UK – On 23 April 2015 the UK-based trade association GTMA will once again host its ‘Manufacturing UK’ event at Yamazaki Mazak’s state-of-the-art machine tool manufacturing plant, Worcester.
Over the last year or so the trend has been for large OEMs to reconsider their outsourcing policies. Companies have reported work returning to the UK which previously would have been placed in low-cost economies. This exciting reversal of business strategy is in the wake of the cost implications of project managing overseas production and the benefits of British engineering expertise.
The theme for Manufacturing UK 2015 is Reshoring; the practice of bringing outsourced services back to the location from which they were originally offshored. This is a trend that the GTMA is keen to fully support, and the association has established the Reshoring UK initiative whereby its members provide the engineering supply chain into the leading industry sectors.
Speaking about the reshoring focus, the GTMA’s Chief Executive, Julia Moore, says: “We have seen countless examples of firms coming to the rescue of UK businesses that have been hit by quality issues, lead times on delivery and poor communications as well as rising costs due to exchange rates and foreign companies having to contend with rising demands of their home markets.”
Historically wages in India and China have been far lower than rates in the UK, that gap is continuing to narrow. Labour rates in Asia have been rising while rates in the UK have remained steady. Exchange rates have also added to the differential between the ‘home market’ and overseas pricing has diminished. Escalating prices overseas have included cost increases for shipping, and the long distances are eating away the benefits of outsourcing.
Technology is driving productivity improvements, including automation, enterprise-wide software technology, improved quality and logistics. More and more companies are embracing change to meet the global demands of their customers.
“However,” Julia Moore says, “We must also make the UK a competitive place to invest, to capitalise on the latest positive indicators.”
GTMA’s engineering supply chain supports reshoring to the UK and seeks to assist OEMs and tier ones to source reliable, innovative UK companies that can provide not only quality products, but also support their products and services with the technical advice so essential for the technological demands facing industry today.
Guest Speakers will include Peter Barker, Head of Manufacturing at Cosworth. Currently he is driving the implementation of Cosworth’s new Advanced Manufacturing Centre, a centre of excellence for niche volume, high complexity engine manufacturing. He is joined by the Managing Director of Messier-Dowty, Chris Wilson.
Over 35 GTMA member companies will be exhibiting at the event, including tool makers, rapid prototype and precision machining companies, as well as the all important technical supporting services of leading metrology, software and cutting tool/workholding suppliers.
The Manufacturing UK event will be held in Mazak’s new European Technical Centre, situated on the same Worcester site as its production facilities. With the latest innovations in high performance machining technology on display together under one roof, the company is able to help European and UK manufacturers achieve significant productivity and profitability increases. Guided tours of the machine tool maker’s production and assembly facilities will also be arranged on the day, with further opportunities to see demonstrations of all of the company’s machine tools running in the Technical Centre. Lunch and light refreshments will also be included.
Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking has teamed up with the GTMA to help its members maximise growth amid the continuing economic recovery, while providing guidance to business owners at the event.
The deal to support the GTMA comes as Lloyds Bank increases its focus on supporting the manufacturing industry, and follows the recent announcement that more than 250 of its staff have received specialist training from the Warwick Manufacturing Group, helping to enhance its understanding of the specific needs of the sector.
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