockwell’s Molloy. After all, adds Hill, “I can think of no manufacturing company, in any sector, that would not benefit from automation of some degree.”

Cutting through the doublethink, then. With automation and its associated technologies clearly here to stay, UK manufacturers are ensuring that the once-fraught relationship of man and machine now exists in a productive, sustainable harmony.

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

55

What a waste Changes are on the horizon for the WEEE directive, with significant implications for manufacturers of electrical and electronic goods.

Gay Sutton finds out what the new proposals entail and what manufacturers need to prepare for.

In

2007, after many years of planning not to mention several false starts, the European Union’s WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) directive was implemented in the UK, and manufacturers took on financial responsibility for the collection, treatment, recovery and recycling of the electrical and electronic goods they have produced. In practice, manufacturers are obliged to register with a Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS) which manages the collection and recycling process, handles the compliance paperwork and simply bills them for the costs.

As the WEEE directive stands at the moment each country within the EU is required to recycle an average of at least 4kg of electrical and

56

electronic goods per inhabitant each year, and this is largely achieved by collecting and recycling larger items such as washing machines and fridges. However the directive is in the process of being revised and this could have a significant impact on manufacturers.

The initial proposals for the Recast, as it’s called, are aimed at changing the method of calculation of the collection target and ensuring that less electrical or electronic goods fall through the net and end up in landfill as they currently do.

“This initial proposal suggests changing minimum requirements from the current 4kg per inhabitant to a percentage return,” explained Steven De Schrijver, partner at supply chain consultancy MÖBIUS. “The proposal currently lays this down as 65% of the WEEE put on the market in the previous two years, in all categories of WEEE.” If these targets are to be achieved, significant changes will have to be made to the existing collection systems.

WEEE is currently classified in 10 categories that range from large household goods such as washing machines and fridges through to lighting equipment and monitoring and control instruments - see box.

The UK’s current collection system has several elements. Non-

household WEEE is collected from the user either by a PCS or by the manufacturer directly, and is then delivered for recycling. Household WEEE is largely collected and sorted at municipal refuse sites, which means the general public can take items directly to their local site. Unlike much of Europe the collection points at the municipal sites are funded by retailers through the distributor takeback scheme, and the PCSs collect WEEE from the sites and deliver it to the recycling centre. Retailers also collect and dispose of large old items such as washing machines when new replacements are delivered to the customer.

The Recast proposals are still being negotiated, though, and these details may change. “The industry is trying to find a solution that is manageable and can be achieved in practice without too many difficulties,” De Schrijver said.

“Reducing the number of WEEE categories to five and reducing the collection target to 45% are currently being discussed.”

Whatever form the Recast takes, though, the costs to manufacturers are likely to rise.

The processes in place at the moment are working very efficiently for handling larger items, however only a small percentage of smaller

goods – store them in the loft or garage rather than dispose of them – in the belief they might come in useful one day. To overcome these habits, it will be essential to raise public awareness of the issues through an effective marketing campaign.

“The awareness campaign will have several components. Firstly the public should be made aware of WEEE and how to recognise items that fall into that category.

Then they should be made aware that they need to separate it from their household waste, and then of the correct way to dispose of it,” De Schrijver said. This campaign is likely to come at significant cost, although it will be incurred just once.

With all these increases in cost on the horizon, the economic recovery could well offer some mitigating benefits, and a careful watch should be keep on the market value of recycled materials and who profits from them. “Before the crisis, some large household items such as washing machines had a positive value – meaning the sale value of the recycled materials was higher than the cost of collecting, transporting and recycling the goods. However, the market value of these goods tends to fluctuate significantly,” De Schrijver explained.

Fridges, for example, have a negative value because of the treatment costs for the coolants.

Washing machines by contrast contain a considerable amount of iron which is currently increasing in price, and therefore they have a positive value. Due to its positive value, market forces may prevent it from reaching the correct collection and treatment channels.

“When the value becomes positive, however, a lot of other parties become interested in collecting WEEE because it’s worth money, and this could become a problem” De Schrijver warned. “The PCSs need to take action to prevent all the positive value going to third parties who set up businesses to collect positive value WEEE simply to make a profit from it.”

So while the Recast might have a significant impact on the cost structure, the increasingly positive value of WEEE provides an opportunity for manufacturers which they need to govern, otherwise they could be left with the costs while other companies reap the profits.

WEEE Regulations

items such as kettles, toasters and so on are disposed of correctly at the municipal sites. Rectifying this is likely to be expensive.

A suitable collection scheme for small WEEE will have to be devised and introduced, which will make it easy for the public to dispose of small items. Municipal waste organisations, PCSs and a variety of other organisations across Europe are currently investigating the options.

Some countries such as Spain, Portugal and the Czech Republic, already operate initiatives whereby receptacles for small WEEE are located at the entrance to shopping malls and supermarkets. “These are having a positive effect on public awareness: reinforcing the importance of separating WEEE and disposing of it properly, and demonstrating that it is feasible to do this. Some countries have gone down another route, and offer boxes for storing small WEEE at home. These are then collected from the kerbside.”

In the UK, the habits and tastes of the population are likely to dictate the collection options finally selected. Reports show that there is a distinct reluctance for consumers to take old equipment out on shopping trips. Moreover, less than 20% of purchases are to replace old equipment: many are impulse buys and gifts, while others are simply to acquire new technology. To complicate matters, the locations that would work very well as collection points for small WEEE - the entrance to shopping malls and supermarkets - are very desirable marketing locations for the retail sector, and would come at a premium cost.

In the UK, much small WEEE continues to be disposed of in household waste. “The amount of small WEEE going into household waste depends on the nation’s culture of waste. Scandinavians, for example, are more aware that they should not dispose of old electrical items in the household waste. They separate it, store it, and take it to the collection centres.”

There is also a tendency for UK residents to hoard old electrical

Steven De Schrijver Partner, MÖBIUS.

Current WEEE categories Large household appliances - washing machines, cookers etc Small household appliances- toasters, irons, hairdryers etc IT and telecommunications equipment - PCs, copiers, phones, mobiles etc Consumer equipment - TVs, videos, hi-fis etc Lighting equipment - fluorescent lamps etc, but NOT filament lightbulbs Electrical and electronic tools - lawnmowers, sewing machines, drills etc but NOT large-scale stationary industrial tools Toys, leisure and sports equipment - video games, bike computers, slot machines etc Medical devices - ventilators, analysers etc but NOT implanted and infected products Monitoring and control instruments - smoke detectors, thermostats etc Automatic dispensers - drinks dispensers, chocolate dispensers, ATMs etc

For more information please visit: www.mobius.eu or contact: joanna.holmes@mobius.eu

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Hawkshead Relish take pride in their approach to product development

Tucking in to food and drink manufacture In late April, among the chiffon draperies of the Lowry Hotel, Manchester, TM met with food and drink manufacturers from across the UK. Jane Gray discovered that the industry has experienced a marked improvement over the last 18 months despite the development of new and complicated market challenges.

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The

event was one in a series of The Manufacturer Director’s Forum Dinners designed to reveal trends and perspectives from individual manufacturing sectors. From the magazine’s perspective, the dinners help us to stay abreast of sector concerns and successes in the hope that we will thereby remain relevant to developing industry needs and enhance the value of what we have to offer. Our sponsors for these dinners are hoping for the same, and in this instance TM extends its thanks to Microsoft for their support.

Over three courses of fine cuisine (and more than three courses worth of fine wine) the assembled guests mulled over the events of the last year and considered the path forwards for food and drink manufacturing in the UK. Largely speaking, guests seemed to feel that the last nine months had been significantly more comfortable than the previous nine. Paul Wildman, supply chain director, spoke for AB World Food’s experience: “Eighteen months ago we were suffering badly from exchange rate and commodity price volatility, and were in a place where it was difficult to

Specialfeature The Manufacturer Dirictors Conference Dinner

predict what our costs and demand were going to be just one or two months out. That has damped down enormously now and it is easier to run, manage and plan the business.”

Andrew Shaw, supply chain and R&D director at Seven Seas, agreed, but identified increasing exports as the company’s strategic imperative. “Our export business is absolutely flying, and will take over our UK business. We just have to approach the question now: how will we trade abroad versus how we trade in the UK? The growth market just isn’t there in the UK due to own labels. In Britain we are in a situation where our biggest customers are our biggest competitors. Boots’ own label has a lot of creditability.”

The vagaries of supermarket offers and selling strategies provoked particularly strong feelings across the board. Dave Holding, manufacturing projects manager, Hitchen Foods spoke out: “Retailer promotional activity is one of our major challenges. In particular, promoting products at one pound per pack seems to excite the consumer into a buying frenzy, resulting in promotional volume reaching heights we’ve never seen before. This is putting a lot of pressure on us. We’ve had to challenge everything to make it cheaper. We’ve really put lean tools into practice, building them into the mentality and culture of our employee’s within the business. Obviously it’s difficult but when you have higher levels of sales to do at promotional prices. We’ve had to look at everything: waste in manufacturing, procurement, materials, energy utilisation, supply chain and processes in order to save cost & improve. These areas all have sustainable continuous improvement plans attached now. It has meant a significant change but has added significant value to the business.”

In response to questioning from Matt Eckersall, manufacturing customer specialist at Microsoft, on the ability of manufacturers to negotiate with major clients and provide them with the insight into operations and supply chain dynamics that might create greater alignment between production and retail, Holding continued: “Some retailers are good at communicating about promotions and give out the notice you need to plan your labour and schedule your factory around it. Some customers will phone up and say ‘we want this on promo tomorrow’. The real challenge this poses for a factory is to do with capacity and having the ability to deal with having a product on promotion for three weeks a year, but then what do you do when it’s not?

Retailers want promotions and they want you to have capacity and contingency plans, but it’s very difficult to talk to them and say that everyday low cost is effected when we’ve got a piece of kit which is stood idle for weeks and weeks a year waiting for a spike demand.”

Representing Columbus IT, Simon Charlton raised a question about traceability and the impact of farm to fork campaigns that spurred conversation around growing consumer consciousness on sourcing and how to analyse the impact of switching to more local supply. Rachel Hanna, factory manager at Hollands

Pies, said that they have been doing a lot of research into the overall implications of choosing to buy British meat, weighing-up brand integrity with their loyal customer base and benefits in terms supply chain efficiency against immediate cost impacts. From here the discussion morphed into an exploration of new quality feedback methodologies. The new role that social media is now playing in tracking customer satisfaction and testing markets is surprising, and for manufacturers like Hollands, with their own Facebook and twitter communities, extremely edifying.

The importance of such technologies and social phenomena was not underestimated by the assembled as the imperative of engaging with

Hollands Pies’ brand and recipe integrity has inspired facebook and twitter communties

customers in an ever more competitive market place escalates. As key debate proved, this is something which food manufacturers are particularly sensitive to, regardless of their size. From small family-owned enterprises like Hawkshead Relish, to internationally active manufacturers of favourite households brands like Sharwoods ethnic cuisine (part of AB World Foods), there is a fierce pride in the brand name and a strong belief in key differentiating factors such as authenticity of recipe, ethos of the product and diversity of product range. Being big is not seen as an excuse for ceasing to care about the integrity of the product or failing to be excited by it.

Hopping between issues of environment, waste management, skills and more the conversation unreeled as the Manchester skyline faded into darkness and was far more diverse than can be related here. TM would like to take this opportunity to thank the industry representatives who attended for taking the time to share with Microsoft and ourselves what is driving and obstructing your businesses. Such insight is invaluable for us and we hope you also gained value from sharing experiences with your peers.

If you would like to find out when we are holding a forum dinner for your sector please contact Laura Williams (l.williams@sayonemedia.com).

If you would like to sponsor a forum dinner please contact Henry Anson (h.anson@sayonemedia.com).

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

59

IT in

manufacturing

Yet more IT acronyms?

CMMS and OEE explained

Perfect overall equipment effectiveness is equipment running with no downtime, no idle time, no quality issues and at maximum speed.

Anyway, try these two for size:

The computer industry loves to use acronyms. The reason is undoubtedly the element of mystery they provide.

It is also the inherent – though as yet psychologically unexplored – desire of tech-heads to differentiate between themselves and their colleagues in other departments.

1

CMMS - Computerized Maintenance Management System is also known as Enterprise Asset Management and Computerized Maintenance Management Information.

CMMS is all about the use of computer technology to schedule plant and equipment maintenance, track assets, and efficiently carry out overall facility management.

OEE - Overall equipment effectiveness is a hierarchy of metrics which focus on how effectively a manufacturing operation is utilized. The software uses a methodology for assessing process capacity and utilization of equipment and in addition takes into account availability, efficiency and quality.

2

So let us unlock the mystery.

Managing your assets A CMMS software package maintains a database of information about an organisation’s maintenance operations. This information is intended to help maintenance workers do their jobs more effectively.

So for example, a CMMS package can be used to determine which machines require maintenance and which storerooms contain the spare parts they

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need. Thus, they help management make informed decisions, such as calculating the cost of machine breakdown repair versus preventive maintenance for each machine. CMMS data may also be used to verify regulatory compliance.

Colin Beaney, IFS Global Industry Director, says the main benefit of a CMMS can only be realised when it is integrated. “In manufacturing, direct links from the manufacturing process through to the shop floor data capture systems are made into the maintenance module. The advantages are that both areas can easily see the ‘work load’ within their respective areas. Manufacturing can see the upcoming planned maintenance and maintenance can see the production schedules.

Key performance details, such as lost opportunity costs due to maintenance downtime, are visible.”

Different CMMS packages offer a wide range of capabilities. A typical package deals with some or all of the following: Work orders – this is concerned with the scheduling of jobs, assigning personnel, reserving materials, recording costs, and tracking relevant information such as the cause of the problem, downtime involved, and recommendations for future action. The software schedules preventive maintenance automatically based on maintenance plans and/or meter readings.

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Inspection - this is all about the recording of the conditions of the assets being managed.

Preventive maintenance – here the software package keeps track of preventive maintenance jobs, including step-by-step instructions or check-lists, lists of materials required, and other pertinent details.

Machine breakdown – this all about recording the incidence of machine breakdowns. This includes details of repairs completed and repairs “to do”. Preventive maintenance tasks are often undertaken during breakdown repair and so preventive maintenance tasks need to be rescheduled.

Asset management – this is the core of the software package as it supports the recording of data about equipment and property including maintenance activities, specifications, purchase date, expected lifetime, warranty information, service contracts, service history and spare parts.

Inventory control – this is the warehouse management part of the package dealing with where spare parts, tools, and other materials are stored. There will be support for reservation of materials for particular jobs, determining when more materials should be purchased, tracking shipment receipts, and taking inventory.

Safety – that forgotten but critical part of any factory.

CMMS provide the ability to manage permits and other documentation required for the processing of safety

IT in manufacturing

requirements. These safety requirements can include lockout-tagout, confined space, foreign material exclusion (FME) and electrical safety.

So who are the players in this market? The answer is lots – there are probably 300 to 400 systems available.

The first group are the ERP vendors such as SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards, IFS and Infor which have CMMS modules as part of their ERP offering.

In the case of Oracle, they offer a stand-alone package as well called Oracle Enterprise Asset Management. In some people’s view ERP has just been about the integration of HR, finance, SCM and production planning. However real ERP for manufacturing is the complete bundle of all the systems needed to control operations in a manufacturing company and that includes the asset management in its fullest sense as well as work scheduling and what is often referred to as Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) which run the actual machinery.

ERP is the brain of the manufacturing company.

How each company implements this concept depends on what they have in place already. The ERP vendors have recognised this need and have either built their own CMMS capability or developed

relationships with specific niche packages to provide a complete view.

Beaney describe IFS’s position as: “IFS started life as a CMMS provider back in 1983 and its first CMMS implementation went live in a Power Plant in Sweden in 1985. Today, IFS provides

In manufacturing, direct links from the manufacturing process through to the shop floor data capture systems are made into the maintenance module.

The advantages are that both areas can easily see the ‘work load’ within their respective areas Colin Beaney, IFS Global Industry Director

extended ERP functionality covering the full Asset Lifecycle Management. Typically, this is relevant for customers who have capital investments in manufacturing assets and need a CMMS package to provide integration with back end

63

Seeing old IT challenges in a new business light.

Disruption or deliverance?

Seek out the business opportunity within the challenge.

Business change is inevitable – but how you adapt to it dictates how competitive your manufacturing operation can be.

That’s why the most progressive CIOs partner Avanade: delivering new levels of innovation and agility to help them reduce costs and deliver global supply chain advantage.

With our joint Accenture and Microsoft heritage, Avanade is uniquely placed to help you keep your eyes on the horizon, and your feet on the ground. Using the Microsoft platform as a springboard for delivering business results, we’ll help you adopt a pragmatic approach that makes change less daunting, combined with a visionary attitude that puts real triumph within reach.

For more information visit www.avanade.com

Be IT progressive

From Accenture and Microsoft © Copyright Avanade. All rights reserved.

IT in manufacturing

systems like a corporate finance, HR, payroll, supply chain package.”

The alternative to the all in one pot solution is to use specialist vendors and here we have a large number of specialist niche vendors. Here are some Examples: CMMS Software is a branch of Perspective CMMS, an independent CMMS consultancy. They offer two products.

PM Coordinator CMMS Software is their base system for CMMS Software. It is targeted at companies that require a computerised maintenance system but do not require inventory control and purchasing. The alternative is Maintenance Coordinator CMMS Software. It comes in standard and professional versions and can also be customised to meet clients’ specific needs.

Shire Systems claims to have over 10,000 customers around the world. Like CMMS Software they offer two different products. The FrontLine CMMS is a suite of linkable modules. The integrated suite provides maintenance, asset and service management solution.

Some modules can be operated as independent, standalone systems. Pirana CMMS is a browser-based system for the management of maintenance, materials and services. The system can be accessed through the internet, intranet or mobile phone.

Cayman Venture is a British based engineering software company who has been developing and supporting maintenance and engineering systems since 1991. Its product, Workmate, is geared to supporting engineering companies. The solution has an impressive set of customers such as BMW, De La Rue, Dairy Crest and Heinz.

So where does OEE fit in?

Just like you have KPIs for all the other things in your organisation that you measure to understand CMMS you need to have KPIs to measure, the performance of your equipment to determine whether the plant is under achieving. The most widely used measurement is OEE as it provides an all-encompassing measure of the machine performance. Mike Hodge, Managing Director of Cimlogic, says: “Perfect OEE is equipment running with no downtime, no idle time, no quality issues or no speed slower than the maximum. While this isn’t possible in the real world, the figure is a reflection of how close to 100% the output is.”

The components of OEE are availability, performance and quality. These can be affected by a variety of issues such as downtime losses, speed losses and reject/re-work losses. Hodge feels that, “OEE helps you truly understand how your plant is working and ultimately improves output.” Beaney added the following comment on OEE: “With advanced functionality, like maxOEE, customers can monitor and analyse events, production and quality statistics to achieve complete visibility of the shop floor. OEE is a critical KPI in determining how a manufacturing operation is performing. It also allows supplementary business performance measures such as mean time to repair and mean time between failures to be determined.”

Conclusion CMMS packages may be used by any company, including service management organisations, which must perform maintenance on equipment, assets and property. There are a large number of providers of CMMS software and the market does not appear to have gone through any major consolidation.

Therefore it is a case of ‘buyer beware’ – understand what you are looking for and what sort of company you are.

Some CMMS products focus on particular industry sectors, whilst other products are more general. CMMS packages are closely related to computer aided facility management packages (also called Facility Management Software) and in some ways there is a great deal of crossover between these two types of applications. So much that for

Perfect OEE is equipment running with no downtime, no idle time, no quality issues or no speed slower than the maximum. While this isn’t possible in the real world, the figure is a reflection of how close to 100% the output is. OEE helps you truly understand how your plant is working and ultimately improves output Mike Hodge, Managing Director, Cimlogic

many they can be viewed as one and the same.

CMMS packages can produce status reports and documents giving details or summaries of maintenance activities. The more sophisticated the package, the more analysis facilities are available.

Many CMMS packages can be either web-based, meaning they are hosted by the company selling the product on an outside server, or LAN based, meaning that the company buying the software hosts the product on their own server.

If you take my brain analogy then, CMMS, MES, ERP and any other acronym that the IT industry give to the applications that manufacturers use need to be integrated together. Beaney explained what the vendors are doing to help this occur: “I believe in the future we will see more direct integration,” he says.

“For IFS, we have recently joined FIATECH, which is an industry consortium that provides global leadership in identifying and accelerating the development, demonstration and deployment of fully integrated and automated technologies to deliver the highest business value throughout the life cycle of all types of capital projects. This is all about working on international standards for integration of large capital assets directly into business applications.”

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

65

Defining the Business Value of

Cloud Computing The emergence of cloud computing makes it seem like the sky’s the limit when it comes to using new technologies to improve how business is done. Cloud computing offers creative ways for companies to address how they utilise IT, which in turn frees up resources and money to focus on what matters most – their core business objectives. Written by Larry Beck, Senior Director, Cloud Strategy, Avanade.

According

to a recent survey that Avanade commissioned, most IT decisionmakers widely recognise cloud computing as a viable way to reduce capital expenditures and operational costs. Such a response shows that businesses see that the technical capabilities offered by the cloud can help lower costs and make them more nimble. Cloudbased systems immediately open options for access to new and costeffective ways to address company goals and objectives. For example: Being able to get services up

66

and running quickly; Lower upfront deployment costs; Ease of access; Pay for software solutions you need, when you need them; Access to automatically updated software and security.

However, the hype around cloud computing has helped create some unrealistic expectations about what cloud computing can deliver—making almost unbelievable promises that return on investment will rise, costs will contract and revenue will improve.

Trying to grasp just what the cloud represents for each business can be challenging.

The key is to bring clarity to the complexity around cloud computing. Companies need to know what cloud computing is, what it does and what it offers.

Cloud computing is an umbrella term that encompasses many types of services, including Software-as-a-Service. The definition of cloud varies depending on the company and the vendor. Organisations should consider the possible challenges and risks as part of pursuing a cloud computing strategy.

Adoption Considerations The cloud need not be an all or nothing proposition. Companies can find a place along the spectrum from control to economies of scale where they will feel most comfortable. Every company must decide if cloud computing will serve its needs. In order to do that, they must evaluate the potential business value it offers and the challenges it involves. What’s most important to them? Is it costs? Control? Scale?

With cloud, companies need to determine which applications they must own and control, and which ones require less control, making them prime targets for moving to the cloud. For example, consider contract manufacturing. Some companies manufacture products that are commodities. They require minimal research and development and involve little proprietary knowledge. One product operates in much the same way as any other. So, outsourcing to a contract manufacturer involves low risk where there might be one or more competitors on nearby manufacturing lines. But, a pharmaceutical company, which has highly sensitive intellectual property (IP), faces tremendous risk with outsourcing. The difference here is how much control a company requires over its IP that truly differentiates itself from the competition.

2

3 IT Seeing old challenges in a new business light. 4

derived from cloud computing. But, getting to the cloud and realising the benefits of cloud computing is not a given. The journey to cloud is an evolution that will occur over time. Companies should start today with a clear plan, sound analysis and, proven methodologies and practices.

Companies that effectively use cloud computing services will find themselves accomplishing certain goals more quickly.

They will also be able to adapt to business opportunities more effectively. Using cloud-based systems can also lower costs, especially compared to buying, installing, configuring, upgrading and maintaining these tools and services on premises by themselves.

Avanade

With cloud computing, the burden company. Then IT can seek out the of creating, developing and services accessed in the cloud that will sustaining the entire infrastructure support the strategy. unilaterally gets lifted from the Investigate costs: Evaluate company that may be shouldering costs associated with internal IT it unnecessarily. However, in spite versus the cost of cloud services of all the potential benefits of cloud to help determine what should be owned computing, risks do exist. and managed internally, and what could Questions about how such be cloud ready. services are used, who has access to those services and Build a roadmap. With a clear how to protect individuals and, strategy in place and an end in certain situations, personal goal determined, identify the data need to be addressed. direction your company needs to take There are measures that can be to get there. Assess the products and implemented that will mitigate platforms you need to support and build those concerns, such as proper migration, effective integration and upon your IT vision. appropriate security policies.

Prepare a migration path.

But for most companies, Migration and integration of these processes and mandates legacy systems may require aren’t anything new. The issues additional resources. If outside support is companies face when using required, consider partnering with a firm technologies on premise become experienced in technology migration. Find the same issues when hosted offrepeatable best practices, methodologies, premise. While there are varying highly developed assessment and opinions on cloud security, there deployment resources, plus dedicated are a growing number of voices specialists. All this will help speed and suggesting that security in the cloud may in fact be better than the simplify implementation at a lower cost. security most companies provide Choose credible partners or internally.

Why? Seek out the business opportunity within the challenge. vendors. They should have For one, top tier cloud service Business change is inevitable – but how you adapt to it dictates providers, who focus on delivering how competitive your manufacturing operationproven can be.processes to support organisation’s a technology asprogressive a That’s capability why the most CIOs an partner Avanade: needs. It’s equally delivering new levels place of innovation and agility toto help themcompanies with a important identify service over the Internet, reduce costs and deliver global supplytrack chainrecord advantage. of on-premise solutions. a high priority on security.

They Those companies should also have a know theWith challenges associated our joint Accenture and Microsoft heritage, Avanade is uniquely placed to help you keep your eyescloud on the horizon, clear vision, strategy and offerings with handling information in the and your feet on the ground. Using the Microsoft platform that demonstrate stability and long-term cloud. They recognise what as a springboard for delivering business results, we’ll help viability. If personal data is put into the technologies, processes and policy you adopt a pragmatic approach that makes change less cloud, legal for transferring, management requirements offer daunting, combined with a visionary attitude that requirements puts the mostreal protection.

Plus, their own storing and using data must be addressed triumph within reach. carefully in advance. These requirements reputation survival Forand morebusiness information visit www.avanade.com vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. demands high attention to security.

About the Author

Disruption or deliverance?

5

A Roadmap for Cloud Computing

Be interested IT progressive Companies in adopting cloud computing need an understanding of the cloud-ready services available to them. Here are some steps to consider:

1

Have a clearly defined strategy.

IT becomes a more effective partner to the organisation if executives devise a clear strategy that improves the business process, relationships, services, etc. for the

6

Pursue a pilot: Start with a custom application that leverages the instant scale, high compute or bandwidth intensive capabilities of cloud computing.

Any decision to begin using cloud computing requires forethought, planning and preparation. The more a business knows what it wants to do, the more likely it will be able to make the changes necessary to accomplish its goals. There are clear business benefits that can be

Larry Beck, Sr. Director, Cloud Computing Strategy, Avanade Larry is a senior technologist at Avanade responsible for setting global technology direction and strategy in the area of cloud computing. He has been with Avanade since 2002, and in earlier roles also helped shape the direction of the company’s approach to enterprise integration and connected systems. In addition, Larry also serves as the technology director for the Accenture and Avanade Solutions Showcase at Microsoft, a unique venue that demonstrates the alliance’s Microsoft-based business solutions.

Larry has more than 25 years of IT consulting and leadership experience, and has authored several papers outlining Avanade’s viewpoint on Enterprise Integration, Service-Oriented Architectures and Cloud Computing.

For further information please visit www.avanade.com From Accenture and Microsoft

67

ITnews...

ERP

Business applications

Lydia meets ERP from Redmond

Maxima certified for Microsoft Dynamics

Shortly after top-VOX had certified its pick by voice solution, topSPEECH-Lydia for seamless integration into SAP, the company is taking things one step further. The IT provider of logistics applications now also offers an interface to Microsoft Dynamics business software and its previous versions.

These include versions still in use at many SMEs, such as MS Dynamics 2009, MS Dynamics AX 4.0 and Microsoft Axapta 3.0. The interface was developed in a two-partner

joint project between top-VOX and Dynamics Concepts, a Danish company specialising in the development and implementation of IT-supported work processes in logistics and warehouse environments.

Plug & Play offers coupling of topSPEECH-Lydia and MS Dynamics/Axapta. Its process logic is based entirely on business software from Redmond. To that extent, all of the standard processes of the ERP solution, such as printing of delivery orders and labels, commissioning, inventory and shipping management, are on hand. This also applies to the statistical functions of MS Dynamics/Axapta.

Maxima, an IT business systems and managed services company, has announced that its MAXcel suite of integrated business apps is now Certified for Microsoft Dynamics — Microsoft’s highest standard for partner-developed software.

Maxima meets all of Microsoft’s criteria, including already having customers that are successfully using the certified solution and are willing to recommend it, being a member of Microsoft’s Partner Service Plan and accreditation as a Gold Certified Partner in the Microsoft Partner Programme.

“Microsoft congratulates Maxima on achieving the Certified for Microsoft Dynamics status for its MAXcel suite by demonstrating its success and commitment in delivering a leading Microsoft Dynamics solution,” said Fiona Nolan, product manager for Microsoft Dynamics AX at Microsoft.

ERP

Epicor and Kodak announce expanded strategic alliance Epicor Software Corporation and Eastman Kodak Company announced a strengthened alliance to deliver Epicor’s nextgeneration ERP solution with Kodak’s suite of print industry solutions.

Under the agreement, Epicor will deliver Kodak’s workflow capabilities and print-focused KODAK EMS Business Software suite embedded with its Epicor 9 next-generation ERP solution — to be branded Epicor for Printing and Packaging. As part of the agreement, Kodak has ported its print-focused EMS software for printers to the Epicor 9 platform.

Said Kodak vice president and general manager of Business Solutions and Services Group, Dolores Kruchten: “Epicor brings more than 25 years of experience

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developing, marketing, selling and implementing ERP solutions that provide organisations around the world with a competitive advantage. Combined with our expertise in bringing integrated business solutions to the printing industry, this creates a win-win for new and existing customers.”

“The partnership with Kodak aligns with our strategic focus to extend the offerings and market presence within industries we’ve traditionally served, as well as expand into complementary industries,” said Epicor chairman, CEO and president George Klaus.

“We’ve been very successful providing business management software to the printing and

Epicor chairman, CEO and president , George Klaus

publishing industry. The addition of Kodak’s EMS solution and integrated workflow capabilities, coupled with industry best practices, allows us to create an even stronger value proposition for what is a significant market segment.”

IT in

manufacturing

Information systems

Businesses gain time with Amano Amano UK, part of the Amano Group, a worldwide organisation that designs and manufactures time and workforce management systems, has established a new division in Cheltenham.

The move will enable British businesses to deal with Amano directly for the first time, providing access to innovation and expertise, quality customer service and technical support. Amano’s product range includes simple time recorders, web-based time management systems for mobile workforces and software packages that can be integrated into HR and payroll systems.

Amano products are already being used by more than 6,000 British businesses of all shapes and sizes in many different industry sectors, providing time and attendance systems for multi-site operations, mobile workforces, factories operating complex shift patterns and small businesses managing freelance resources.

Amano UK managing director, Chris O’Riordan, said: “The greatest asset of any business is its workforce, whether large or small. Our aim is to continue building strong links between Amano and British businesses, using our expertise to help them effectively manage their workforces, maximise performance and productivity and create a successful working life balance for both employers and employees.”

Industry reports

Internet security risk doubles in manufacturing According to NTA Monitor’s 2010 Annual Security Report, the average number of Internet security vulnerabilities afflicting organisations has fallen.

However, a dramatic change can be seen in the number of risks found per test in the Manufacturing sector. Comparing the 2009 and 2010 reports, the average number of vulnerabilities has doubled and of the top ten high-risks identified in the report, manufacturing has all but three.

With the exception of just four vulnerabilities, all of the top ten high-risk vulnerabilities appeared on the equivalent list last year, suggesting that security managers are not heeding previous warnings, with the same high-risk issues reoccurring year after year.

This is compounded by the fact that 20% of organisations tested suffered one or more high-risk vulnerability — which are widely known and actively targeted by hackers — compared to a fairly similar figure of 21% in the 2009 report.

PLM

Siemens enters partnership with Brandbridge Systems Siemens PLM Software has signed a Value Added Reseller partnership with Brandbridge Systems Ltd, an independent CPG market consulting service.

The collaboration with Brandbridge marries Siemens PLM Software’s PLM technology with packaging industry insight to offer brand owners an advantage in a market where delivering innovative packaging at low operational cost is paramount.

The aim of this partnership is to help manage branding and printing complexities, such as whether product design is technically viable, while delivering process and asset ownership, supply chain control and visibility and IP capture.

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IT in

manufacturing

ITnews..

E-commerce

hybris release of its cloud-ready 4.1 Multichannel Suite hybris, a multichannel commerce software vendor, has announced the immediate release of the hybris 4.1 Multichannel Suite.

Hybris’ release includes mobile commerce, the introduction of product content management (PCM) functionality, new order management and cross channel fulfillment functionality plus improved search and navigation capabilities with its integration with Endeca.

It also offers support for cloud-based deployments and scenarios with the highest requirements in terms of number of transactions and size of data volume.

Speaking about the 4.1 Multichannel Suite, Ariel Luedi, CEO of hybris, said: “The release of hybris 4.1 is the new benchmark within the e-commerce market in terms of agility, functionality as well as breadth and depth of channel integration. It truly embraces multichannel commerce, both online and print, and provides our customers with an agile platform which can quickly be adapted to new business needs or changing consumer behaviour.”

CAD

Empire Cycles uses SolidWorks A UK cycle company has used SolidWorks CAD software to create a mountain bike that defies conventional design techniques and doesn’t require endless prototyping to get to market.

SolidWorks helped two-year-old Empire Cycles incorporate automotive and aerospace manufacturing techniques into its high-performance Empire AP1WR mountain bike. It is made from three large cast components in a design that requires no welding or riveting, much like a vehicle or aircraft suspension.

Empire Cycles co-founder Chris Williams said SolidWorks helped him overcome production challenges that led Empire’s first foundry to declare the design impossible to produce. “One foundry told us that it was impossible to cast the swing arm — which is a hollow, rigid shell — at the four millimeters we wanted.”

“That turned out to be false. We moved to another foundry and explained what we were trying to achieve. They weren’t able to understand what I wanted them to do with the swing arm’s inner surface, so I did it myself in SolidWorks to show them. I could create cutters in SolidWorks that let me design very complex shapes and do many iterations quickly without wrecking the overall design.”

Acquisitions

SAP to acquire Sybase Inc. SAP’s subsidiary, SAP America, has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Sybase Inc.

Under the terms and conditions of the merger agreement, SAP America Inc. will make an all cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Sybase common stock at $65.00 per share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $5.8bn.

The per share purchase price represents a 44% premium over the three-month average stock price of Sybase. The transaction will be funded from SAP’s cash on hand and a €2.75bn loan facility arranged and underwritten by Barclays Capital and Deutsche Bank. The Sybase board of directors has unanimously approved the transaction.

“With this transaction, SAP will dramatically expand its addressable market by making available its market-leading solutions to hundreds of millions of mobile users, combining the world’s best business software with the world’s most powerful mobile infrastructure platform,” said Bill McDermott, co-CEO of SAP and member of the SAP executive board.

“This is a game-changing transaction for SAP and Sybase customers, who will be better able to connect their employees with key functionality and information from anywhere and make it easier for companies to make faster, more informed business decisions in real time. With SAP’s customer-centric approach, we are resolute in our commitment to support Sybase customers to be best-run businesses.”

Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

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Specialfeature MX Awards 2010

Leadingtheway BAE Systems Submarine Solutions shows off the Astute and Ambush submarines inside the Devonshite Dock Hall

The cream of Britain’s manufacturing crop have cause to celebrate after the announcement of the finalists of the prestigious Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ (IMechE) Manufacturing Excellence Awards (MX) 2010. Tim Brown introduces some of those lucky enough to be in the running for MX recognition.

The

MX Awards is one of Europe’s most established manufacturing benchmarking schemes. Judging the 18 finalists this year will be business experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers, Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) and Autodesk, amongst others.

The firms will battle it out in a two-day final judging process at IMechE’s London headquarters before the final winners are announced at the Dorchester Hotel on 23 June.

Awards up for grabs this year include Best SME, Best Overall Business, Product Innovation, Process Innovation, Best Financial Management, Best Business Education Partnership and Sustainable Manufacturing. Graeme Allinson, head of Manufacturing and Transport Logistics at Barclays, which is supporting the Best Financial Management Award, said: “The MX Awards are one of the mainstays of the British manufacturing calendar, a chance to not just celebrate the success of innovative manufacturers, but to understand what the future holds for this vitally important sector”.

MX 2010 Finalists: AESSEAL Plc, Rotherham Aircelle Ltd, Burnley BAE Systems Submarine Solutions, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria Brother Industries UK Ltd, Wrexham Carl Zeiss SMT Ltd, Cambridge ContiTech Beattie Limited, Ashington, Northumberland Cummins Inc Darlington Engine Plant, Co Durham Draeger Safety UK Limited, Blyth, Northumberland Lambert, Tadcaster, Yorks Leyland Trucks, Preston MBDA UK, Stevenage Michelin Tyres PLC, Ballymena P&G Gillette, Reading Pipex Limited, Plymouth Proto Labs, Telford Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd, Lincoln Siemens Magnet Technology, Witney ZF Lemforder UK Ltd Solihull, West Midlands.

Aircelle

Aircelle from Yorkshire, produces nacelles (a special type of casing often used to protect engines, wind turbines or contain fuel on aircraft), thrust reversers and aero structures. It counts giants such as RollsRoyce, Gulfstream and Airbus as some its clients.

Its products are crucial to the safety of flights and contribute to the efficiency of some of the world’s leading airliners. Helen Gopsill, HR director at Aircelle said: “We are striving to become an ‘employer of choice’ within the marketplace and these awards provide an excellent opportunity to benchmark against other high profile, high calibre organisations.

In addition, we believe that this process will allow us to continue to identify opportunities for us to further improve and develop.”

Carl Zeiss

Carl Zeiss is a Cambridge-based firm which dates back to 1865 and was founded by the nephew of Charles Darwin. It is the leading producer of Scanning Electron Microscopes, devices so acute they can capture grains of pollen for hay fever research as an example. The firm is also involved in areas such as life sciences and material analysis and nearly 100% of its products are exported.

Bob Taylor, managing director of Carl Zeiss SMT said: “We are delighted to be short-listed in our first year of entering this competition. Carl Zeiss is an internationally renowned company with a long history and brand name associated with world leading innovation and quality, part of our vision for the future is to be a world class organisation. We felt the MX assessment of ourselves and processes, against top in class national and international companies would be very valuable for us, to highlight where and how we could continue to improve further.”

Dräger

Dräger is an international leader in the fields of medical and safety technology. Founded in Lübeck in 1889, Dräger has grown into a worldwide, DAX-

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Special feature MX Awards 2010

listed enterprise in its fifth generation as a familyrun business. The company also has a full service training academy at Blyth. “The process of entering the MX awards has been very rewarding to date,” said managing director, Dave Richardson. “We pride ourselves as being at the forefront of continually improving all aspects of our business processes to remain competitive...Being shortlisted in four categories in our first submission further positively reinforces this realisation.”

The Proto Labs shop floor

Lambert

Lambert has been providing automated production systems, special purpose machinery and automation systems across a myriad of applications on a global scale for over 30 years. The company’s dedication to quality and innovation reaches much further than simply supplying automated machinery.

It has a focus on building strong customer relationships and developing individual tailored solutions to ensure successful implementation.

Sales director, Mathew Cox said: “Given this is our first time entering the awards we are thrilled to be recognised for our efforts. It validates all the hard work everyone is putting in and shows us we are doing the right things.”

Leyland Trucks

Leyland Trucks, one of Britain’s leading manufacturing companies, were awarded best overall business at last year’s MX competition.

The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PACCAR, a global technology leader in the design, manufacture and support of high-quality light, medium and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF nameplates. Since Leyland Trucks was acquired by PACCAR in 1998, it has become the group’s established centre for light and medium truck design, development and manufacture. “We view MX as an opportunity to audit and benchmark our business,” said managing director, Andrea Paver. “This is particularly critical during challenging economic times and the quality of the assessment process and feedback we receive is very helpful.”

P&G Gillette

Proto Labs

Proto Labs is the world’s fastest source for customer CNC-machined and injection-moulded parts. The company’s First Cut and Protomold services ensure that real materials and real functionality are available to customers in as little as one business day. Proto Labs has revolutionised the product development cycle since its entrance into the European market place a little under five years ago. Its rapid manufacturing services appeals to engineers across industry sectors including medical, automotive and aerospace as well as universities. “Being shortlisted for an MX Award is great recognition for our dedicated and hard working team,” said Damian Hennessey, commercial manager. “For the iMeche to recognise our business in this way makes us all very proud; particularly at a time when many have dismissed the UK as a viable location for a thriving manufacturer.”

Siemens Magnet Technology

Siemens Magnet Technology is a manufacturer of superconducting magnets for use within Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners. More than 30% of all the MRI scanners in hospitals and clinics worldwide contain a magnet designed and manufactured by the Siemens site in Oxfordshire. “I am absolutely delighted to have reached the finals of the ImechE MX awards,” said managing director, Craig Marshall. “As an engineer, I understand the passion with which we pursue engineering excellence in this business and I am hopeful we can make a positive impression on the judges.”

P&G Gillette is a part of the shaving and razor manufacturing giant. The Reading business unit is an R&D laboratory responsible for the front end innovation for new razor products that are used across the world. For the past 50 years, the Reading Innovation Centre has created, prototyped and tested every new Gillette razor product that the company has launched. Graham Simms, research fellow said: “We are delighted to have made the finals. It is a little-known fact that Gillette’s R&D laboratory is Reading plays a critical role in keeping Gillette at the cutting edge of shaving science. We welcome opportunities such as this competition to demonstrate our innovative abilities.”

Siemens Magnet Technology are used in Siemens Healthcare MRI systems

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Have your say at www.themanufacturer.com

Manufacturinginaction Sponsored by TBM Consulting Group

Putting UK manufacturers under the spotlight

Factory of the month

Roberto Priolo speaks to Corus Colors, the pre-finished steel products manufacturer that has made workforce empowerment and sustainability its war horses

76 Corus Colours Green steel

93 Elddis Steady supply plans

Mark Young revisits caravan and motorhome maker Elddis to find out the nuts and bolts behind the company’s supply chain improvements

99 Nylacast A cast of their own

TM meets a world leader in engineering polymer solutions

107 Deutsch UK The right connection

The UK operation of Deutsch Group has a key role in the company’s world-wide operations reveals Ruari McCallion

117 Caterham Cars Record time

Tim Brown visits the manufacturing facility responsible for the 2009 Top Gear car of the year

102 Shasun Pharmaceutical The rebukes of hazard

Edward Machin meets a vertically-integrated partner for the pharmaceutical industry which thrives on working with hazardous chemicals

All companies featured will be entered into the MIA Award 2010

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Green

steel

Can steel, a highly processed material with high energy input in manufacture, be an environmentally sustainable product? Roberto Priolo speaks to Corus Colors, the pre-finished steel products manufacturer that has made workforce empowerment and sustainability its war horses.

76

Factory of the month Corus Colors’

Next

to the steel galvanizing line in Corus Colors’ plant in Shotton, North Wales, a mirror hung on the wall bears a sentence: ‘The person responsible for your safety is…’

The idea of empowering workers and making them aware of the importance of their job, of their responsabilities and of the company’s objectives is in essence the core of Corus Colors’ vision.

With over 40 years experience of manufacturing prefinished steel, Corus Colors, a division of the Corus Group, part of Indian conglomerate Tata, offers a wide range of pre-finished steel products for use in a large number of applications, from bakeware to furniture, from fridge-freezers to building envelopes.

The six Corus Colors manufacturing sites across Europe focus on different products: Shotton, which employs around 1,000 people, produces Colorcoat pre-finished steel and galvanised steel for the construction market. The site’s mission is to become “the centre of excellence in sustainable building” and its performance makes this goal appear closer and closer: £500m turnover, investments of more than £60m over the last 5 years, annual output of 1.2 million tonnes and an environmental strategy set to cut the plant’s carbon footprint by 50% by 2012.

We realised we had to get our lead time within the customer’s lead time, to stop our customers ‘guessing’ what they wanted and start working around known requirements Peter Wilks, general manager, Corus Colors’

Peter Wilks, general manager, says: “The whole strategy of Shotton is focused on the building industry, specifically on roof and wall cladding. We create maintenance-free steel, and we can deliver our two market-leading products, Colorcoat HPS200 Ultra and Colorcoat Prisma, in 10 days from order.

We have been in the lead for 40 years and we simply offer a better product. That’s the reason behind our success.”

The raw material reaches the site (that is over 100 years old and originally belonged to John Summers & Sons) from Corus’ steelworks in Port Talbot, South Wales, by rail. The steel goes into the galvanizing lines, where it is coated with zinc or Galvalloy, a zinc and aluminium alloy, to prevent it from rusting. Half of it then makes up the feedstock for one of the two Colorcoat lines.

Around 50% of Corus Colors’ output is exported, mainly to Northern and Eastern Europe.

Lines are operated by nine to 12 men, 12 days every two weeks. It is a job of high responsibility that requires different skills sets. “Lines work semi-automatically, but there can be a lot of manual intervention required,” says Richard Sidebottom, the company’s manufacturing manager. Sometimes, on the Colorcoat lines, paint colours are changed two or three times an hour, depending on what is required by the customers. Two paint heads are used on the line, one to apply the paint whilst the other is

77

Factory of the month Corus Colors’

prepared for the next colour. “When many colours are changed in a day, the hard thing to do is keeping the same output,” says Sidebottom.

Speed can also be adjusted depending on the desired thickness of the steel: thicker layers will require a speed as low as 50 metres per minute, thinner ones will have the line working at 110 metres/minute. Keeping the right balance of (among other elements) speed, temperature, zinc input and use of colours is a tricky operation, and the process is monitored throughout.

Diverse skills, short lead-times “The challenge is to maintain all sorts of skills. The guys need to know what they are doing,” says Sidebottom. “If there is something specific we can’t train them to do, we’ll get an external body to help us. For key skills, we use people from the lines to train others. We also check the effectiveness of the training.”

Employees with experience on the lines (the average worker has worked at the plant for 20-25 years) train newly hired staff, but refresher training is also carried out for all. Bill Duckworth, manager of logistics and business processes, adds: “It’s an ongoing process. The trainers are always around, they pick people up on a regular basis, particularly if they are doing certain tasks like driving cranes or internal transport. We need to test them to make sure they are up to scratch.”

Given the wide array of skills needed to run the plant, basic training can take from four weeks for simpler tasks, to at least three months for line operators. “There is a big difference between training a new recruit or somebody who has worked here for a long time. The idea is to try and get people who are flexible in terms of the roles they can perform and the lines they can work on,” Duckworth adds.

Health and safety is a great concern. Hazards, clearly stated on boards throughout the plants, range from moving equipment to toxic substances. Audits and individual safety meetings with the staff are held on a regular basis. The same principle applies to other areas of the business: the worker is aware of risks, challenges, problems, company targets – features of Corus Colors workforce empowerment programme . Performance, for example, is reviewed and

Chaterly Valley

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Factory of the month Corus Colors’

monitored on a shift base. “It’s not to create competition. By being able to see how others did a task, what others have accomplished, workers ask each other questions and advice,” Sidebottom explains. “With a 10-day lead time it’s very important to us that workers understand the needs of the business.”

Quality checks are carried out throughout the manufacturing process, with a final inspection set up to make sure the colour and thickness of steel are right. “Every time the plant stops, we measure how long it stopped for, and whether it was due to an engineering issue or to an operational issue. We investigate each delay and identify the actions required to prevent that delay from happening again. Over the last 10 to 15 years, we’ve seen good improvement across the lines and better performance,” Sidebottom says.

We work very closely with a relatively small number of aligned supply chain partners, and we sell these products together to the end client Peter Wilks, general manager, Corus Colors’ Performance is measured and presented at weekly and monthly briefs, through reviewing order deliveries and the analysis of customer complaints.

Corus Colors is very successful in the UK, with a share of 75% of the prefinished steel market. “We realised we had to get our lead time within the customer’s lead time, to stop our customers ‘guessing’ what they wanted and start working around known requirements. Lead time for most steelmaking companies is traditionally four to six weeks. We take orders 10 days before customers need the product – we basically don’t know what 30 per cent of our order book looks like two weeks in advance,” Duckworth explains.

Initially this put pressure on the manufacturing team, as they were challenged to improve the efficiency of the way they changed colour quickly.

But ultimately the company was rewarded with a substantial decrease in its finished stock. Thanks to this system, Corus Colors now offers its customers

81

RBM Europe BV repair of metal roofs Repair of metal panels Inspection and damage assessment Renovation and re-styling Cleaning and maintenance Even well constructed metal roofs need maintenance. In the long run pollution, fluctuations in temperature, expansion and contraction as well as general ageing will take their toll. In most cases only the outer skin surface coating is affected whereas the roof itself is hardly or not at all damaged. Why consider replacing a whole roof system, when most problems are associated with deterioration of the outer skin and surface coating only? This is not only impractical, but in most cases it is unnecessary.

82

For the repair of the outer skin of metal roofs we use an innovative process (Roofpack). When the construction of the roof itself is not affected this process even offers a solution for roofs that are beyond repair with conventional techniques.

On the basis of a thorough inspection of the complete roof, the necessary repairs are carried out with products that were specifically developed for this purpose and any corrosion will be neutralised.

After a thorough cleaning a new, twolayered rubber coating will be sprayed on the roof and into the gutters.

A metal roof repaired on the basis of the Roofpack process will be waterproof for years and will function without any problems. This coating is even of such

a quality that a ten year extension of the life cycle is guaranteed.

When a roof actually only needs a high quality overhaul our process offers the client many advantages. Not only can we carry out repairs faster and cheaper compared to the conventional techniques, but also our method hardly interferes with the company’s business.

When you need a good roof instead of a new roof Roofpack is the solution for you.

Published in association with: RBM Europe BV Tel: (+31) 251 273 032 Fax: (+31) 251 270 910 Email: info@rbmeurope.com Web: www.rbmeurope.com

Factory of the month Corus Colors’

Old Trafford, Manchester United Football Stadium

a responsive service and provide them with what they need at short notice, so that they in turn don’t carry much stock, saving inventory and capital.

General manager Peter Wilks comments on the company’s way of dealing with clients and partners.

“We work very closely with a relatively small number of aligned supply chain partners, and we sell these products together to the end client. We want to see the products used correctly, and we can actually help clients design better buildings that perform better, are more energy efficient and never need maintenance.”

In the UK and Irish markets, Corus’ supply chain partners, who use the Colorcoat pre-finished steel in coil form to manufacture building profiles and panels, include CA Group, Corus Panels and Profiles, Eurobond, Euroclad and Tegral, while flat sheets are available from “accredited distributors” Capital Coated Steel, Colorsteels and Euroclad.

Clients who benefit from the products and services that the supply chain offers range from big developers, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer to schools and stadia.

Product range key to success The Shotton site produces the successful Colorcoat brand, which encompasses a range of pre-finished steel products, and is a good example of Corus Colors’ ability to appeal to a large market through the offer of new, modern products and an approach based on customers’ needs. The most innovative product is Colorcoat HPS200 Ultra which has a guarantee up to 40 years and is available in a variety of different colours.

Chatterly Valley, which used Colorcoat Prisma in graduated greens, was the first building to be declared ‘Outstanding’ in the UK by the Buildings Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM). The Colorcoat range also includes products for houses, which are proving successful.

According to Wilks, a steel roof is now “the signature of a sustainable residential development”. Colorcoat Urban is the company’s answer to the market needs in this area: Corus Colors supplied the roof for the UK’s first zero carbon development in Hanham, outside Bristol.

High quality, zero maintenance and zero carbon pre-finished steel products represent Corus Colors’ biggest achievement. The company has invested heavily in Research & Development over many years and also calls upon the expertise of independent organisations like the Steel Construction Institute and Oxford Brooks University. The company claims to differentiate itself by adding technical knowledge, and therefore value, to its products.

83

TDG TDG is a major European logistics company with extensive experience in industrial, retail, FMCG and chemicals markets.

W

e work to create value by aligning our customers’ supply chains to their business strategy. We prefer to work in partnership with clients to deliver strategic goals, linking our success, and often rewards, to that of our customers.

TDG is active in 7 European countries where we enjoy a reputation for excellence in Health & Safety, Change Management, Continuous Improvement and delivering results.

In 2006 Corus & TDG signed a 7 year contract to manage all Corus’s UK road transport requirements. This is a dedicated 4PL contract managing the deliveries of >60 Corus sites across the UK. The contract covers the entire

84

‘order to cash’ process and is based on 3 main managing principles of driving improvements in Safety, Service & Savings.

Today, we handle approximately 1200 loads of steel products per day, utilising 80+ contracted haulier partners. Our office, known as the Platform, is based in Corus, Scunthorpe, which is home to a dedicated team of 42 people covering Management, H&S, Operations Planning, Customer Service and Finance & Administration.

Corus Colors, Shotton joined the Platform in November 2007. It is one of our busier sites with >200 loads per week being planned and executed. All Corus sites

pose different challenges and Shotton is no exception. However from the first engagement meeting to today’s regular performance reviews there has always been a ‘work with’ partnership approach which has delivered excellent results.

Published in association with: TDG www.corusplatform.com www.amillionmilesbetter.com

Factory of the month Corus Colors’

Wilks adds: “Many people think steel is an old-fashion material, but it’s actually very modern. The industry is very dynamic, always changing”.

Although its business has strong ties to the construction industry, the company managed to keep its head above water during the economic downturn by implementing work flexibility and operational reconfiguration, without enforced redundancies to the workforce. “We reacted very quickly in the fall of 2008,” Wilks confirms.

Focusing on product differentiation and devoting efforts to better understand the needs of the market are some of the strategic measures the company adopts to remain competitive. “We have to keep reinventing the business, for example with the relaunch of Colorcoat Prisma and by offering new products and services,” says Duckworth.

A big ongoing issue the company is powerless to solve, however, is the volatility of energy and raw material prices. In the past, Corus Colors has spent up to £25m on energy and £90m on zinc a year.

Corus Colors goes green This drive towards reinvention is evident on the Shotton site, which has an impressive environmental performance.

Corus Colors’ interest in sustainability is not new. In 2002, the company gave a series of seminars on sustainable building design around the UK. It was the first steel manufacturer to take out heavy metals used in the coating process. “We are still the only steel company in the world to offer a zero carbon building envelope,” Wilks adds.

Producing pre-finished steel is considered better than powder coating, not just for economic reasons, but also because as a process it creates considerably less waste. Shotton is determined to do its part to tackle global warming, both on its efficiency performance and on the carbon content of its products. This is part of a wider strategy to establish itself as a focal point for sustainable building. For example, as part of a joint venture with Australian company Dyesol, Corus Colors is trying to develop a low cost system to apply a photovoltaic coating directly to steel.

“We are involved in the production of massive buildings, typically 20,000 square meters but it can be as much as 100,000 square meters. If we can apply an energy-

producing coating directly to steel, we can functionalise the whole roof area of a building,” says Wilks. “This has incredible potential: if we produced, say, 60 million square metres of steel a year for roofing applications and if all of that was coated with this photovoltaic material, it would be the equivalent of building a nuclear power station every two years.”

The process, which is the result of a £10m investment, is similar in principle to photosynthesis and uses special dyes to produce electricity. The technology has a number of benefits, and works well in low and diffuse light which is perfect for areas like the UK. The manufacturing process does not use carbon intensive vacuum processes so the carbon embodiment in the finished product should be lower. It also offers the potential for low cost, high volume manufacturing. Combining these benefits with the millions of square metres of roof material Corus Colors supplies allows the company to overcome the lower operational efficiency and make this a potentially attractive investment for customers.

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When Corus required a partner to assist in the installation of energy efficient Compressed Air Systems, United Air Power won the contract to supply the compressed air systems and installation of over 400 metres of distribution pipe work within a specific time frame. The project was completed on time within budget.

U

nited Air Power has been in partnership with Corus for 7 years and has worked on many projects to reduce energy costs by over £100,000 per annum across the Shotton site and we have been championed throughout the Corus group for the initiatives undertaken ahead of the crowd.

For example: 2005 - Project Coatings 3 & 5 Galv- Site Main Air Compressed System. - £38,000 per annum energy savings by replacing CompAir V major reciprocating compressors with modern 160 kW variable speed drive rotary screw compressors 2005 - Project Coatings 2. £15,000.00 saved through installing compressor management and sequencing control systems 2006 - Package Boilers - Savings of

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£10,000.00 per annum by replacing oversized screw compressors with smaller energy efficient Industrial reciprocating compressors 2006 – Corus Living Solutions (CLS) - £15,000 saved by installing energy efficient Variable Speed Drive compressors and dew point dependant desiccant dryers. United Air Power project managed the installation and delivered with no incidents and on time and within budget.

2007 - 5 Galv area, Savings of £6,000.00 in energy per annum in the redesign of Instrument air supply with “point of use”, desiccant dryers fed from general shop air.

2008 - Project Coatings 2. - £20,000 in Life Cycle Cost Savings, through reduced energy and service maintenance costs.

2009/10 - Panel Line, design and installation of Compressed air systems and distribution pipe work.

Additional improvements and costs saving initiatives include heat recovery and optimised servicing based on measurements as opposed to chronological based manufactures schedules and we continue to enjoy working with Corus Colours and all our customers to add value through our solutions based approach.

Published in association with: United Air Power Tel: 01244 538800 Fax: 01244 539700 Web: www.unitedairpower.co.uk

Factory of the month Corus Colors’

SolarWall is another solution that shows the company’s commitment to manufacturing sustainable products.

Developed for the UK in collaboration with CA Group, it is an aesthetically pleasing, astonishingly simple method of low carbon dioxide solar air heating, with collector efficiencies as high as 80 percent. Installed as an additional skin to a building’s southerly facing elevation, the system consists of a pre-finished steel sheet with thousands of tiny air perforations uniformly spaced across the full face of the collector.

As sunlight strikes the surface of SolarWall and is absorbed, solar heat conducts to the thermal boundary layer of air which lines the outer surface of the panel. This heated boundary layer is drawn through the perforations (by means of a ventilation fan) into the cavity space so it can then be distributed through the building to offset its heating load and provide the necessary ventilation - reducing the amount of energy required for heating and the associated CO2 emissions.

Corus Colors and CA Group installed Solarwall on the Jaguar Land Rover Academy near Leamington Spa, cutting the training centre’s energy bill by 50%. “It’s a terrific application of low-energy technology that any company, hospital or school can use,” says Wilks. “It doesn’t need to be a huge surface, it’s usually around 200 square metres on a southerly-facing wall.”

Shotton site ariel

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BASF BASF Coatings has been manufacturing products for the precoated metal industry for over 30 years originally on the South Coast of England but since 1991 from its factory on the Deeside Industrial Park in North Wales.

T

he facility in Deeside is the global leader in the development, manufacturing and supply of PVC plastisol. The plastisol is applied onto galvanised steel in a continuous high speed coating process (coil coating) to form the precoated metal which is used predominantly in construction as a roofing and cladding material.

Dr Nick Brown Commercial Director for BASF Coatings says “we have a very strong partnership with all our customers, we understand how our products will be used and can adapt their properties to give optimum performance on the coating lines and subsequently on buildings”.

BASF Coatings latest plastisol product PLASTICERAM® TOP has resulted from many years of development.

PLASTICERAM® TOP had to undergo

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rigorous testing by both accelerated and natural weathering techniques. Phil Green UK Sales Manager informed us that “PLASTICERAM® TOP gives our customers a technical advantage over their competitors, and when this is coupled with short production lead times it makes for a very attractive package”.

Since the launch of PLASTICERAM® TOP two years ago BASF has doubled its share of the European plastisol top coat market.

Plastisol coatings are unique amongst coil coatings in that they are applied at 200 microns. This thickness allows the surface to be embossed to a depth of up to 70 microns giving an aesthetically pleasing effect but without compromising the barrier properties of the material.

BASF’s Coatings facility in Deeside

does not just manufacture plastisols but also produces a full range of products for the coil coating industry. As Phil Green points out “ We have also seen a strong increase in demand for our high performance Polyurethane based top coats (our brand POLYCERAM® PU)”.

As part of the worlds largest chemical company BASF Coatings is able to draw upon large R&D resources to bring new ideas to market. Access to the BASF Construction Network Team (CNT) allows an insight into the demands of the building envelope.

This knowledge is used to plan future developments such as incorporating heat reflective pigments into the coating to reduce energy consumption, and eventually the potential to incorporate organic photovoltaic coatings to actually generate electricity.

Factory of the month Corus Colors’

Shotton site

Corus Colors’ sustainability performance also includes the way operations are run on a daily basis.

The company is aiming to reduce Shotton’s carbon emissions by 50% by 2012. Emissions reduction are now past 25%, and the ‘Energy from Waste’ programme, that is being developed together with third party companies providing waste management solutions, and will be operational at the end of year, will ensure the target is met.

The scheme will take 160,000 tonnes of black bag refuse from the Flintshire area and convert it into fuel pellets that will be processed in a gasification plant to produce around 10MW of electricity, enough to power the entire plant. In addition, the amount of waste going to local landfill will fall by 90%.

Wilks comments: “We are constructing Phase 1, the waste treatment plant. Phase 2, which we hope to reach before the end of this year, is the gasifier. The programme is a great equation: it not only helps to solve a big problem for the local authority, but it actually underpins jobs on site as well.

It’s truly the perfect solution.”

Other sustainability initiatives include recycling steam for heating purposes,

the fitting of a regenerative oxidiser on one of the lines which cut consumption of natural gas by 60%, the installation of a railhead so that all feedstock now comes by rail (from South Wales, saving three million lorry miles per year) and the recovering of 95% of Shotton’s zinc pot waste and of solvents used for washdowns between colour changes.

We are involved in the production of massive buildings, typically 20,000 square meters but it can be as much as 100,000 square meters Peter Wilks, general manager, Corus Colors’

Lean, the Shotton way The Shotton Way is Corus Colors’ onsite lean programme.

“We visited what we considered to be best practice organisations to see what they did, to adapt it to our individual circumstances. We came up with ‘The Shotton Way’, which breaks the issue down into manageable chunks. That’s where we would like to end up, but we realise we are not going to get there in a year,” Duckworth says. “We’re not launching a massive programme, but want to sure that we are heading in the right direction towards a defined end point,” he adds.

The purpose of the programme is to find a way to make it as simple as possible for everybody to understand what the business’ requirements and targets are. “The difficulty with

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T

TE was established in 1990 and has grown to become one of the North West’s leading providers of Specialised & Broad-based Apprenticeships; focused on whole person development.

Awarded a Grade 1 – Outstanding by the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) and a 5 Star Health and Safety record from the British Safety Council; TTE pride themselves on delivering first class training to help bridge the skill gap within the Petroleum and Chemical Industries.

TTE is not only committed and dedicated to training tomorrow’s engineers but also boasts an outstanding commercial delivery team. Whether you are looking to up skill or cross skill, TTE offer a number of different training programmes specialising in Health & Safety, NVQ Programmes, Engineering Skills and Management & Leadership which can be tailored to your specific requirements.

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Our Vision: To be best in class in all areas of endeavour Our Mission We will ensure that a nurturing environment prevails which in turn will give the community a vocationally skilled, academically qualified and personally developed individual. This will take place in a safe and professional manner, with total regard to the community and the environment.

TTE aims to fulfil its social responsibility toward a community that supports learning, that is free from discrimination and prejudice and which encourages and helps all learners reach their potential.

TTE aims to give all of its learners the chance, through education, training and work, to realise their full potential and so contribute to an inclusive and fair society and a competitive economy.

Corus apprentice, Sam Bird receiving her award from Col. Tim Collins OBE as TTE’s Phase 1 Trainee of the Year 2009.

For further information or to request an application form contact: TTE tRAINING LIMITED 0151 357 6100 www.tteltd.co.uk

Factory of the month Corus Colors’

six sigma, continuous improvement and lean is that they are hard to explain to people. The hard part is to make the message pass through to the workforce,” Wilks confirms.

The programme looks at how Corus Colors delivers results, and is simplified in a schematic chart that identifies, through questions, what the business tries to achieve, what everybody is expected to do, how workers can work better together, how they can make the job as simple as possible.

Wilks says, “We reorganised about three years ago, to bring in some clarity and simplicity. We identified sales, manufacturing and logistics as our three main activities, and the other functional areas are there to support them.

The trick is to make sure that we have alignment between these areas, that the Key Performance Indicators are aligned too and that we are all working towards the same goals.”

The clarity of roles and responsibilities, visual management, high standards of the workplace, the team ownership of goals and the removal of waste and bottlenecks are of paramount importance to achieve efficiency.

Duckworth agrees. “We’ve, improved the way we communicate with the entire workforce, and not just the senior managers, what the business needs. We sit with the guys for a couple of hours every 6 months and we talk them through how the business is doing and what we’re trying to achieve,” he says.

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Automotive Elddis

Steady supply plans for making great caravans

With batch sizes as small as two, the assembly line must have flexibility for quick changeovers

Mark Young revisits caravan and motorhome maker Elddis to find out the nuts and bolts behind the supply chain improvements which are keeping the wheels of this County Durham manufacturer well greased.

At

the beginning of last year, TM talked to caravan and motorhome manufacturer Elddis to get feel for this staple company of roadbased holiday-making. We’ve now gone back to Elddis to find out more about the supply chain improvement measures that have been a key factor in keeping the firm on the right track.

Firstly, to update on Elddis: this financial year 2,800 touring caravans – or

‘tourers’ – and 1,100 motorhomes will be manufactured at the company’s County Durham factory. Elddis had initially forecast production of less than 500 of the latter but strong demand, led by a requirement to replenish retailers’ forecourts after destocking activities last year, has meant that figure has more than doubled. The company expects a turnover this year of around £46m, from £35m last year.

As we regaled last year, Elddis’ products are consistent industry award winners, year after year. Recently the company scooped the ‘Best Caravan for Large Families’ for its Xplore 596 triple bunk at the Practical Caravan Awards 2010, while its uniquely laid out Crusader Tempest won Best Family Caravan over £13,500 in the 2010 Which Caravan awards. This doesn’t mean Elddis is resting on its laurels, though. The company continues to innovate its product range and its work has been well received by the market. The Xplore 302, released in February and marketed as the smallest and lightest caravan on sale in the UK, is already the company’s third best selling product this year - and associate director Gary Jones says it would have been number one had it been available from the beginning. The Xplore 302 itself set an unprecedented standard as double category winner in the Caravan Club Design Awards and Caravan Club Lightweight Leisure Awards this year.

In addition to the Xplore 302, the Avante range has gone through a complete redesign in response to qualitative market research among customers and retailers and carried out by associate director Angela Wallace and the Appeal Team.

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SCM GROUP UK and ELDDIS T

he SCM Group (UK) Limited and Elddis Caravans have a long and successful association, with SCM supplying a considerable number of CNC Routers and Machining Centres to Elddis over many years, plus a large number of Woodworking and Panel Processing machines.

The SCM GROUP is the World leader in the manufacture of Woodworking and Panel Processing machinery and systems industries. It produces an entire range of machinery, from the standard, classical machines for small woodworking companies, up to large CNC and integrated lines for the industrial production of furniture, joinery, doors, windows, caravans, boats, etc.. Through dedicated, specialist companies within the SCM Group, it also operates in the plastic, stone, glass and metal processing industries.

SCM, based in Rimini, Italy, has been producing woodworking machinery for over 50 years and represents the nucleus of the SCM Group that, with a total of 3800

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employees, 27 factories, 25 subsidiaries and exporting over 70% of it’s total production, it is the World’s leading producer of woodworking equipment. In factories certified according to ISO 9001 standards, SCM produces the widest range of machines for secondary wood processing, from machines for small woodworking companies to CNC Machining Centres, to high production integrated lines for the machining of solid wood, joinery and the processing of panels of all types. Specialised technicians located all over the world are able to supply an efficient and fast after-sales service to SCM customers and also through a system of remote computerised diagnostics.

Based in Nottingham, SCM Group (UK) has a dedicated, experienced and knowledgeable Sales team covering the UK and Ireland. A Service Division, with over 30 engineers located around the country installs, commissions and services the full range of machines, with help lines available for immediate technical assistance. For

customers purchasing CNC Machining Centres, a 3-day training course is offered in the classroom in Nottingham. Spare Parts are stocked for the full range of machines or they can be shipped overnight from the manufacturing factory or a subsidiary anywhere around the World.

Published in association with: SCM Group (UK) Ltd

Blenheim House, Camberley Road, Bulwell, Nottingham NG6 8UW

Tel: 0115 9770044 Fax: 0115 9770946 Email: scmgroupuk@scmgroup.com Web: www.scmgb.co.uk

Automotive Elddis

“We’re going to be presenting the newlook Avante range to the market in the next couple of weeks,” says Jones. “It’s more functional, it’s lighter and I’m going to say it’s sexier.”

Oiling the chain So on to supply. Elddis has worked extensively in recent years to improve all aspects of its materials handling, from the way it works with its suppliers, throughout the manufacturing process, to the way it delivers to its end customers. The improvement process that the company now describes as its journey was kick-started by a scheme initiated in 2005 which was funded by what is now the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills – the then Department for Trade and Industry.

This saw four Elddis employees join representatives from nine of the company’s key suppliers in embarking upon a two-and-a-half year National Supply Chain Project. Together they trained in the tools and techniques of supply chain improvement and cooperation in order to streamline their operations, both individually and in relation to each other. Each company identified a pre-diagnostic focus area, which was made the focus of weeklong workshops with additional follow up days afterwards.

“In my opinion that was tipping point for myself and my team, because all of the tools and techniques opened everybody’s eyes to a different way of doing things,” says Jason Thompson, Elddis’ product services manager who has responsibility for materials management and supply chain from purchase order processing to delivering parts to the assembly lines and the retail network.

One of the first things to come out of the supply chain programme was the introduction of a vendor-supplier performance measure to check metrics based around the ‘7 measures of QCD’: quality, cost and delivery. “That was a fundamental objective of the project,” says Thompson. “To develop a system that we and they could use to rate the performance of services and check whether the trends are going the right way. The data behind that allows us to see what products are arriving on time.

It’s a web based system so the suppliers can see what they need to be working on within their own business.”

This focus on better communication links throughout the supply base was then extended to the introduction of an automatic ordering and replenishment system through Epicor’s Avante ERP software. “Some of our suppliers are now working with us to providing ID labelling and barcode functionality so that it’s a seamless process from them dispatching all the way through to us manufacturing,” says Thompson. “As we use and consume products we’re using barcode functionality to send orders directly via email to the supply base.” Before, the company would order all the parts it required six weeks in advance of production. It now orders parts as it needs them, typically on a weekly basis, and has thus pushed its stock holding back into its supplier. It encourages the companies it orders from to do likewise.

We build in batch sizes as small as two, and in making this change the business has become much more flexible in reducing lead times and our ability to deliver products to endcustomers quicker and to a better quality Jason Thompson, product services manager

From push to pull Next it was time for Elddis to improve the way it supplies to its line. “At that time our business was very push orientated so we were building things in batch sizes of around 50 to 60 at a time and we were buying in and delivering to the line the same number of items at a time,” says Thompson. “All of the operations within the business were operating on an ethos of ‘the bigger the batch size the better’. Now, we build in batch sizes as small as two and in making this change the business has become much more flexible in reducing lead times and our ability to deliver products to end-customers quicker and to a better quality.”

Historically it could take up to sixteen weeks to for a customer to receive their order, as they would have to wait for the product cycle to get round and a vehicle to be available from stock. Now the company avoids building for stock and instead builds to order. Lead time is down to six weeks.

“We concentrated a lot of our efforts how we could improve supply to the manufacturing processes. The first thing we identified was taking out the waste and trying to work much slicker. 5S was the foundation – getting the workplace organised – then we moved onto waste elimination with process mapping and the introduction of kanbans, moving away from a push towards a pull orientated system. We started out on a trial system with a Bradshaw tow tractor like you see in automotive factories in order to look at supplying the line in smaller quantities, relying less on fork lift trucks.”

When the Kanban system was introduced it initially included 23 components but through a series of expansions now includes more than 600 – roughly 55% of the parts Elddis uses across its production processes. “We’ll now work on tackling the rest,” says Thompson.

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Beamish Transport Beamish Transport has been moving caravans and motorhomes from the Eldiss factory in Consett to dealers throughout the UK for a number of years.

A close working relationship has been built up between the two companies as a result and regular discussions take place to ensure the distribution process runs efficiently and smoothly throughout the year.

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With a fleet of 35 modern If you are looking to transport transporters, Beamish vans, plant, cars or indeed Transport has the versatility almost anything on wheels, and flexibility to offer a why not give us a ring and reliable service discuss your requirements? tailored to customer needs. The company prides itself on Published in association with: its high levels of Beamish Transport Ltd customer service Tel: 0191 387 4555 and personal Fax: 0191 387 4666 attention delivered Email: transport@beamishtransport.co.uk by its dedicated and Web: www.beamishtransport.co.uk professional staff.

Automotive Elddis

“At first we were doing a ‘milk round’, delivering to the line once every four hours,” explains Thompson. “Now we deliver every 25 minutes, supplying one piece at a time to each vehicle. It’s a four ticket decoupled kanban system – there’s always one with the vehicle, one in the warehouse getting picked, one in transit and one waiting to be used.”

This has allowed four forklift trucks to be taken out of the line supply fleet and be replaced by two land trains with dual-purpose trailers. The tow trucks do rounds of the factory with four or five trailers attached. These are placed line side at point of fit and then act as pedestrian operated trailers.

What you need, when you need it, where it should be In addition to singular supply, vehicle kits are now being introduced for various groups of products such as electrical components. These are aligned to the serial number of the unit and ensure that exactly the right parts and numbers of parts are delivered; meaning batch size is reduced through sequencing, fewer

goods are lost or damaged in transit and work areas are not cluttered by extraneous materials. Storage and picking cells were introduced during the reorganisation of the warehouse to facilitate this measure. The operative now only has to walk around a cell of approximately four square metres to get everything they need for one particular batch of components.

Elddis is now looking to repeat this system for the windows its uses, which are imported from Germany, they will be packaged and delivered in per vehicle format when delivered to line side.

Elddis have also introduced a defective material control process. Faulty components, which used to only be discovered at the end of a batch are registered in real time and the problem is rectified immediately.

In the warehouse, a visual management system has been introduced for a pallet based storage operation so that any location can be utilised for any product, facilitating effective stock rotation while a comprehensive knowledge of product whereabouts is retained. Picking documentation has been adapted to become barcode readable meaning item numbers are scanned rather than typed. Mistakes are avoided and time is saved. Expendable packaging has been swapped for reusable and returnable crates, boxes and stillages.

In terms of improving supply to the end customer, Elddis worked with the North East Productivity Alliance and NAConsultants. “They came in and facilitated training and helped reorganise the warehouse to improve how we supply spare parts to the aftermarket. We designed a new system

Elddis has introduced a barcode system for its kanban tickets which enables an automatic replenishment system

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Elddis

Elddis recently invested £80,000 on this machine to produce better quality edges on its worktops

which allows us visibility over where everything is and separates the ‘runners’, the ‘repeaters’ and the ‘strangers’ – the most regular movers, the intermediary items and the ones we need to reach most infrequently.”

The company also looked at its transport system for delivering spare parts and now uses couriers, rather than operating its own delivery vans on a milk round basis, which means it can offer next day delivery rather than at the snail pace of four to six weeks for stock items.

Training is ongoing. Currently over 150 employees are undertaking a new nationally recognised qualification in Supply Chain Management. Elddis were chosen as one of the first companies to run this new NVQ, which is now being rolled out in automotive plants across the country. “This really fits in with what we are trying to achieve at Elddis, and we were delighted to be one of the first to run the course,” says Jones.

The end result of these initiatives is that as well as the aforementioned reduction in lead time from a possible 16 weeks from a customer placing an order to receiving their product to just six, the value of raw material inventory has been reduced from £2.6m to £1.4m and finished goods is down from 1,100

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units to 500, which includes the storage facility service Elddis offers retailers whereby the latter buys stock but keeps it at the formers’ site. In terms of quality, end of line clearance has gone from 40-50% two years ago to a percentage in the high 80s or early 90s now.

Investing in the best Testament to Elddis’ commitment to quality is the investments it is making. It recently spent £65,000 on a new machine to improve the plywood edging which go inside the caravans in motorhomes. “The machine was signed off on quality alone,” says Jones. “It isn’t faster, it doesn’t give us more capacity – it just feels better.”

The installation of the machine then inspired the company to look at all aspects of its worktops and to explore how it can reduce the weight and improve quality.

Elddis has now decided to invest in another new machine for edging worktops.

“We had to make a choice between buying worktops in or making them ourselves and we took the latter option because it guarantees us that we get exactly what we want and that we’re in control of quality, cost and delivery,” says Jones. The total investment, including all of the machinery, its installation, and the adjustments to the factory, will be £310,000, with installation in August 2010.

“Overall, we’re now far more responsive to what customer wants,” he concludes. “It’s not just that we’re making things quicker and to order, retailers can now be delivered their caravans within a week of us making them because, through the changes we’ve made, we can have confidence in the quality. That couldn’t have happened several years ago.”

Plastic solutions Nylacast

A cast

of their own TM meets Nylacast Ltd, a world leader in engineering polymer solutions.

Leicester

based Nylacast Ltd prides itself on being able to provide customers with a complete engineering polymer solution. The company’s versatility of components sees them used within industries as diverse as construction, oil & gas, pharmaceutical, food processing, rail, defence, maritime and automotive.

“Nylacast Engineering Polymers are stable, corrosion resistant, tough, self lubricating and wear resistant, making them the perfect choice for a wide range of applications and the ideal replacement to traditional engineering materials such as steel, cast iron and bronze,” says managing director Mussa Mahomed. “Engineering expertise at Nylacast, backed by state of the art manufacturing facilities situated world-wide, has made us the number one choice for engineering designers and specifiers.”

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Significant investment “The last 18 months have seen Nylacast invest in a number of its critical assets” states Lean expert and operations director Chris Richards. For example, the company has initiated a “group-wide lean manufacturing programme”, ensuring the capacity to deliver greater value added to Nylacast’s customers through significantly reduced lead times, improved delivery and quality performance. The programme has also benefited the business directly through a significant reduction in inventory — including finished goods, WIP and raw materials, while enabling better utilisation of internal resources, factory space and working capital.

Furthermore, says the company’s marketing manager, Thomas Lynch, “We have made significant investments in our people, allowing them to undertake training in best practice business improvement skills that will enhance their personal qualities, accredited qualifications, build morale and, ultimately, benefit the business through applied engineering/ manufacturing practices.”

Indeed, Nylacast recognises the importance of its people, considering them to be its most valuable asset. The

majority of the company’s workforce is sourced from the local community and has proved an intrinsic part of Nylacast’s successes. “This is why we focus on the long-term goals and conduct an array of in-house and external training — including NVQs, professional qualifications, mentoring buddy systems and apprenticeships,” he says. “Where required, we have also acquired industry experts into vital positions to complement and enhance our strong workforce. Nylacast consider our people-based investments as pivotal to both our success and the organisations’ push towards continuous business improvement.”

Materials technology As a leading brand in cast nylons, Nylacast has specialised in developing this unique polymer for many decades.

Accordingly, the company offers the widest range of profiles, grades and sizes available, concentrating on its ability to custom and formulate a grade for any particular application.

“Although our origin lies in cast nylons, we are also able to supply a much wider range of engineering polymers — with high-performance products being added to our product portfolio,” confirms Mahomed To support this capacity, Nylacast concentrate on the plethora of issues relating to raw material supply. From costs, to quality, to custom formulation and logistics, the company’s desire is to be a partner of first choice as well as a quality producer with a universal set of standards across its manufacturing facilities.

To this end, “In achieving such success, Nylacast rely heavily on the R&D department, where we are continuously pioneering new product applications and materials,” says R&D manager, Professor Malcolm Fox. “Increasingly, our R&D department are working directly with our partners to ascertain their requirements and provide the greatest value through innovation and solutions.”

Focus on adding value The company’s approach is to build long-term relationships and focus on adding value to its partners’ businesses.

As such, “Through over 40 years of engineering solutions, our approach has given us a strong position within

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Plastic solutions Nylacast

the market place, robust trading performances and the strengthening of the worldwide Nylacast brand image,” says Mahomed.

World-wide trading experience and a strong to desire to continue to provide value has seen Nylacast lead the way in pioneering polymer solutions. Indeed, both customers and partners recognise the importance the company places on their business and clients’ requirements — such attention representing a major factor in Nylacast’s recent successes.

Similarly, Nylacast is diversified across a number of industries, including: oil and gas, automotive, construction, agriculture, marine and alternative energy, to name but six. “This has allowed the company to balance its portfolio and continue to grow as a business unit,” says Lynch. “A centralised approach, with the ‘Think Global, Act Local’ philosophy, has seen our international markets increase in market share, and we look forward to continuing this value-added progress.”

To the future

engineering solutions that offer our customers a real value alternative. We believe in the value of building business partners through long and sustainable relationships.”

With over 40 years of pioneering polymers, innovation, providing solutions and creating value, Nylacast are thus well placed as market leaders to continue to create cooperative value for the company’s business partners.

“Indeed,” says Mahomed, “our vision is to continue as a market leader in providing engineering solutions in high value added technologies.”

“Key to our business remains a focus on innovation — coupled with outstanding value. We are at the leading edge of developing polymer materials for the most demanding of applications. With them, we lead the world in advanced engineering solutions and have the opportunity to do this with the superior quality of product we design, manufacture, machine and engineer.” Ultimately, Nylacast believes that it is intuitively synchronised to its customers’ needs, this being the definitive component to both the company’s and its clients’ continued success.

The immediate future sees Nylacast set to expand its horizons and global reach. Says Lynch, “We are already considering significant investments in gaining market capacity and share within emergent markets such as China, Russia and Brazil. Europe, the Far-East and the U.S. are major markets for Nylacast, and we are ever increasing our customer base and value-added offering in these territories, too.”

“Nylacast is a forward thinking, customer-orientated business,” says Lynch. “We pride ourselves on being able to go to market and provide the

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The

rebukes of Hazard

Shasun - Dudley Production Facility

Edward Machin meets Shasun Pharma Solutions, a verticallyintegrated partner for the pharmaceutical industry which thrives on working with those hazardous chemistries that many in the sector shy away from.

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Operating

in the pre-launch and launch pharmaceutical arenas, Shasun Pharma Solutions manufacture advanced intermediates and APIs for products that have (i) already been approved by the FDA or relevant regulatory authority and (ii) are still navigating the labyrinth of requirements necessary for commercial launch.

Regarding the latter, pharmaceutical agents journey through a host of developmental stages prior to launch: from pre-clinical to phase one, two and three of clinical trials — a process which can take up to a decade. So, says Shasun’s President, Kevin Cook, “A customer will come to us with a molecule for pre-clinical work, looking to us and our capabilities to develop a commercially viable process to get their product to market.”

While initial production may peak at hundreds of grams, more often than not Shasun will be required to develop a manufacturing process that can deliver multiple tones of any given product. “Taking a molecule; designing a route of manufacturing; providing hazard evaluation capabilities, chemistry expertise and analytical techniques; offering the legislative and quality support so as to navigate the regulatory roadmap and allow safe and rapid scale up and, ultimately, commercialisation of the product — we do it all,” he says.

Pharmaceutical Shasun Pharma Solutions

The Dudley-based business is a whollyowned subsidiary of Shasun Chemicals and Drugs Limited, a manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients, their intermediates and enteric coating excipients, trading out of Chennai, India. Beginning life in 1976 to produce Ibuprofen, Shasun’s parent company has grown to become one of the largest global suppliers of the anti-inflammatory drug — with an output exceeding 6,000 tonnes annually.

Not wanting to paint itself into a corner, during the last decade the organisation sought to diversify into adjacent products and markets, establishing a formulation and research facility in Chennai with a view to moving into the contract research and manufacturing services business.

Formed by the acquisition of Rhodia Pharma Solutions in 2006, Shasun’s UK arm was instituted to offer a vertically-integrated chemistry partner to its parent organisation and the wider pharmaceutical industry.

“Our business in the UK is purely for contract research and manufacturing, with approximately 40% of revenue generated through sales to big pharma

and 60% from partnerships with Emerging and Biotech companies,” says Cook.

Safe passage Priding itself on a world-class service provision regardless of customer, it is when dealing with emerging and Biotech companies that Shasun really comes into its own as a drug substance development one-stop shop. Although such entities are highly knowledgeable with regard to the biochemistry, mode of action and design of molecules, they often have little experience of scaling the process for full commercial delivery.

Explains Cook, “One of our core offerings relates to hazard evaluation capabilities, which allows Shasun to take on very challenging chemistries. With this appreciation of the raw components involved in manufacture, we understand which safety parameters need to be controlled for a given reaction and the envelope within which we need to operate in order to provide a safe and robust process.

We can therefore take on a range of processes which the majority of our competition may not be comfortable with.”

“If the process is ‘stack it high, sell it cheap’ then it’s probably not going to be for us, and more than likely to be secured in China, for instance. However, if you require a extensive degree of customer involvement and high-service interaction, together with increasing complexity within the production process, we are ideally placed to bring value to the table — through our dedicated and passionate people, and drawing on over 40 years of experience within the industry,” he says.

Shasun Pharma Solutions at a glance Company Name

Shasun Pharma Solutions Limited

Address

Cramlington Road, Dudley, Cramlington, Northumberland, NE23 7QG

Contact

Tel: 0191 2500471 e-mail: marketing@shasun.com

Employee Level

270

Annual company revenue

£40m

At a glance

Shasun Pharma Solutions is a vertically-integrated chemistry partner for the pharmaceutical industry. Its services include innovative process research and development, rapid response small scale manufacture for clinical trial supply and full scale commercial manufacture of advanced intermediates and API’s — all with seamless technology transfer and under cGMP. The company’s capabilities are available as single or multi-site offerings in order to create flexible solutions that satisfy the development or commercial manufacturing challenges facing its customers.

Shasun’s chemistry and development expertise complements its manufacturing services, offering customers a single source for the supply solution they now seek from multiple organisations. Early stage development services provide seamless technology transfer to facilitate crucial speed to market, and minimise potential risk in the transition to commercial scale manufacture.

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Chiral technologies

Shasun Analytical, NMR Facility

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Shasun operate from a state-of-the-art, fully equipped development centre at Dudley, Northumberland which, when coupled with its portfolio of proprietary technology, acts as an umbrella for the company’s research undertakings. Described by Cook as “little R; big D,” the application of such technology has enabled Shasun to develop and commercialise key intermediates for industryleading medicines in a cost-effective fashion: chirally pure drugs, for example.

For those unfamiliar with the term, a vast majority of pharmaceuticals exist as a right and left ‘hand,’ he explains. “Just as your hands can’t be super-imposed, while the chemical structure of the molecules is the same, the reactions they have within the body are very different.

So, if you consume what is known as a racemic mix one of the molecules is often inactive and lacks any medical benefit, whereas we can produce the single, chirally-pure, active molecule.”

“This is a unique offering,” says Cook, “in terms of the technology we use to enable these advances. Moreover, we have a number of exciting technologies that the company is further developing — we are also looking at customers’ pipelines to understand how we can best apply our technologies and bring value to their supply chains.”

The relationships Shasun enjoys with its customers vary greatly according to individual needs. Some, for example, simply require a number of kilos on at set date,

Pharmaceutical Shasun Pharma Solutions

while others wish to be on-site and play an integral role in the development and scale-up work that the company undertakes. Emerging Pharma and Biotech companies, being closer to the integrated mode and given that they have little or no manufacturing capability, are naturally keener to adopt the latter approach.

Lean, by any other name Shasun is continually looking at its processes and the ways in which the company can both drive out fixedcost by collapsing cycle time and using any appropriate methodology to remove ‘waste’ and operations which don’t add value — having used Lean principles for the better part of two decades, and with two Six Sigma Black Belts currently on site.

“We have a particularly robust review process, undertaken at the monthly senior management meeting

and falling under the banner of business improvement.

Indeed, everything we do is based around a project structure,” says Cook. Having identified a recent opportunity to capitalise on one of the company’s pharmaceutical intermediate products due to increased demand, the first option for many manufactures is to simply throw capital spend at the increase. “While it would be foolish to deny that certain projects require an increased capital outlay, Shasun equally looks at how to get the best out of our facilities, the result being that we regularly double productivity without major capital investment.”

Really right first time A critical part of the company’s balance scorecard remains its quality indicators: process ‘right first time,’ for example.

With a development project target of 98% — which Shasun routinely achieves — Cook nonetheless highlights that a two per cent failure leaves questions still to be answered; undesirable for a company dedicated to the elixir of process research.

Accordingly, over the past six years Shasun has implemented ‘really right first time,’ incorporating documentation and process deviation indicators.

“Documentation right first time is perhaps the hardest

Shasun Analytical Laboratories

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Shasun Pharma Solutions

Shasun Development Laboratories

thing to achieve, as you might have hundreds of pages of analytic and batch documentation, with fifty entries per page,” says Cook. Designed with involvement from the company’s operational team, a format which is both easier to complete but also fully compliant means that the document recycle is vastly reduced — with operational quality heightened throughout the organisation.

In addition to quality compliance, environmental compliance and sustainable chemistry are equally high on Shasun’s agenda. “The company is looking at what we call our ‘E-number’, which is related to investigating how many kilos of waste are produced per kilo of product,” he says. Once a process has been approved on the market, it is notoriously difficult to change it, given that the regulatory framework will have been established.

Resultantly, the company’s chemists are hard at work to develop evergreener methods of production, reducing the amount raw materials used and producing both less waste or wastes streams that are engineered to be easier to dispose of.

A key component of Shasun’s strength in this area is the on-site Biological Treatment Capability, established as a leading technology

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in 1993 and which remains one of the largest facilities in the UK. Says Cook, “In 2009 we took steps to exploit under-utilised capability within the facility and successfully commercialised the operation, having partnered with The William Tracey Group, a leading resource and recycling management company.” With Shasun’s capacity to treat aqueous waste with a high chemical oxygen demand, what was previously a cost centre has been transformed into a profit-making entity — providing a green waste option for the wider industry, to boot.

Splitting the difference “Given our reputation for working with complex and hazardous molecules which require particularly careful handling, a number of customers have asked us to consider new projects involving highly potent materials,” says Cook. “We recently created a capability at our site to enable the research, development and supply of these substances, and we are seeing pleasing occupancy of the facility. The degree to which the products increase in scale will determine the next level of investment for this particular aspect of manufacture.”

“We differentiate through our people and the way in which we do business, bringing world-class project management capability and 40 years of process and analytical development and scale-up experience,” he concludes. “With a comprehensive asset base to support the industry, a customer-focussed and service-orientated work force and our ability to handle the most problematic chemistries being requested by our clients, Shasun’s capacity to take those molecules which others in the industry may shy away from and develop them from discovery to commercial manufacture is one which our customers see as being especially beneficial.”

Automotive Deutsch Group

The right

connection The UK operation of Deutsch Group has a key role in the company’s world-wide operations, Dave Carman and Andy Meredith tells Ruari McCallion.

There’s

something that all of the leading players in the world’s greatest car chase have in common. The majority of the cars that line up on a Grand Prix starting grid use sophisticated electronics – that is widely known. What may be less well-known is that the leading supplier of connectors to the world of Formula One is a vibrant operation based in, of all places, the old seaside town of St Leonard’s-on-Sea, in Sussex.

“We’re probably the largest suppliers of connectors to autosport,” said Andy Meredith, manufacturing manager with Deutsch UK. Gearboxes in F1 cars are really very complex pieces of machinery, electrically actuated to change ratios in hundredths of a second – if that long.

Nice work if you can get it, of course, but just a question of making the connections solid, surely? Where’s the design and technological challenge?

“The connectors have to stay reliable in very extreme conditions,” said Dave Carman, Meredith’s colleague.

“They have to put up with intense vibrations and loads.

We have recorded vibration levels in GP cars higher than we’ve ever seen anywhere else – even in military fighter jets.” Just as well, then, that Deutsch UK’s speciality is the design, development and manufacture of interconnection solutions – particularly electrical, emc filtering and fibre optic connections – for use in harsh environments.

“As well as autosport, harsh environments are anything linked to military and civil aerospace and industrial markets.

We also supply to sectors such as trucks and earth-moving

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Syfer Technology LTD Syfer Technology Ltd is Europe’s leading manufacturer of quality multilayer ceramic capacitors and EMI suppression filters supplied to a worldwide customer base.

W

e have been producing multilayer ceramic components for over 30 years and our employees are committed to providing customers with high quality products together with a fast, friendly and flexible service from an ultra modern facility.

Customers utilise our components in all types of applications including: telecoms. industrial, automotive, military, aerospace, space and medical.

Our comprehensive range of standard and high voltage MLC capacitors operate from 10V to 6kV in 0402 to 8060 case sizes.

We have a strong tradition of product development and are proud to have brought FlexiCap™, the first polymer termination, to our customers, virtually eliminating

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flex-cracking failures.

We have a wide range of EMI/RFI filters including: surface mount components, as well as threaded and solder-in panelmounted (feedthrough) styles, and newly launched hermetically sealed and high power EMI filters.

For high end filter connector manufacturers, such as Deutsch UK, we are the world’s leading manufacturer of capacitor and varistor planar arrays, almost all of which are developed for specific customer requirements.

At the core of Syfer’s ceramic manufacturing technology is the ‘Wet Process’. This fully integrated computer-controlled

manufacturing operation is in a clean room environment, and offers unique advantages in the manufacture of MLC products.

The state-of-the-art manufacturing and test equipment in the Syfer’s Norwich, England facility is supported by an integrated management system approved by BSI to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. We are also an ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA approved source. Specific product approvals/qualifications include: IECQ CECC, UL, TÜV and AEC-Q200.

Published in association with: SYFER TECHNOLOGY LTD www.syfer.com

Automotive Deutsch Group

equipment manufacturers,” said Meredith. “Our products will operate in environments typically ranging from -65°C to +175°C, although they can be exposed to 3-400°C.” They are designed to cope with high vibration and shock levels: up to levels as high as 2000G in extreme cases. Deutsch components are also designed to cope with the low pressures found at high altitudes; the vacuum of space; and through the rigours experienced in getting satellites launched and into orbit. Clearly, the company is used to working with special materials and coming up with clever solutions to outrageous questions.

“Our work also covers filtered connectors, including EMC and EMI – electromagnetic compatibility, electromagnetic interference. Military equipment needs to be cleaned of excessive noise which may affect critical systems such as engine controls,” Meredith said. “Another area of business is our environmental products: anything that isn’t filtered or fibre-optics.

This includes connectors for high-power and Ethernet links using the standard RJ45 Interface such as you see going into a router, enabling connection to a network. Our speciality is supplying the need for more rugged equipment.”

Size matters not a jot The St Leonards facility was originally part of the Bowthorpe Group, and it operated in partnership with Deutsch Group for many years before it was bought completely in 1996. Deutsch, in turn, sold shares in the business to French company, Wendel, to create the global organisation as it exists now. Of the 3000 or so employees in the worldwide company, around 260 are based at Deutsch UK. That means it’s pretty small, in the global scale of things, but as the old saying goes: it isn’t the size, it’s what you do that counts.

“We are the company’s centre of excellence for filter and fibre optics. We don’t typically manufacture for the mass market, but we do make products in our niche very well,” said Carman. “For example, our French sister company in company in Evreux, Normandy, is roughly three times our size and has a bigger portfolio of products and customers. One of our remits is to incorporate our technology into theirs;

we close the gap to our European sister companies and their competitors in supplying, for example, Airbus and other major defence and aerospace customers.”

Deutsch UK is not just a design and development studio; it is definitely a manufacturing plant. It has a vertically-integrated structure, with all its capabilities inhouse, including a moulding shop, where it makes a variety of thermoset and thermoplastic components, a plating plant and a machine shop, equipped with advanced CNC milling machinery. Its assembly areas are divided into different product groups. The manufacturing capability is vital but its design and development capacity is probably its essential resource.

Cutting out waste and improving focus on customer service helped us to raise our OTIF by 10-15 per cent Andy Meredith, manufacturing manager “None of the other areas within the Group has the technology we have here; in filtering design, for example,” said Meredith. “We are constantly developing new designs in fibre optics, extending bandwidth for military and civil applications.” The driver is the need to do more, to extend data capacity, in the same place and in the same space.

“We are globally responsible for these technologies. The team in France have their particular competencies, our colleagues in America have theirs; we don’t overlap. But I believe we are at the front edge in our specialities: filtering, fibre optic and specialist electrical connectors. We have a lot of pedigree.”

Spacecat Maintaining the market leadership Deutsch has built up over many years is an ongoing challenge and the company’s design function is crucial; not just for developing new products but also for getting them to market quickly.

“We have a new product introduction group, which is responsible for finding out customer requirements and turning them into marketable products, fast,” Meredith continued. “We have a group project management system in place, which ensures that new product development and introduction doesn’t get stuck behind ongoing manufacturing. We run three shifts and we’ll work 24 hours a day, if necessary.” An illustration of the way Deutsch delivers to customer requirements is given by the example of its recently-introduced Spacecat range.

“Our customer had a drop-dead deadline for delivery for this equipment, which is going into a satellite. If it missed its launch date the whole project would be delayed. We were able to deliver on time, in full, by making the most of the group project management system,” said Carman.

“It was a great opportunity for us to secure an important new business contract. It involved all three companies America and France, as well as ourselves; we all pooled our resources and experience to make it happen.”

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Deutsch Group Lean, mean business machine Customer service is a vital element of Deutsch’s work, and it introduced Lean principles five years ago in order to improve its OTIF (on time in full) performance and to improve productivity. It calls its Lean program the Deutsch Business System (DBS); it incorporates 5S in the workplace and Lean enterprise ideas and practices in administration and support services, as well.

“We value-stream mapped our entire business and set it into business streams for improved focus,” said Meredith. “Cutting out waste and improving focus on customer service helped us to raise our OTIF by 1015 per cent. Achieving 90 per centplus, in our type of business, is quite a challenge. We continue to focus on improving further, year by year.”

Deutsch has also become part of SC21 – the 21st Century Supply Chains programme that is accredited and overseen by the Enterprise Excellence Board of SBAC (the Society of British

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Aerospace Companies, now known as ADS). The project builds upon and continues the work of the Aerospace Innovation and Growth Team. As a signatory, Deutsch has committed itself to fundamental business transformation, working openly, transparently and collaboratively with the intention of delivering benefits to the broader industry, both as an individual company and as a partner/supplier. Deutsch is seeking Bronze Award accreditation.

“We introduced DBS with the help of SA Partners, a consultancy firm, five years ago. We now have two fullytrained Lean champions and a further five partially trained people,” he said. “Everyone in the company will have taken part in our Lean awareness programme by the end of 2010, which is about understanding what DBS means to them, as individuals and in their places of work. There have been a lot of changes over the past four years and that can be difficult, especially for people who have been here a while.” Deutsch UK was the first company in the Group to implement DBS and it’s now helping to roll it out to the rest of the organisation.

“We have seen 10 per cent annual growth over the past few years, although that pace has eased off with the global downturn,” said Meredith. “DBS continues to help us to improve and our relationship with SC21 – which is on the back of DBS – opens doors, helps to improve OTIF and also aids in improving quality.” It’s a connection that has value to Deutsch UK.”

Automotive Caterham Cars

time Record

Thanks to an impressive automotive legacy and attention grabbing performance, Caterham Cars is currently experiencing the highest factory built production volume in the history of the company. Tim Brown met with operations director, Gideon Wigger, and took a look around the manufacturing facility responsible for the 2009 Top Gear car of the year — the supercar destroying, Superlight R500.

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The

Caterham sales team casually refer to their second best performing production car, the Superlight R400, as a ‘Ferrari eater’. Comparatively, the R500 features an extra 100bhp-per-tonne and the ability to reach 60mph in under three seconds (almost a full second quicker than the R400) and is quite simply an automotive monolith.

While the R500 is the pinnacle of Caterham’s racing pedigree, the vehicle manufacturer produces a total of eight open wheeled, open roofed vehicles based on the original Lotus 7 design.

Originally designed by Colin Chapman, the Lotus 7 was launched in 1957 at the London Motor Show. In 1973 Caterham Cars purchased the rights to the 7 from Lotus and continued the products development. In 2005 the Nearn family sold Caterham Cars to a new management team led by Ansar Ali and Gideon Wigger.

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Curves in the road Since then the business has undergone a transformation on a number of levels. The 2006 demise of Rover, which had traditionally supplied Caterham with its engines, saw the car company needing to source new engines for the first time in 15 years. Following a considerable investigative period, Caterham chose Ford as its supplier, opting for the 1.6L Sigma and 2.0L Duratec engines. “Technically the R300, R400 and R500 now use our own engine,” says Wigger. “While it is a Ford factory built engine which we buy from Power Torque (Ford’s UK dealer), the development work for the engines has been undertaken ourselves and we complete the final modifications and assembly. For the R500, we buy a base engine and then modify the head and change the pistons, conrods and camshafts and then fit all of the auxiliaries.”

The chassis production has also undergone a considerable adjustment. Traditionally the company outsourced the manufacture of its various chassis designs, which in 2005 included a total of 60 different variants. The new management team returned the chassis manufacture to being an in-house production which is now completed at the company’s Westbury site. At the same time, Caterham has reduced the number of chassis variants from 60 to five while still retaining the necessary custom options.

Automotive Caterham Cars

The manufacturing process itself has also undergone a significant alteration.

Traditionally the Caterham manufacturing process was designed around a one man, one car system where an individual would complete the construction of an entire vehicle. According to Wigger, this has been altered for a number of important reasons to a assembly line with individuals working from a designated station.

“The previous system did not allow for the flexibility that the sales team required.

It takes months to train an individual to be able to construct a fully built car particularly considering we have a number of different product offerings. By breaking it down to stations and takt times, it now involves smaller amounts of work for staff to learn.

In addition, the operators become more proficient at the individual tasks which also improves product quality. Where historically we had one man completely building an individual car, there was a lot more chance of product variation as one

Caterham Cars at a glance Staff numbers: 90 Production volume: 450 units in 2010 (12 units per week) Core geographical markets: UK, France, Italy Products: Classic, Roadsport, Academy, Superlight, Superlight R300, Superlight R400, Superlight R500, CSR

person will build a vehicle slightly different to another. Under that system we were unable to obtain a ‘conformity of production’ certificate from the UK Vehicle Type Approval authority, VCA. By moving to a stationed system, we have rectified that issue.”

Performance on and off the track At the beginning of December 2009, the R500 was featured on the popular BBC television show Top Gear. Following a blistering performance on the shows test track, registering the sixth fastest lap in the show’s history, Top Gear made the R500 its ‘2009 Car of the Year’. On the back of that performance and the resultant cascading media and public interest in the specialised vehicles, Caterham now has its strongest order book in its history and is producing more factory built vehicles than ever before. “Since October last year,” says Wigger, “we’ve increased manufacturing every month in volume terms.

We currently build a mix of nine fully built cars and three complete knock downs (CKD or kit cars) per week.”

The vehicle assembly takes place at the company’s Dartford site where both the fully built and CKD cars are constructed. Wigger explains the production process: “The first part of that process is that we will print off a works order and that will determine if the vehicle is to be fully built or a CKD. That in turn establishes how the parts will be picked. If

The best feedback and information we have comes from the operators building the car because they live with it every day it is a customer CKD, all the components will be picked and placed in to certain package groups such as suspension or lighting and packaged in to delivery boxes. The components will then be stored along with the engine, wheels and tyres to later meet up with the chassis assembly. We assemble about 30% of a CKD order including the fuel lines, brake lines, pedal box, fuel tank, wired harness and dashboard.

“If it is a fully built car, all the components are picked and placed on a trolley which will follow the vehicle along the production line. At the first station, the chassis is drilled and the fibreglass, wings and the bonnet are prepared. At the second station the pedal box is fitted along with a number of other components. Non-painted vehicles continue down the line whilst painted cars, are delivered to an external paint facility. Both the CKD and fully built models proceed along the six stations which operate on a takt time of approximately three hours each. At the end of those six stations, if it CKD it is packed with its other components and is ready for dispatch.”

“Fully built orders move across to a second assembly line in which there are also six stations. Through those stages the engine, suspension, trim and the remainder fuel system are all fitted. The vehicle is then processed through a final electrical audit before undergoing a safety check and road test. Every vehicle, including those that are CKD, has a build book which not only tells the operator the specifications of the model but includes a sign off procedure for every safety critical item to ensure every vehicle that leaves the factory adheres to the company’s safety requirements.”

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Automotive Caterham Cars

The Lotus 7 design was first launched in 1957

The Academy In addition to the production of the vehicles, the company also completely manages the Caterham racing competitions in the UK. The Caterham Academy, sponsored by Avon tyres, has been operating since 1995 and since that time nearly 700 men and women have been transformed from novices to starting grid racers. Operated by the company’s motorsport manager, Simon Lambert, the programme continues to increase in popularity and is currently in the process of expanding to continental Europe.

The Academy is only open to those who have never held a racing licence before, and all cars are identical, so racing is always very close and totally thrilling. The Caterham team guide would-be racers through the process of building the car, setting it up to race, getting a racing licence and getting on circuit for the first time.

Places for the Academy are in high demand and usually sell out more than six months before the start of the season in March. The company advises those that are interested to register as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

Never stop learning Caterham is proud of the exceptional product they produce and appreciate the accolades that have been bestowed upon the company. However Wigger says the team understands that there is always room for improvement both in terms of the production of the car as well as vehicle performance. As a result, the company has implemented a feedback structure to acquire information from the assembly operators as well as from the service centres and racing department. “The best feedback and information we have comes from the operators building the car because they live with it every day. Of course there is also the requirement for the acquisition of feedback from the field and we have the ability to retrieve that information through our servicing department, through our racing competition and through our dealers in Europe. That feedback system is paramount and we try and keep it as fluid as possible.”

The company also has a feedback scheme which stems from a closely monitored auditing process. “Every morning the operators all gather around a vehicle and any concerns are raised. That way continuous feedback is available to the operators looking improve the quality while also providing an opportunity for management to receive feedback from the operators around any issues they are having from a build perspective which might be related to suppliers or engineering. Another element we are currently putting in to place is what we have termed an ‘information centre’ which will involve the full strip back and audit of a randomly selected completed car. This will occur once a month and will provide detailed information relating to the production process.”

This constant development ensures not only the high level of quality associated with Caterham Cars products but also the continued development and improvement of its vehicle offerings.

The company has just commenced the manufacture of its latest model, the 175bhp version of the CSR which is a European model with EU4 approval. Such strategic developments are in line with the company’s aspirations to develop new markets, particularly in Europe. With entry in to the Caterham family starting at only £13,300 for the Classic model, don’t be surprised to see a lot more of these impressive pieces of machinery sharing the tarmac let alone dominating proceedings at the local race track.

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Recruitment

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Celebrate Manufacturing for a Better Britain Having emerged from the recession stronger, leaner and with many new initiatives in place, UK Manufacturing is ideally placed to make a better Britain!

www.themanufacturer.com June 2010 Vol 13 Issue 06

EntEr nOW

www.themanufacturer.com June 2010 Vol 13 Issue 06

Established over 10 years ago, The Manufacturer of the Year Awards competition is specifically designed to celebrate the strength and diversity of UK Manufacturing. So enter today and showcase your achievements.

For further details visit www.themanufacturer.com/awards

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Interview Juergen Maier

Managing director, Siemens Industry UK

MACH 2010 The ultimate barometer of recovery

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Combating the negative perception of manufacturing

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