The South East is poised to take advantage of the positive manufacturing sector

Manufacturing & Engineering Expo on the 8th October in Kent

The Office of National Statistics recently reported that from February 2013 - February 2014 manufacturing had increased 3.8%. Since then optimism within the manufacturing industry appears to have remained high with orders from both home and abroad, according to the recent Industrial Trends Survey released but the CBI, continuing apace.

Contrary to what many people have believed, manufacturing in the UK is remarkably strong - Britain ranks 11th in the world. Although, perhaps, not at the heady heights of the 1970’s, industry has certainly been enjoying a renaissance and the South East in particular, as the region with the largest manufacturing base in the country, has been one of the main benefactors of this. Not only is it perfectly placed to take advantage of the booming market place across the rest of the country but also in its position as a gateway to European commerce.

Bringing together talent from across the industry

Tasked with ensuring that the gains of this buoyant market are fully developed and exploited is the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce, who is holding their annual Manufacturing & Engineering Expo on the 8th October at the Kent Event Centre, near Maidstone. It will offer local, regional, national and international firms the opportunity to meet, network and build new relationships. Along with the exhibition there will be a full conference programme including leading industry keynote speakers - with the leaders of automotive manufacturing, Aston Martin already confirmed - and informative workshops offering advice and knowledge in a practical way that can be implemented immediately.

...it’s a brilliant opportunity to see manufacturing techniques in action and hear from some leading industry experts

Jo James

The Expo this year is run in association with EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation for UK manufacturing companies, BAE Systems, MAS, which provides manufacturing business support for companies based in England and the University of Greenwich. As one of the largest events of its kind the Expo draws on a wealth of talent from the engineering and manufacturing sector, offering unrivalled access to commercial expertise across the board. Whether it’s developing or expanding a supply chain within the South East, discovering the latest technological innovations or initiating new relationships the Expo is perfectly positioned to help.

“This is going to be a great day for everyone involved in the manufacturing and engineering sector - not only is it a fantastic platform to develop relationships with new and existing clients, but, also it’s a brilliant opportunity to see manufacturing techniques in action and hear from some leading industry experts,” says Jo James, Chief Executive of the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce. “With the Expo dinner this year showcasing Richard Noble’s unique and inspiring spirit, the event is certainly shaping up to be a key date in the manufacturing and engineering industry calendar.”

Why the UK should seize the opportunity that reshoring offers businesses

Why the UK should seize the business opportunity offered by reshoring

Reshoring has become one of the most exciting new trends within the manufacturing industry over the last few years. A buzzword that has led to David Cameron, the Prime Minister referring to it as a “reshoring revolution” at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos earlier in the year. He continued that Britain (and Europe) needed to seize on the opportunities that reshoring is offering – build employment from it and develop into a leading reshoring nation.

MAS, the Manufacturing Advisory Service, comments that in the past year the UK has continued to strengthen its position as the leading European destination for foreign direct investment (FDI), capitalising on global market opportunities to retain and create new jobs, and fostering FDI to spur economic development. Companies are increasingly looking to reshore manufacturing, textiles, software production and call centre work to the UK instead of outsourcing overseas, and reshoring is now a key component in strengthening local economies and the UK industrial base as a whole.

A way for the West to capitalise on globalisation

It has long been argued by some that the West would always struggle in the globalisation of the manufacturing and production sectors – the East and the machines would always win over the West. However, with this latest trend it would seem that for some firms the opportunity to reshore, or bring back part of their production or supply chain back to the UK shores, has proved to be viable from a financial perspective.

However, the reasons for reshoring are more complicated than being purely financially based. There is growing interest from firms to keep tighter control of the quality of their products – a factor that can be far more easily maintained from a closer production base within the UK. Also, reshoring has enabled businesses to resolve issues surrounding delivery times and logistical costs. For some firms it has meant that they are able to decrease production runs to trial smaller batches of alternative products – leading to an ability to tailor products to the market place, increasing profitability and sales and helping with cash flow.

Backing Britain survey

A recent survey conducted by EEF and Squires Sanders entitled “Backing Britain – a manufacturing base for the future” offers some interesting facts about the process of reshoring in the UK. One in six businesses have reshored either their sourcing to a British based supplier, or, have brought their production in-house over the last three years. The main countries that have lost out from this move have been those in Eastern Europe and China. It is thought that the gradual erosion of the previously more competitive labour costs and concerns over supply chain are two of the main reasons for some firms bringing the business back to Britain. A need to control the quality of their products is also key, as more and more British firms cite the quality of their product as their primary competitive advantage. Around 60% of those that have reshored have seen an increase, although small, in their profitability.

The need for reform and development if reshoring is to continue

In order for reshoring to continue to grow as a trend in the UK there is a need to address both energy costs and skills levels in the future. The survey cites the need for energy costs to remain similar to, or lower than, the EU average as a fundamental need if the reshoring trend is to continue to grow. In the US, which has seen much success from its reshoring programme, the growth in the production of shale gas has produced a source of reliable cheap energy for US manufacturers to tap into, a move that has interested David Cameron to answer these energy cost concerns in the UK. Alongside this, nearly half of the respondents cited skills shortage as a major potential issue for the future of the reshoring movement and that  there is a continued need to further develop apprenticeship schemes and skills training across the county to ensure that there are people coming through the pipeline as the industry grows.  The other main areas that firms expressed concern with were the tax levels.

As trends go, reshoring appears to be the positive, good news that the sector has been waiting for. And whilst initially it’s had a relatively slow uptake, if the current issues are addressed then there could be significant gains to be made for the manufacturing industry in the years to come. Find out more about reshoring by visiting the Manufacturing & Engineering Expo this October.