Manufacturers are increasingly outsourcing to plug the skills gap U
K manufacturers are increasingly outsourcing
critical areas of plant management in an attempt to plug a growing skills gap. That’s the experience of manufacturing specialist Leadec, at a time when the automotive sector alone is advertising up to 5,000 job vacancies. According to the Automotive
Council, a lack of skilled workers is causing significant impact on business operations, with thousands of vacancies remaining unfilled. The news follows a recent report from trade union GMB stating the manufacturing sector has suffered a decline in employment over the past 10 years, with major OEMs fighting to cannibalise talent.
The solution for many has been to outsource specialist services, with Leadec experiencing significant demand for external skills support from OEMs across the UK in recent months. According to the company’s CEO, Phil McClennon, what was once seen as a quick fix is fast becoming a critical part of a sustainable business model for manufacturing organisations. “We’re noticing a growing pool of
what we call revivalist manufacturers, who are increasingly looking for new solutions to age-old problems they can’t solve through traditional recruitment processes. With few available skills to source, these revivalists are investing in other ways to plug the gap and seeking out manufacturing-
specialist outsourcing businesses to not only respond to an immediate need, but to drive value in other areas of the business too. “We’re taking on more work for
plant maintenance and production efficiency and because of our proven track record in manufacturing, we’re also able to add value to customers by advising on effective waste management techniques, facilities upgrades and production equipment installation. We’re effectively helping to fill the role of not one, but several people, adding value across the plant ecosystem.” According to McClennon,
manufacturers no longer view outsourcing as an immediate cost saving, but as a strategic tool that is helping them unlock higher levels of
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NEW £7.5 MILLION FACILITY FOR QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY Q
ueen’s University Belfast has opened a new £7.5 million state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing facility, supporting it’s mission to enable more competitive supply chains with increased productivity. Details on the facility were announced at the
university’s ‘Manufacturing Beyond the Horizon’ conference. The collarborative investment is one of the biggest in manufacturing by Queen’s, the UK Government and Northern Ireland industry partners. It has been supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Innovate UK and the Aerospace Technology Institute.
performance across the business; something that often cannot be accessed through more generic outsourcing provision. McClennon says: “Manufacturers
want to work with businesses that understand their processes and which can work in partnership to boost operational performance. As a specialist in this sector, Leadec is experiencing growing demand from businesses that are struggling to recruit the right people in the right places and working with manufacturers to make them more efficient on a longer-term basis. While the skills gap shows no sign of shrinking, specialist outsourcing is providing a sustainable solution to manufacturing.”
www.leadecservices.com
The new facility will have an open door to industry
partners, currently including RLC Global Point, Moyola Precisin Engineering and more. Based at the distinguished Northern Ireland Technology Centre at Queen’s, the facility is part of the Centre for Intelligent Autonomous Manufacturing Sytems (i-AMS), a pioneer research programme at Queen’s which is leading innivation in new technologies for advanced manufacturing. Through i-AMS researchers are working together to tackle challenges within industry and helping to make Industry 4.0, the new industrial revolution, a reality.
NORELEM HITS 60 YEAR ANNIVERSARY MILESTONE N
orelem, supplier of flexible standard components,
H
ello! My name is Rachel Tucker and I am the new
editor of the Factory Equipment, Materials Handling & Logistics and Irish Manufacturing titles. I look forward to learning all about the industry and hopefully working with some of you. In this issue we explore energy efficiency, warehousing, handling and storage and much more which I hope you find enlightening and educational!
Rachel Tucker - Editor 4 JUNE 2018 | FACTORY EQUIPMENT
systems and parts, is celebrating its 60-year anniversary with huge plans to expa nd and develop the talent of the future. norelem started out as a French
firm, Petite de Précision (PMP). PMP then became norelem SAS, and the first German branch was based in Stuttgart. norelem was originally known for precise and high-quality products for measuring technology, and this line of components still exists to this day in its portfolio. In 1972, norelem published its first product catalogue for standard components. Now into 2018, this product catalogue has evolved into
‘The Big Green Book’, norelem’s all- encompassing book that contains over 38,000 parts. Marcus Schneck, CEO of
norelem, says: “Hitting the 60 year anniversary makes all of us at norelem incredibly proud. We started out from very humble beginnings, but every year we have expanded our product range, developed best practices and now we are a full-range provider to global organisations. We have always been focused on our customers and delivering what they want, when they want. That’s why we invest so much into stockholding, with 98 per cent of our 38,000 products held in stock, ready for delivery next day.”
It’s not all about expansion and
profit though. An inherent part of norelem’s philosophy is youth development. The global supplier regularly promotes projects from university students and technicians. norelem also provides free components and offers free technical presentations about fixture construction and drive technology through its initiative, the norelem Academy. Only when we invest in talent today can we realise the ideas of tomorrow. We bring together the departments for the promotion of young talents, with training and workshops brought together under one roof.”
www.norelm.co.uk
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