The Spirit of British manufacturing

If British manufacturing is to be profitable again, it needs to keep on investing in cutting edge technology like industrial automation and add value with technical services such as design for manufacture, or customized services for particular sectors. These services could include R&D assistance, full product box build or even ongoing maintenance and repair. Manufacturing companies no longer just make things! They must offer services that support the customer and enhance the manufactured product. Take a look at Germany; it’s by no chance that Germany is the world’s second biggest exporter of goods after China. When you think of Germany, words such as excellence, complexity, flexibility and reliability come to mind. In Germany they have made their products and processes harder to reverse engineer or copy, giving enough head room and time to innovate further through R&D investments and keep ahead of the curve when copies or alternatives flood the market. Germany is known for the quality of its engineering base - here in the UK we are known for world-class services (second only to the US). Whilst the UK will never be a manufacturing hub for mass production, there is still a good future for companies that concentrate on the long game and work with companies that have high volumes of prototyping and pre-production. UK companies should focus on, and partner with customers who specialize in unique highly reliable products made to last several decades, rather than fast moving consumer electronics devices. The latter products will only ever be prototyped in the UK.