News Industry In brief…
Jungheinrich has been named CEVA Logistics’ European Supplier of the Year at an event designed to recognise best practice and excellence among CEVA’s worldwide supplier base. CEVA’s Global Supplier Awards 2013 were presented at a gala dinner in Florida, USA, and the award was accepted on behalf of Jungheinrich by Frank Loeber, Jungheinrich’s head of corporate key account management and Mick Wright, Corporate Key Account Manager.
www.jungheinrich.co.uk
Cliffe Packaging, producer and supplier of flexible packaging mate- rials, has acquired the UK based subsidiary of Bag Supplies Canada for an undisclosed sum. Bag Supplies, based in Cumbria, with a portfolio of products which includes specialist breathable log bags, log nets, single trip and multi-trip Bulk Bags, will operate as a standalone division of Cliffe Packaging.
www.cliffepackaging.com
The Palletways Group has strengthened its business after winning a new contract with OrganiCulture, an importer, distributor and retailer of organic products from Italy. The contract, awarded to Palletways Fulfilment, the Group’s warehousing solutions operation, follows a successful trial period and will see OrganiCulture outsource its domestic warehous- ing and distribution.
www.palletways.com
Owner managed companies in the engineering and manufacturing sector can bridge executive skills gaps and raise bottom line perfor- mance following the launch of an innovative interim management ser- vice. Interim Solutions – part of Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group (LCBSG) – enables manu- facturing SMEs to access highly experienced senior executives or managers on a temporary basis to resolve specific board room issues. Working with a panel of 80 interim management providers, Interim Solutions helps owner managed companies to tackle issues such as turnaround, cash- flow management, profit maximisa- tion, fund raising, sales growth, succession planning and exit or retirement planning.
corporatestrategiesplc.com 6 Multi-billion fund planned for small to medium firms
British small and medium sized businesses are being urged to get ready for a multi-billion-Euro fund, details of which are set to be announced later this year. The fund, part of the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 package of support services for research and innovation, has been set aside for SMEs looking to undertake new product development pro-
grammes. Approx imately 4.8 million businesses across the UK will be applicable for the fund. However, according to new prod- uct development contractor Pera Technology, which is behind the call for action, there are over one million SME manufacturers who are likely to be the most success- ful at securing funding.
Speaking about the signifi-
cance of Horizon 2020 Paul Tranter, chief executive at Pera Technology, said: “If we are going to have an effective economic recovery in UK and across Europe the SME manufacturing sector is key. It is particularly important for an economy like the UK’s where SMEs have been pin- pointed as an engine for growth.
www.peratechnology.com
Students win award for Schaeffler project First Sussex forum
Manufacturers across Sussex are being held back by supply chain challenges, lack of finance and skill shortages as they seek to grow their businesses.
A team of eight A-Level Physics students from Swansea has won ‘Most Innovative Solution to the Project Set’ from The Engineering Education Scheme Wales (EESW) for developing a unique method of detecting defects at Schaeffler UK’s engine component manu- facturing plant in South Wales. Schaeffler’s manufacturing plant in Llanelli, South Wales produces high precision engine components for the automotive market. The plant has supported EESW since the scheme was first introduced across Wales in 2007. The plant acts as an EESW ‘link’ company and so each year devotes time and resources in helping to advise students on their selected projects.
As a nationwide scheme in
Wales, EESW is helping to enlighten young people about the
challenges and opportunities presented by the four STEM sub- jects: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This is carried out each year through a project involving schools across Wales and indus- try. The aim is to encourage stu- dents to study STEM courses in further or higher education and to take an interest in engineering as a career.
The students developed a low cost inspection system that com- prised a vision and colour recog- nition system to detect a variety of surface defects on the incom- ing steel strip. These defects are not manufacturing defects but normally arise during transit. The defects may appear as small (down to 0.1mm in depth) surface indentations, scuffs or scratches.
www.schaeffler.co.uk
These were among the main issues to emerge from the inau- gural meeting of the Sussex Manufacturing Forum, a new industry group set up to help local manufacturers and engi- neering companies share experi- ences and tackle burning issues. The first Forum event was attended by a wide cross section of manufacturers and engineers. Geoff Edwards, Chief Operating Officer of Bowers & Wilkins Loudspeakers called on govern- ment to stop ‘fiddling’ with regula- tion, to encourage more capital investment through tax relief and to simplify the R&D tax credit system. “What came out of this session was an understanding that manu- facturers of every size in Sussex share similar challenges and there is real value in networking within the forum model and learning from the experiences of others,” says Chris Coopey, head of the Manufacturing Group at Carpenter Box chartered accountants.”
Compliance costs are a financial strain on SMEs
SME manufacturing businesses pay £913 million per year to exter- nal consultants in exchange for support on complying with regu- lations according to research from the Forum of Private Business. On average manufacturing small business owners spend approximately £15,379 on exter- nal consultants offering legal advice, including advice on employment law, health and safety and other industry specific guidance and internal time costs. This is almost five per cent higher than the average UK com- pliance bill of £14,600.
The Forum’s Chief Executive, Phil Orford MBE, said: “SME man- ufacturers continue to struggle to control costs and remain frus- trated by the amount of red tape they have to negotiate every day. “Small simply firms do not have internal departmental resources dedicated to complying with regulations, so it is either the business owner or a key senior manager who devotes a large amount of time to this task or they must pay for an consultant, which can be extremely expensive.” There is also evidence that steep employment, health and
safety, tax and other consultancy fees continue to be barriers to job creation as they increase as a business grows.
“The increasing cost of fines for non-compliance on everything from health and safety to unfair dismissal has made the ongoing support we provide to our mem- bers through our helpline and guides all the more important.” Orford added. “It is vital compa- nies ensure they have the correct internal processes in place to avoid tfines and damaging conse- quences of non-compliance.”
www.fpb.org
OCTOBER 2013 Factory Equipment
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