SECTOR FOCUS: MANUFACTURING
products to the market – but few are interested in providing an after-sales service, according to research by Barclays. And this failure to embrace after- sales service is a huge missed opportunity, says the bank’s ‘Servitisation Report’. The report, which includes a
survey of 200 manufacturers across the UK, reveals that a massive 44 per cent of manufacturers still provide no services to accompany their products, with 82 per cent of this group having no intention of ‘servitising’ their operation at all. Servitisation is the process of
Service failure highlighted U
K manufacturers are increasingly focused on bringing high value
Just 14 per cent of the sector
believes the UK is a global leader, compared with 63 per cent of respondents who say the UK is part of the pack and 23 per cent that assert the UK is lagging behind. Barclays Corporate head of
‘The report showed that manufacturers were not embracing servitisation quickly enough’
providing product maintenance, upgrades to training and end of life disposal. Key examples of UK manufacturers that are leaders in this area include BAE Systems and Rolls Royce, and the most obvious area where it is offered is in the automotive industry. The report finds UK manufacturing is missing a real opportunity to move up the value chain and compete more effectively internationally if the sector does not focus on this process.
Fitting tribute for 50 years’ service
Stainless Fittings’ manufacturing director is celebrating a half century of service with the company.
Geoff Rhodes joined the Dudley company in August
1961 – the same month as the Beatles played the Cavern Club for the first time and Martin Luther King protested over black voting rights in Miami. Geoff said: “I was just a young boy when I joined
Stainless Fittings, and I’ve enjoyed many years here learning the trade, and I'm not ready to leave just yet.” Managing director Stephen Sharp said: “We have
many long serving members of the team here, and as the company heads towards its own 60 year anniversary in 2012, I am proud and honoured to be part of it, it’s great to be able to mark these milestone achievements along the way”
Long service: Stephen Sharp (left) presents Geoff Rhodes with his 50 year long service award
manufacturing Mark Lee said: “Manufacturing and servicing have in the past been somewhat uneasy bedfellows, with manufacturing sales teams focused on big product orders rather than time and resource consuming servicing contracts. “However, quality of service is
often now the difference between a contract going to the service- driven manufacturing countries and one that is secured by a UK firm.” Report co-author Andy Neely, director of the Cambridge Service
Alliance at Cambridge University, added that servitisation was not a silver bullet for developed economies to grow their manufacturing base. He said: “Creation of a service proposition allows for
a steady income stream. As an example, for every new car sold there are already 13 in operation; it doesn’t take much to work out that a sustainable business lies in meeting the maintenance needs of these existing vehicles.”
BUSINESS INSIGHT BY JAMES O’BRIEN
Smaller manufacturing firms are finding it more difficult to recruit engineering graduates This is hardly surprising given the findings of manufacturing skills council SEMTA. It found that last year one in seven graduates who studied science, engineering and technology subjects got jobs in the retail sector. Others decided to go into property development and teaching, 11 per cent and eight per cent respectively. Graduates armed with engineering and science degrees going to a big-name prospective employer start to look elsewhere when they fail to land a job. Unfortunately the “elsewhere” is not necessarily at a small company desperately wanting to recruit an engineering graduate. That may say something more about the graduate who has not really thought through the job route before leaving university. Jobs fairs show-off a company but they should be treated with caution and not seen as a simple welcome aboard.
As part of their course, a little time
could be given to explaining that engineering and science is not just about jobs at Jaguar-Land Rover, Rolls Royce or BAE Systems but also with SMEs where a graduate’s contribution will soon be hands on and making an important contribution to the future of the business.
James O’Brien runs Writing and PR for Business:
www.jamesobrienuk.com and
james@jamesobrienuk.com
OCTOBER 2011 CHAMBERLINK 43
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