mAcHINERy
Speed, proximity and short lead times are emerging as strong influencers to the Made in Britain rationale. Particularly in the food safety arena where delays to time saving inspection machinery is not conducive to productivity, compliance and brand protection. As a British company using domestic suppliers to source materials and design, engineer, install and support machines locally, contaminant and checkweighing specialists Fortress Technology and Sparc Systems examine the competitive and cost advantages behind this accelerated reshoring drive. Closer to Customers
T
oday’s food manufacturing world is in a very different place to how it was 20 years, and indeed 20 months ago. With the pandemic highlighting the fragility of
international supply chains, Fortress and Sparc managing director Phil Brown has observed a definite shift in attitudes towards reshoring. With Asia and EMEA once considered the go-to-hubs for distributors of machinery components, materials and builds, rising wage costs, together with other export overheads, lengthy shipping delays, quality and IP issues has significantly influenced this reshoring reversal. For engineering companies like Fortress
and Sparc that continued to ‘deliver the goods’ even during the worst of the pandemic, having an established British R&D centre and manufacturing base has turned out to big plus. Rather than having a sprawling global supply chain, even when the largest economies closed their borders, Fortress continued to fulfil orders, attract new customers and maintain its agility. The companies even persisted with the successful development and launch of their new collaborative product range - the award winning Raptor checkweighing, combination and x-ray machines.
Having traded off and championed the Made in Britain badge since both companies were founded, Phil Brown now reports a steady increase in live enquires for food-grade x-ray and metal detection solutions from food factories seeking a swift turnaround. Emerging less scathed than many of its market peers, both companies - currently the only known UK manufacturers of all three food inspection disciplines - have been able to mitigate the rising costs of shipping and air freights, passing these cost savings directly onto customers. “Even before Brexit, the weak pound and
ongoing tariff negotiations prompted many UK food manufacturers to price up their import versus domestic sourcing options. A number made the conscious and pragmatic decision to source their food safety equipment domestically citing the need for greater resilience and proximity to the engineering support team,” notes Brown. Absorbing the additional 20 per cent in
FREIGHT BRITAIN
import tariffs from the start of 2020 provided further impetus for UK food manufacturers to strategically accelerate their equipment reshoring plans. An issue that several new Fortress customers bemoaned before switching their business to the Banbury-based company. “Uncertainty is
26 Summer 2022 UKManufacturing
Winner of the Food Processing Lean
Manufacturing award 2021, the Raptor series is designed and built in Britain, sourcing virtually all components through domestic suppliers.
really fuelling this trend and certainly now has a bearing on machinery investments. The risk of delays, the HGV driver crisis and diversion of cargo ships away from congested UK ports has further amplified the challenges,” adds Brown. Premium engineered products, faster
bespoke builds and the ability to convey requests face-to-face with customers in their native language, are among the other reasons why over 48 per cent of companies are
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