FORWARD VIEW 


Opportunity knocks for manufacturing?


 A vibrant and effective UK manufacturing base is essential for future prosperity. But how are the companies themselves dealing with the many challenges that confront them? Sean McDonagh finds out.


 Une base de production dynamique et efficace au sein du R.-U. est essentielle pour la prospérité future. Mais comment les entreprises font- elles face aux nombreux défis qui se présentent? Enquête de Sean McDonagh.


 Ein dynamischer und effizienter Produktionsstandort in Großbritannien ist für den zukünftigen Erfolg unverzichtbar. Aber wie gehen die Unternehmen mit den vielen Herausforderungen um, denen sie gegenüberstehen? Sean McDonagh findet es heraus.


T


he impact and influence of the United Kingdom manufacturing sector continues to be extremely important. With widespread consensus that a revitalised manufacturing base is essential for a more balanced and successful economic future for the UK, assessing company outlook, sentiment, behaviours and decision- making in critical areas such as investment confidence and routes to growth are important factors to examine if progress continues to be made. To help assist in such an assessment,


Siemens Industry commissioned research that looked into what more than 500 UK manufacturing companies thought about key areas such as general trading confidence, Government support for the manufacturing sector and current and future investment strategies.


Growth agenda We talked to a wide range of organisations, including representatives from the chemical, oil and gas and food and beverage industries to unearth what, in particular, companies have been experiencing to help drive a robust growth agenda. Taking the manufacturing sector as a


whole, it appears that despite the challenges presented by the worldwide economic issues, the general contraction following the 2008 crash and the current ongoing Eurozone crisis, almost half (48 per cent) of organisations feel


optimistic about the future performance of their business. This contrasts with the 12 per cent who


stated they were pessimistic. Allied to this fact is that more than 68 per cent said their investment levels over the coming year would equal or exceed that of the previous 12 months. Indeed, 41 per cent said they actively


planned to increase investment levels - a sign perhaps of business confidence once again slowly returning? While it is not the only consideration,


nonetheless such ‘green shoots’ of increasing confidence and its translation into proactive and higher levels of investment demonstrates positive sentiment that can only aid the sector as it goes forward. In terms of some of the key industries


that make up our manufacturing base, further analysis highlights some important nuances and distinctions.


Chemical sector The chemical companies who shared their thoughts expressed the least amount of optimism (34 per cent) about the year ahead when compared to companies in both the oil and gas (55 per cent) and food and beverage (47 per cent) sectors. But despite this lower number it still


accounts for a positive outlook among more than a third of the chemical sector companies involved in the research.


“As a traditionally conservative industry, the challenge facing the chemical sector to invoke long-term industrial technology investment plans and lifecycle planning to modernise, optimise and maintain what are often ageing manufacturing plants, needs to be met head on.”


Sean McDonagh Business Manager, Chemicals Siemens Industry, Manchester.


ECE 4


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