Manufacturing Today Europe Issue 114

BEST PRACTICES FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS

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True

today

change Industry 4.0 is less of a fourth revolution and more of an evolution in many small steps that will truly change how manufacturing and industry does business

Also in this issue:

Driving the future

Perhaps we all need to treat drivers with a higher level of respect – and that’s across all sectors of commerce and industry

Crackdown on late payment

The current steps being taken by UK Government to address the cultural malaise of late payment

EUROPE

ISSUE 114

MANUFACTURING

Editor’s Comment

Chairman Andrew Schofield Group Managing Director Mike Tulloch Sales Director David Garner Editor Libbie Hammond Design/Art Editor David Howard Staff Writers Jo Cooper Andrew Dann Steve Nash Production Manager Fleur Daniels Production studio@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Adverising Administrator Tracy Chynoweth studio@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Head of Research Philip Monument Editorial Researchers Laura Thompson Jeff Goldenberg Mark Cowles Tarj D’Silva Emily Claxton

Manufacturing

message

A

s this issue of MTE goes to press, many of Britain’s leading manufacturers have gathered together at the National Manufacturing Conference in London. An interactive polling amongst the delegates revealed that 96 per cent feel positive about the current state of UK manufacturing – good news for a sector that had been through such a difficult few years.

In March 2015 KMPG commented that the UK manufacturing sector continues to show that it is on a recovery path, and growing.

And in February, the CBI Industrial Trends Survey reported that ‘activity in the manufacturing sector picked up pace, and output is expected to grow faster still in the next three months’.

There are other considerations of course. The UK sector is performing well, but the CBI have described the Eurozone as ‘treading water’ and while falling oil prices should be positive for the UK economy overall, they are causing North Sea producers to suffer.

So is it a mixed bag? I’d like to hear your perspective.

Advertising Sales Joe Woolsgrove - Sales Manager Tim Eakins Dave King Darren Jolliffe Graham Allinson Mark Cawston

BEST PRACTICES FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS

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today

EUROPE

MANUFACTURING

ISSUE 114

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change Industry 4.0 is less of a fourth revolution and more of an evolution in many small steps that will truly change how manufacturing and industry does business

Schofield Publishing

Also in this issue:

Driving the future

Perhaps we all need to treat drivers with a higher level of respect – and that’s across all sectors of commerce and industry

Crackdown on late payment

The current steps being taken by UK Government to address the cultural malaise of late payment

Cringleford Business Centre, 10 Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich, NR4 6AU, U.K. Tel: 044 (0)1603 274130 Fax: 044 (0)1603 274131 www.manufacturingtoday-europe.com ©2015 Schofield Publishing Ltd Please note: The opinions expressed by contributors and adver tisers within this publication do not necessarily coincide with those of the editor and publisher. Every reasonable effor t is made to ensure that the information published is accurate, but no legal responsibility for loss occasioned by the use of such information can be accepted by the publisher. All rights reserved. The contents of the magazine are strictly copyright, the proper ty of Schofield Publishing, and may not be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Features 14 Under scrutiny

14 Under scrutiny According to recent research global manufacturers are ‘turning a blind eye’ to supply chain risks

8 Lead story 4 News Updates and announcements from the manufacturing arena

16 True change Industry 4.0 is less of a fourth revolution and more of an evolution in many small steps that will truly change how manufacturing and industry does business

22 Crackdown on late payment The current steps being taken by UK Government to address the cultural malaise of late payment

24 Sensing the future Four steps to consider when building a smart sensor strategy

8 Ready for a changing world How can the UK and the rest of European manufacturing improve competitiveness and implement the structural and supply side reforms to create sustainable growth?

10 When the lights go out Despite the very real risk of power outages, a huge proportion of the critical UK infrastructure is still 100 per cent reliant on the mains supply

12 Building on the heritage of excellence Stephen Chadwick looks at the British automotive sector’s integration and collaborative innovation initiatives

16 IT

18 Driving the future Perhaps we all need to treat drivers with a higher level of respect – and that’s across all sectors of commerce and industry

21 Bearing up The latest developments in plastic bearings, and how industrial manufacturers can use them to produce cost savings while increasing their environmental credentials

12 Building on the heritage of excellence

18 Driving the future 26 Get positive Increasing employee engagement is not something to be entered into lightly but it is worth focusing on

28 ERP - what you should be looking for To get the best from any ERP investment, companies need to make any decision based on a holistic business perspective and not an IT, functionality-based set of considerations

30 The right system Succeeding with Continuous Improvement has proven harder than expected for many organisations

2 www.manufacturingtoday-europe.com

CONTENTS

Profiles 33 George Utz

33 George Utz

With a history dating back nearly 70 years, the Utz Group has developed a market-leading reputation in the design, development and manufacture of both custom and standardised material handling products

45 Wax Lyrical Offering customers a range of candles, reed diffusers, room mists, scented sachets and refreshers, Wax Lyrical focuses on the best ingredients and materials, stunning designs and bold fragrances

51 NACCO Materials Handling Group (NMHG) Since 1989, NACCO Materials Handling Group (NMHG) has provided the strategic leadership and global support behind Hyster and Yale lift trucks

54 Aztec Oils As Aztec Oils moves into 2015, it has more exciting plans in the pipeline, including a major acquisition

54 Aztec Oils 37 Teagle Machinery 37 Teagle Machinery Teagle’s latest product line-up is firmly planted in a rich heritage of agricultural machinery, and its Tomahawk range forms the cornerstone of the company

41 Spicer Gelenkwellenbau Spicer Gelenkwellenbau concentrates on the sales, engineering, manufacturing, distribution and service of heavy driveshafts for industrial applications under the brand name GWB

59 Robertson Timber Engineering Robertson Timber Engineering is now one of the market leaders, and has a very strong brand and name within the industry

41 Spicer Gelenkwellenbau

59 Robertson Timber Engineering www.manufacturingtoday-europe.com 3

Watch your space The UK is the costliest place in the world to invest in commercial property according to global research, which places London at the top of the global league of places to have offices. Last year companies spent $700bn on real estate and this figure is expected to rise to record pre-recession levels of $1tn dollars in the next five years.

Paul Statham, CEO of Condeco Software comments: “With the economy starting to emerge out of recession, the cost of commercial real estate is forecast to continue to spiral and businesses will still haemorrhage money unless they have access to the facts about how efficient their office space usage actually is. The most worrying aspect of this is that businesses are not aware of the extent to which their office space is under-used or their meeting rooms left empty, and it is large corporates, who own vast amounts of real estate across many cities and countries, who experience this pain more than anyone else.

“A major trend for fast-growth multinational companies right now is the leveraging of USPs within their workplace, such as collaborative spaces, in order to attract and retain the world’s best talent.

A flexible workspace, geared to the daily demands of evolving business will not only work towards supporting better employee engagement and satisfaction, but also seriously enhancing productivity,” he adds.

The problem companies face with empty rooms is not just confined to the underutilisation of meeting rooms. The reality is that there is a lack of transparency when it comes down to the whole area of meeting room management according to a study by Condeco, with around 20 per cent of the meeting rooms that are booked not being used at any time.

Condeco’s suite of solutions recognise the constantly evolving work environment and allow for the linking of the meeting room to calendar appointments so both are cancelled simultaneously.

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Changing the face of manufacturing Britain’s manufacturers are bracing themselves for the imminent impact of a 4th industrial revolution, but raise grave concerns over the UK’s ability to play a leading role, according to new research out from EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation.

The revolution – dubbed Industry 4.0 and driven by rapid advances in technology – will become a widespread reality of manufacturing life within the next decade, with eight in ten manufacturers expecting their business to be affected by 2025.

Nine in ten say the UK should be taking a leading role, seeing clear benefits to the sector and the rebalancing of the wider UK economy. But six in ten warn that the UK risks being left behind, potentially knocking back Britain’s burgeoning industrial renaissance and prompting calls for the next Government to ensure the right industrial strategy and support framework is in place.

The research supports a key theme of this year’s National Manufacturing Conference and is published alongside a specially-commissioned report - Manufacturing, Britain’s Future - sponsored by leading technology companies Infor and IBM. The report sets out how the 4th industrial revolution is at hand, and how, in the global battle for dominance, innovative firms can take the lead and help position Britain as the manufacturing and technology hub of Europe.

Terry Scuoler, CEO of EEF, says: “The 4th industrial revolution will change the global face of manufacturing beyond recognition. The UK must take a leading role if we are to realise our ambitions for a healthy, balanced and growing economy.

“The next decade will bring great and rapid change and the early-adopting nations will maximise the opportunities presented by new technologies and thrive as a result. There will inevitably be winners and losers, which is why we should take note when manufacturers say there is a real danger of the UK being left behind.

“Our sector’s ability to remain on top of the 4th industrial wave hinges on the decisions made now and over the next decade by consecutive governments. We must continue to establish the foundations to support our manufacturing renaissance, particularly alleviating the pressure that Industry 4.0 will place on investment and skills. It is vital that the Government steps up to this challenge and works hand-in-hand with manufacturers and academia to ensure that the UK is not left behind.”

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On guard Fortress Interlocks and Troax have combined forces to create a new perimeter guarding system to protect workers from dangerous machinery. The system utilises a unique new bracket for fitting Fortress interlocks to Troax perimeter guarding panels, enabling the safeguarding of virtually any machinery installation.

Very easy to install for both end users and OEMs, the brackets are 100 per cent compatible with Fortress’ modular amGardpro and tGard ranges of modular interlocks and Troax’s modular mesh panels.

This means that whatever configuration of interlocks or mesh panels is specified first, the brackets will always fit.

“This alliance between Fortress and Troax offers a simple, modular and very tough machine guarding option for virtually any application,” commented Fortress’ managing director Rob Lewis.

Troax mesh panels fitted with a Fortress amGardpro interlock using the new brackets

MANUFACTURING NEWS

Testing time Prior Diesel, a Suretank company and leading supplier of diesel driven power solutions and well service products to the oil and gas, marine and industrial sectors, has invested in a highly sophisticated engine test house.

Capable of dynamometer testing engines up to 2000 horsepower, the modern test cell is optimised to accommodate any OEM demanding engine characteristics, with advanced cooling capacity, fully adjustable engine bed, incorporating the Da-Taq prolog software suite.

Gordon MacLean, joint managing director at Prior Diesel commenting on the new facility said: “This significant investment will allow us to further enhance the product offering and service that we offer to our customers whilst strengthening our position as a market leader in the servicing and refurbishment of diesel and gas engines.

“The new equipment will allow us to optimise engines to a higher level, more quickly and efficiently, minimising excessive downtime. Our end users can feel confident that they have a high quality, reliable product that meets stringent environmental and safety standards.”

£1 million available Manufacturing firms have been invited to bid for a share of £1 million to boost UK innovation. The ‘Skills for Innovation in Manufacturing’ competition, launched on 29 Jan 2015, challenges firms to come up with new ways of developing the skills and business practices needed to maximise the value of innovation to the UK economy.

In recent years, the UK has risen up the Global Innovation Index, moving from 14th in 2010 to second place in 2014. However, a government assessment of the UK’s science and innovation system, undertaken for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills in 2014, identified planning, recruiting, training, retention, progression and performance management of people as one of the weakest parts of the system with worrying deficiencies in basic skills, STEM skills and management. Because the economic benefits of innovation are realised through businesses, it follows that the skills, workplace practices, and management at play within them are critical to ensuring the value of innovation is maximised.

Paul McKelvie OBE, Training and Development Professional and a Commissioner at the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), which is running the competition, commented: “It is fantastic that the UK is ranked as a front-runner in terms of innovation, second only globally to Switzerland. However, we need to do more to capitalise on this if we want to reap the economic reward and remain competitive. To do this effectively, we need to explore the ‘human factor’ in innovation. This means understanding how to better manage innovations; both in the way processes work and how any innovation is taken to market. It is the development of these skills that we want businesses to focus on when responding to our invitation.

“This competition is a great opportunity for businesses in the manufacturing sector to come together and come up with ideas and solutions that they want to trial and develop to better maximise the value of innovation. By running this competition, I hope that a range of insights will be drawn from the projects we support to improve future business practice and public policy.”

The competition closes at midday on Wednesday 11 March 2015.

For more information or to apply visit www.gov.uk/ukces.

Burn out or fade away?

The festivities are over and manufacturing workers are returning to high stress levels according to a new Regus report. Over half of the UK’s manufacturing workforce (58 per cent) say they are closer to burning out than they were just five years ago. This level is significantly higher than the UK crosssector average of 48 per cent, according to the report that canvassed over 3000 of the UK’s business people about their work environment. The top triggers of workplace stress in the manufacturing sector, are lack of exercise, feeling understaffed and deadline pressures.

However, with the pressure on to find ways of reducing stress, many workers believe one way of easing the tension is a break from the main office – at least some of the time. A significant majority of respondents from the manufacturing sector – 66 per cent – found a change of scenery such as working from another location to be a good stress reliever.

Richard Morris, UK CEO at Regus comments: “Stress levels are mounting in the workplace as a result of various factors; workers feel deskbound and underresourced. Dedicated workspaces offer the flexibility to work in a variety of locations.

This is the future of work, and brings a number of benefits including improved productivity and employee well-being.”

Certified for fire safety Leading foam manufacturer, Carpenter, producers of Fireseal - the world class, highly modified, flexible, acoustic foam for use in the heating and ventilation and construction sector - now meets BS EN 13501 as part of a continued development programme and stringent fire safety testing procedures. As Richard Harris, national sales manager for Fireseal, highlighted: “BS EN 13501 is accepted in all EEC countries, which enables manufacturers to produce or import products that have been tested to a common standard without the need to test in each member state.” Carpenter Fireseal also meets BS476 pt 6 and pt 7 (Class ‘0’) and UL94V-0.

The European Standard provides a number of performance criteria to measure the fire characteristics of building products. It includes tests for spread of flame and contribution to fire as well as smoke generation and the production of flaming droplets.

Fireseal has been classified as Bs1 d0 - this means it has very low flammability and produced very little smoke and no flaming droplets when tested, giving it an excellent rating.

The product is chemically inert and will not dust or migrate when subjected to air movement. Its flexibility offers easy application to curved or complex surfaces and can be readily cut or pressed into a variety of shapes.

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£6.5 million UK investment After a two-year planning and building project, Eberspächer UK Ltd has announced the completion of a major £6.5 million investment, the largest in its history. This sees the company – the UK’s leading manufacturer and supplier of fuel-operated heating, air conditioning and climate control systems for automotive, marine, construction equipment and military applications – open a brand new, stateof-the-art head office, manufacturing and warehousing facility at Forest Gate, Ringwood, Hampshire.

The purpose-built facility is now fully operational. Eberspächer UK is planning major expansion of its UK sales and manufacturing operations, and the new building will help achieve these goals. It will provide Eberspächer UK with more manufacturing capacity, both for its existing air conditioning and climate control units as well as the production of a new range of evaporators and condensers. These products will not only be sold in the UK but also in Eberspächer UK’s worldwide export markets, which are expected to double in value over the next three years.

The move into the new building will also create employment opportunities, with Eberspächer UK expecting to increase its workforce by some 15 per cent over the next 12 months. With the number of employees currently standing at 85 people, new recruits are expected to join its design/ development, manufacturing, sales and warehousing activities.

New ‘performers’ BOFA, the global market leader in fume extraction solutions for manufacturing has introduced two new ‘performers’ to its comprehensive range of units for the laser, electronics and printing industries, featuring the revolutionary iQ operating system.

Available to order now, the 2000 iQ and Oracle SA iQ models are the latest BOFA products to incorporate the innovative class-leading iQ system which has received wide industry acclaim since its launch two years ago.

Both are upgrades of existing popular products but the iQ system brings multiple performance enhancements for higher efficiency of extraction, individual filter status monitoring and integral design features that combine to deliver a lower cost of ownership.

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Thought leadership report SKF, in partnership with industrial technology experts and academics from across the globe, has released a new thought leadership report focusing on the future of manufacturing and engineering. The document, entitled ‘Power the Future’, features contributions by specialists from within SKF and leading external authorities. It focuses on current and emerging trends in engineering technology and processes, and outlines how the factory, machinery and the workforce will evolve in the near future.

Power the Future will enable engineers and students to develop a greater knowledge of three main areas of interest that are predicted to become increasingly prevalent to future technology developments in a variety of key global industrial segments. The report is divided into three chapters, which focus on the evolution of the factory, the future of intelligent machine design, and the power of knowledge engineering. It can be downloaded for free from www.skfpowerthefuture.com.

“For this report we have drawn on our many years of experience to paint a detailed picture of areas within production and manufacturing that we think will experience significant evolution in the near future,” said Bernd Stephan, senior vice president, Group Technology Development at SKF. “As demonstrated in these articles, technology is progressing at such a rapid pace and is increasingly influenced by developments and adoption outside the world of engineering. It is therefore essential that businesses within this sector, including SKF, continue to consistently focus efforts on research and innovation, and also identify future trends which may provide further opportunities.”

New Parliamentary Manufacturing Commission On Feb 5th, a cross-party group coalition of Parliamentarians and leading industry members hosted an event at the Houses of Parliament to mark the start of a new inquiry into the long-term sustainability of the sector in the UK. The inquiry will seek to make practical policy recommendations addressing the emerging area of industrial sustainability and what it regards as the key issues and themes currently affecting UK manufacturing and which threaten the UK’s potential industrial growth, including questions over innovation, skills, finance and taxation, energy, SMEs, trade and investment.

Commenting on the new Manufacturing Commission, Barry Sheerman MP, APMG Co-Chair and member of the Commission said: “The APMG has long campaigned for greater understanding from politicians of the often divided manufacturing sector. The Manufacturing Commission is now in a unique position to work within Parliament and across industry to make practical recommendations. It is our aim that through focusing on industrial sustainability in our first inquiry, we can ensure that Britain enjoys a future built on a continued focus on manufacturing.”

The forming of a Manufacturing Commission builds upon the All-Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group’s 2013 research inquiry and report ‘Making Good: A Study of Culture and Competitiveness in UK Manufacturing’, which warned that UK manufacturing is being prevented from becoming ‘wholly competitive’ by a national industrial culture that discourages companies from investing in vital long-term business drivers such as skills development and technological innovation. The Commission will seek to further address these issues.

The All-Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group (APMG) brings Parliamentarians and manufacturing industry organisations together to ensure as broad, and as deep an understanding of the challenges and requirements of the sector as possible.

MANUFACTURING NEWS

Think away from the box From safety helmets to virtual reality glasses - innovative corrugated is the material of the future Digital printing technology is not only transforming corrugated packaging into an eye-catching shelf ready packaging solution for retailers but this flexible material is also capturing the imagination of entrepreneurs who see cardboard as a valuable resource.

Corrugated plays a pivotal role in supply chain sustainability by protecting goods in transit and now its cushioning qualities are also being put to equally effective use helping to safeguard cyclists (1) from head injuries on the UK’s busy roads.

The material has been engineered into a cycling safety helmet launched by a designer as a sustainable alternative to polystyrene. With a design that mimics the woodpecker, corrugated’s ‘tiny little airbags’ absorb the energy of a collision preventing the helmet from cracking. The design has been tested to European standards and when compared to standard polystyrene, the results are impressive.

This new safety helmet is a striking example of the practical applications that are being developed for corrugated to create new business opportunities – such as the new polling booths (2) that were trialled in Cornwall during the 2014 European elections.

Cornwall decided to follow the lead of the USA and Australia in using cardboard booths for voters because they were more affordable and reduced the costs of storage, transport, cleaning and repairs compared to wooden booths.

In addition to getting the vote in Cornwall, corrugated is proving popular with children in Japan where a designer, renowned for manufacturing playthings and toys from corrugated cardboard, created an amusement park in a local shopping area, turning boxes into a car, tank, castle and a truck.

Whether amusing small children or adopting the latest digital technology for packaging such as smartphone apps, QR codes and augmented reality, corrugated cardboard’s versatility is being recognised outside its more traditional markets.

For instance, Google has produced a DIY virtual reality headset made entirely of cardboard (3), embedded with two lenses to give the viewer an immersive 3D experience when a smartphone is placed in front of the device.

Other novel uses for corrugated include refoldable furniture that is lightweight and recyclable, and recycled corrugated boxes used to make ecocradles for sleeping babies. It has even been used on occasion by an Italian

football club, which, due to low attendances, placed cardboard cutouts of spectators in its stadium to make the ground appear fuller.

The Confederation of Paper Industries’ (CPI) director of packaging affairs, Andy Barnetson, said: “Corrugated’s tremendous versatility is being recognised in a variety of new markets. The growing influence of digital technology is contributing to the industry’s willingness to extend beyond its comfort zone.”

(1) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25681895 (2) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27489648 (3) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28120953

The Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) represents a multi-billion pound industry, thousands of UK jobs and the best packaging recycling record in the country. It is not only economical, but also has a superb environmental record – over 80 per cent of the material is recycled every year, which if laid flat would cover an area the size of Greater London three times over. www.paper.org.uk

Reduce lead times and increase cash flow Nottingham based bicycle company, Raleigh, is enjoying the benefits of having implemented Paragon’s Multi Depot routing and scheduling solution for the company’s distribution operations.

Raleigh reports that the Paragon solution has helped the company to improve the efficiency of its transport operations, reduce lead times and improve customer service.

“We’ve been using Paragon’s routing and scheduling solution for about 15 years, now, and the resulting reduction in our lead times has enabled us to hold less stock and invoice earlier – which has a direct positive impact on our cash flow,” says Steve Wigley, distribution manager for Raleigh. “We originally opted for the Paragon solution because we needed to install a routing system that would help us to optimise our vehicle utilisation and improve the efficiency of our delivery operation. Things have changed over the years; as the market has become more oriented towards the adult leisure sector, our business is not quite as seasonal as it used to be. We still have a small peak at Christmas, mainly for

children’s bikes, but our bigger peak is now spring and summer.”

Paragon Multi Depot enables users to plan routes and schedules for multiple depots as a single planning task, and facilitates the switch to central planning with the ability to share results with and incorporate changes from other sites across a company’s operation.

Routing in this way has been proven to cut planning time, improve visibility of the transport plan, give planning teams added flexibility and enhance the overall efficiency of the vehicle fleet.

Taking just two minutes to process the information, the Paragon software calculates a delivery schedule that takes into account order quantities, delivery addresses, vehicle capacities, promised delivery time windows, driver time constraints and driver work standards. The resulting routes are then passed to the planning team for a final check before being automatically uploaded to the Warehouse Management system to drive the picking and loading processes. The dramatic reduction in planning time has knocked a full day off delivery times.

www.manufacturingtoday-europe.com 7

Ready for a

changing world

The EU has set a target for manufacturing to account for 20 per cent of European GDP by 2020. Mark Swift takes a look at the current state of play in the market

While some of the weakness can be explained away by temporary factors, business and consumer confidence remains fragile and the full impact of EU sanctions on Russia have yet to be seen in the data

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T

he European manufacturing industry has endured a difficult period since the financial crisis in 2008, reflecting the overall difficult position of the Eurozone economy. As we entered Autumn 2014 there may have been signs of light emerging from some European markets, but more recent GDP data for the eurozone bloc again provide some cause for caution.

In the second quarter of 2014 the German and Italian economies contracted and France posted no growth. Of the four main eurozone economies, only Spain posted an expansion.

While some of the weakness can be explained away by temporary factors, business and consumer confidence remains fragile and the full impact of EU sanctions on Russia have yet to be seen in the data. A sharp turnaround in fortunes in not on the cards and we expect eurozone growth to come at just 0.9 per cent this year.

Having fallen faster and further than some of its European competitors, UK manufacturing has proved to be an exception to this weaker performance with strong growth forecast of over three per cent this year and over two per cent in 2015. UK manufacturers have benefitted in particular from the strong performance of the automotive and aerospace sectors where the UK has a particular strength.

This has fed down through the supply chains benefitting the sector overall. This fed through into strong recruitment intentions with employment in UK manufacturing having risen for five consecutive quarters, a trend not seen across the sector for more than a decade.

Report

However, despite this improvement in performance there are few signs that rebalancing of the UK economy away from consumption and towards trade and investment is taking place.

Despite hopes that net trade would now be making positive contributions to UK economic growth, official trade data have continued to disappoint. In the three-month period to June 2014 total goods exports fell by 0.7 per cent (the fourth consecutive quarterly drop), with sales to non-EU markets showing a particularly marked decline, coming in at their lowest level since the third quarter of There must now be a relentless 2013. Exports to the EU were drive to free up labour markets, as largely supported by a pick-up workplace flexibility is a two way in demand from Germany but street that benefits workers and the even this modest improvement businesses they work for and have does not mark a reversal in the a stake in downward trend over the past year. Given recent data showing that growth in Germany is slipping there are fears over whether this improvement can be sustained.

While the current prospects for UK manufacturing remain relatively positive, clouds are gathering again over the Eurozone. The latest data for Germany shows that key gauges have fallen to a 15 month low as ongoing tensions over Ukraine weighed on the sector. France fared an ageing population the EU must work with no better with the economy overall showing member states to encourage the brightest and no growth in the second quarter of the year. best of Europe’s young people to choose a career Italy, one of European manufacturing’s traditional in industry. powerhouse has lost a quarter of its industrial Innovation is also key to meeting the economic capacity since 2008. challenges of the future. The EU has huge power So where does UK and the rest of European and economic resources at its disposals and manufacturing go from here? How does it should leverage its international scale to boost improve its competitiveness and implement the the innovation performance of member states. structural and supply side reforms to create Successful programmes such as Horizon 2020 sustainable growth? should be expanded.

There are encouraging signs that European The EU must also change a culture that has leaders now talk about the need for reform sought to regulate, at the expense of promoting and herald a new industrial strategy, which competitiveness. There must now be a relentless has competitiveness at its heart. The new drive to free up labour markets, as workplace Commission and Parliament must take a fresh flexibility is a two way street that benefits look at embracing and delivering a new industrial workers and the businesses they work for and strategy for Europe that supports all member have a stake in. Reducing this flexibility can harm states and, puts the EU back on the path to businesses and their employees. sustained growth. Manufacturers want to see Looking forward the EU has set a target for a reformed EU, one that is more dynamic and manufacturing to account for 20 per cent of focused on economic, as well as social, goals. They European GDP by 2020, up from the current also want to see an EU that is fit for a changing level of just over 15 per cent. This is a tall ask world, doing everything possible to reduce red given the starting base is a depressed economic tape and promoting a robust market economy, bloc surrounded by considerable global while securing multi-billion pound trade deals in uncertainty. But, whilst the EU and member states key markets. can do nothing about the wider outlook, they can Beneath this there are a number of specific look to institute reforms that will free up labour area that the EU should focus on to boost the markets, drive innovation and put competitiveness performance of the EU economy overall and at the heart of their agenda. By doing this they drive a new spirit of competitiveness. Skills are a will give European manufacturing every chance of problem for industry right across Europe. With coming close to, if not hitting the 2020 target.v

Mark Swift Mark Swift is head of communications at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation. EEF is the representative voice of manufacturing in the UK together with UK Steel. EEF has a growing membership of over 6000 companies of all sizes, employing some 900,000 people from every sector of engineering, manufacturing, engineering construction and technology-based industries.

For further information visit: www.eef.org.uk.

www.manufacturingtoday-europe.com 9

When the lights go

out

As Andy Parfitt insists, failing to safeguard that power supply could compromise both revenue and public safety

T

he fragility of the UK’s ageing power generation network is widely recognised. However the loss of Didcot power station to fire in 2014 coming hard on the heels of decommissioning several nuclear power stations and the lack, as yet, of sufficient, cost effective and reliable renewables alternative is pushing the country to the brink. Yet despite the very real risk of power outages, a huge proportion of the critical UK infrastructure is still 100 per cent reliant on the mains supply – leaving businesses and consumers extremely vulnerable should major outages occur.

From traffic lights to railway crossings and utilities providers, the fact is that in today’s joined up and internet enabled society, every aspect of the infrastructure is reliant upon clean, reliable power supply. And for those tasked with delivering these services, contingency planning is not just about safeguarding the infrastructure; it is increasingly about safeguarding revenue. In today’s target driven and highly regulated society, any significant failure in rail or road networks, water or power utilities will result in fines, negative publicity

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and a drop in shareholder value.

The lights may not go out – yet. But can any business afford to take the risk?

Lights out When the UK government takes out what is effectively a £1 billion insurance policy against the lights going out, it is clearly time for the rest of the country to take note. With Britain facing a severe power generation crunch for the next two winters and Ofgem warning that the margin - the spare capacity above peak demand - could fall to as low as two per cent next winter, contingency plans are becoming important.

In addition to the recent controversial announcement regarding the proposed payment of £990m in subsidies to power plants to guarantee demand can be met from 2018, the government has also invested heavily in the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) and the Securities and Emergencies Measures Directive (SEMD), designed to protect critical sites against terrorist attack.

So not only does the UK have to contend with

a power generation network still in transition, a loss of power may not just come from grid overload: there is a significant risk of terrorist activity compromising the power network. And that means there is a pressing need to safeguard not only the most obvious aspects of the nation’s infrastructure – the banks, the petrochemical plants, the power stations, and the government – but to also ensure that the air, road and rail networks are able to manage in the event of power outage; that water supplies are not affected and that emergency services can still communicate effectively.

Fragile society The importance of such contingency planning is demonstrated on a nearly daily basis. When less than an hour’s downtime of the air traffic control system over London resulted in two days of chaos; or when a road closure can cause gridlock in the surrounding area for hours, the fragility of the UK infrastructure becomes very clear. How will the emergency services respond to problems caused by a power outage when the roads are gridlocked

Power supply

because the traffic lights are not working? When innovative technology enables controllers to turn all the lights green on a key route to support rapid emergency response – failing to protect the traffic lights against mains failure would appear somewhat short-sighted.

Furthermore this is not just about protecting against a full power outage – in reality just a small percentage of power problems are associated with complete failure. It is far more likely that individual components will be damaged as a result of a power spike, surge or dip. Protecting against these problems is also critical to keep the infrastructure working effectively and to minimise the additional costs associated with costly repair.

Of course, these are not standard environments. In addition to being typically unmanned, from traffic lights to water treatment plants, these are harsh environments subject to extremes of temperature, vibration, water ingress, dust and dirt. They are certainly not suitable for the standard Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) that are deployed in clean, temperature controlled offices and data centres to provide clean, reliable power supplies. Put these UPS into the power plant and the life span will shrink from ten years plus to perhaps just months as a result of dust or shorting out due to water ingress. Place them in any environment subject to significant vibrations and failure will be rapid; while exposure to cold – or hot – temperature extremes will result in battery life plummeting.

Fit for purpose These are critical locations that require protecting; but they are also often unmanned and organisations need equipment that is reliable and offers long-term protection. While some manufacturers insist data centre and office UPS need to be regularly tested (including monthly discharge tests) this is simply not a practical option for an out of the way, unmanned location.

Demanding monthly maintenance activity creates an unjustifiable whole life cost in these harsh environments - the key here is to put in place a device that is ultra reliable and can both guarantee a long life and requires minimal on-going maintenance.

The solution is to provide a rugged protected UPS that is designed specifically to work reliably and for a long life within a harsh environment - one that has been engineered, modified, ruggedised and tailored to fit within specific site & application space constraints: a ‘Protected UPS’. The UPS needs to be the correct Form-Fit-Function! With the right UPS in place, organisations can be assured that these critical aspects of the national infrastructure will keep running irrespective of power outages or glitches. Quite simply, put a UPS on a key traffic light intersection and the traffic continues flowing, the emergency services can respond as required; provide a UPS to support a hospital’s internal phone system and staff can continue to communicate irrespective of power problems.

Of course, when it comes to national contingency there is also a financial consideration.

Power stations and water companies, rail providers and emergency services are all subject to strict targets – failure to meet these targets will result in fines, damage to brand image, and an impact on shareholder value.

Whether the UK hits its full capacity and the lights go out, or a substation trips for a few seconds resulting in a surge that damages equipment, the nation’s reliance on power

cannot be underestimated. Safeguarding critical infrastructure is as much about protecting the smooth operation of the nation as it is about safeguarding the smooth flow of revenue – and power contingency is now a fundamental aspect of business planning.

Andy Parfitt Andy Parfitt is sales director at Harland Simon UPS, a specialist independent supplier of Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) from commercial off the shelf products, right through to complex customisation reflecting a customer’s specific requirements. www.harlandsimonups.com

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Building on a heritage of

excellence Stephen Chadwick looks at the British automotive sector’s integration and collaborative innovation initiatives

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he British automotive industry has a long heritage of excellence. Some of the world’s greatest vehicles have been, and are being made in Britain. The future is looking very positive and the industry is a great success story for the UK economy.

To capitalise on this success vehicle manufacturers in the UK aim to make more vehicles more efficiently. They do this by strongly linking manufacturing to product definition and by innovating systems engineering to achieve greater integration of mechanical, software and electronics functions. This two-pronged strategy leads to greater production control and increased manufacturing flexibility. That in turn helps achieve mass customisation of more appealing vehicles with advanced characteristics and therefore a better balance between supply and demand.

All systems go The automotive industry has always aimed to be at the forefront of technology and this has led to many different systems being deployed over a number of years. Many of these legacy systems are still in use. The problems that arise from this history are due to non-integrated of non-compatible software applications. The result is that silos of information have built up in many discreet and disconnected locations. The outcome

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of this has been a lack of interdepartmental data communication that has negatively impacted both productivity and the ability to collaborate by sharing information.

To overcome this operational malaise many UK vehicle OEMs, and their supply chains, deploy the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE Platform’s suite of integrated applications to develop, unify and achieve collaboration around their 3D and other digital assets. Individual components to whole vehicles are simulated along with complex interrelated systems comprising mechanicals,

electronics and software. Applications that cover the entire product lifecycle by simulating all of its phases from ideation through design, development manufacture, usage, maintenance and recycling are deployed.

Dassault Systèmes partners with British vehicle brands and supply chains including Bentley Motors, Jaguar Land Rover and Mclaren as well as most F1 teams. The 3DEXPERIENCE Platform facilitates collaboration of teams, speeds time to market by up to 50 per cent, provides the ability to better understand and respond to customer

Automotive supply chains

demand, streamlines complex supply chains and supports decision making while reducing risk.

Thinking inside the box Applications of The 3DEXPERIENCE platform reach beyond production of vehicles and into the consumers’ realm. Car showrooms in cities where space is precious use the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform to generate ultra realistic immersive 3D imagery so visitors can experience every possible range combination - virtually. Surface textures are rendered so realistically that it is impossible to tell real from virtual. Consumer choices can be saved to generate instructions to produce a vehicle that exactly matches their selection. It is even possible to share the vehicle specification via social media to show friends and family what is being selected allowing them to join in the process.

moves to equip the aftermarket sector with the means of creating certain parts with 3D printers.

Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE Platform is helping the British automotive sector to integrate its processes using a platform that all stakeholders access. This means that each vehicle component can be simulated in context both within its production environment and on the vehicle itself. This allows stakeholders access to the information they need whether they are designing, engineering, making, repairing, owing, buying. or just aspiring to one of the new breed of great British vehicles.

Dassault Systèmes Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, provides business and people with virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations. Its world-leading solutions transform the way products are designed, produced, and supported. Dassault Systèmes’ collaborative solutions foster social innovation, expanding possibilities for the virtual world to improve the real world. The group brings value to over 190,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 140 countries. www.3ds.com/industries/transportation-mobility/

The road ahead Supply chain integration is a key to progressing the collaborative innovation that will help the British motor industry achieve its potential. Making 3DEXPERIENCE Platform applications available on the Cloud provides smaller suppliers access to the same industrial experiences as their OEM partners. This enables the real-time collaboration that results in innovation as more, formerly isolated, groups work together as teams. Accessing cloud-based applications this way also reduces costs at tier one and two suppliers as they have instant access to resources for improved productivity without any need for configuration or upgrade procedures.

Lower composites cost and the extended use of lighter weight metals that can help reduce emissions provide more design options for manufacturers. Their growing use is considerably aided by 3DEXPERIENCE digital simulation applications. These support 3D modelling and subsequent production of composite and aluminium structures in the surety that their engineering and performance are fully understood and optimised before they are physically made.

Dassault Systèmes applications have enabled several UK prestige and high performance vehicle OEM’s to reduce the weight of their vehicles while improving strength, rigidity and consumer appeal.

There has been a strong uptake of 3D printing in the automotive sector. Key to the use of this rapidly developing technology is the availability of 3D digital assets across an extended enterprise.

With an integrated application platform, access to, and utilisation of, 3D digital models is expanding into non-engineering departments to produce the business benefits associated with this exciting new way of making things. Styling and marketing departments have been some of the first nonengineers to adopt 3D printing. Now there are

Case Study - integration in action Driving change at Jaguar Land Rover An example of this type of integrated system can be seen at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). Paul Davies, JLR’s director of product development operations, leads the teams that define JLR’s vehicle development processes, tooling technology, and project and product lifecycle management (PLM) technologies for more than 8000 JLR people worldwide. Davies recently said: “The challenge of expanding JLR’s vehicle portfolio into segment-defining products requires strong technical foundations. Our IT history generated more than 600 islands and silos of JLR legacy data. The majority is not inter-compatible. To flourish in business, all our data must be interoperably integrated and intuitively available to every JLR stakeholder.”

To enhance innovation and reduce development time, JLR partnered with Dassault Systèmes to deploy the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform in a project called iPLM. Davies said: “Many business users, and even suppliers of PLM strategies, fail to understand its endto-end power. They see PLM as a data management system rather than a business transformation (BT) tool, as IT rather than BT.” At JLR, 3DEXPERIENCE Platform applications cover the entire vehicle definition and features across 14 domains. These comprise bills of material, parts and assembly, requirements and verification, plus in-vehicle embedded software, which currently accounts for 60 per cent of new car development. Electrical design, styling, and computer-aided engineering, including multi-physics and Finite Element Analysis (FEA), are also included.

“Dassault Systèmes applications enfranchise data users and managers with 3D visualisations of all product data and manufacturing operations,” said Davies. “Assembly and disassembly routines with legislative, parts and vehicle governance data are readily available in manageable formats.

The immediate benefit of creating, seeing, experiencing and sharing data in this environment is translating into time savings of up to 40 per cent.”

Introducing a single unified platform that is used by all stakeholders allows innovation to flourish because specialists’ work can be shared and used by all. Closely linking suppliers into this network allows internal collaboration to be extended to globally located supply chain partners. http://www.3ds.com/industries/transportation-mobility/

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Under

scrutiny According to recent research global manufacturers are ‘turning a blind eye’ to supply chain risks

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arge manufacturers from across the world have admitted they are awarding contracts to suppliers without having, or checking, critical information about how they do business.

New research shows that a third (36 per cent) of manufacturers around the world are not gathering anti-bribery and corruption policies from their suppliers. Further, almost one in five (17 per cent) do not have health and safety policies for their main suppliers and almost one in five (17 per cent) were not collecting financial documents from main contractors.

Even when manufacturers did obtain business critical information from suppliers, they failed to check its accuracy via basic desktop research – such as telephone calls or internet research, on the information provided by their suppliers.

Basic checks: The research found: l 29 per cent of manufacturer globally did not conduct basic checks on suppliers’ financial records; l 41 per cent of manufacturer globally did not conduct basic checks on suppliers’ health and safety policies; l 58 per cent of manufacturer globally did not conduct basic checks on suppliers’ anti-bribery and corruption policies

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Manufacturing survey

Globally the manufacturing sector fared worst out of four sectors polled - with oil and gas/mining, construction and engineering, and power and utilities all performing at least five per cent better in this area.

And across the board, UK firms fared below the global average for the manufacturing sector in seven out of nine areas studied – only faring better in collecting policies for anti-bribery and corruption and then auditing the details.

The market research was commissioned by Achilles – a global supplier information management company – and conducted by independent research company IFF. Supply chain professionals from 300 companies were interviewed, including 115 from manufacturing firms in the UK, Brazil, USA and Canada, the Nordics and Spain.

Large businesses are responsible for carrying out proper due diligence on their suppliers to protect people working on sites, their own reputation and also the investments of shareholders - who trust them to manage risks

Comprehensive audits on site The research also found a high number of manufacturers also did not visit their suppliers’ sites to check contractors were actually operating in the way they claimed in policies. In total: l 51 per cent did not conduct on-site audits on financial records; l 35 per cent did not conduct on-site audits on health and safety policies; and l 61 per cent did not conduct on-site audits on anti-bribery and corruption policies.

Tom Grand, Achilles regional director in the UK and Ireland, said: “We were surprised to see that across the globe, manufacturers appear to be turning a blind eye to potential risks associated with their suppliers.

Around one third of manufacturers do not have policies for their suppliers in business critical areas before awarding a contract.

“It is not an optional extra for manufacturing businesses to operate safely, tackle bribery and corruption and address financial risks; typically, these are legal requirements. Having policies for suppliers is really a fundamental step in terms of managing risk and raising standards throughout the supply chain.

“Large businesses are responsible for carrying out proper due diligence on their suppliers to protect people working on sites, their own reputation and also the investments of shareholders - who trust them to manage risks.

“We estimate businesses are spending $60 billion on the global management of supplier information yet this survey shows it isn’t working; there are still real gaps in knowledge. It is essential manufacturers put systems in place to gather, manage and update supplier information.

“Businesses often rely on the same suppliers. Managing their data is up to ten times more efficient when whole industries work together to agree common standards of suppliers, and then share noncommercial supplier information via an online portal.”

UK snapshot In a majority of areas, UK manufacturers were behind their global counterparts when it came to managing supplier information. In total: Obtains main supplier information

‘Desktop’ checks on suppliers’ information

On-site audit of supplier information

Financial reports

23% don’t obtain reports (17% don’t globally)

31% don’t perform basic checks (29% don’t globally)

54% don’t perform on-site audits (51% don’t globally)

Health and safety policies

20% don’t obtain policies (17% don’t globally)

51% don’t perform basic checks (41% don’t globally)

34% don’t perform on-site audits (35% don’t globally)

Anti-bribery and 34% don’t obtain policies corruption policies (36% don’t globally)

60% don’t perform basic checks (58% don’t globally)

54% don’t perform on-site audits (61% don’t globally)

Achilles Achilles creates and manages a global network of collaborative industry communities, allowing trading partners to share high quality, structured, real-time data. Using cloud-based technology and industry expertise it acts as an independent partner, providing validated data and insightful analytics to enable buyers across a sector to identify and manage risk and suppliers to increase market reach while increasing compliance and minimising costs for the network as a whole. www.achilles.com .

Tom added: “The move to re-shore a significant amount of manufacturing to the UK means there will be added scrutiny on the sector. It is vital manufacturers have in place robust processes to help add value to their operations and reduce the risk of supply chain disruption or failure.”

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True

change Paul Carreiro explains why Industry 4.0 is not just another revolution

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quick history quiz. How many industrial revolutions have there been? Most of us will recall school lessons imparting details of the shift from farming to industrial production. However, since then there has been a second industrial revolution, which introduced mass production with the help of electric power, followed by the IT revolution that saw the advent of electronics and technology to further automate production. And we now face the dawn of a possible fourth industrial revolution as digitisation takes hold.

What makes digitisation so special? It opens up new ways to respond efficiently to customer needs with methods that can fix problems (almost) automatically. How is this done? By converging a specific set of new technologies and strategies, grounded in a customer-centric approach.

Firstly the development of the Internet of Things and cyber-physical systems such as sensors and wearable technology has enabled machines, computers and even data itself to have an

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active role in the manufacturing and production processes. Secondly the development of Big Data and powerful analytics means that these systems can process huge data sets and that information can be quickly translated to intelligent courses of action. Lastly the communications infrastructure on which these ‘conversations’ rely has become so secure that it can be trusted with business critical aspects such as production. In typical fashion, this amalgamation of technology and business strategy has been given a shiny new name: Industry 4.0.

The name is already going global. In Germany, Industry 4.0 includes an initiative that promotes the computerisation of traditional industries such as manufacturing. In the United States, the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC) is a non-profit organisation of manufacturing practitioners, suppliers, and technology companies; manufacturing consortia; universities; government agencies and laboratories with a similar objective.

Not just another label From a business perspective, it is critical to understand that this is not a new technology

or even a new business discipline in itself. It is more an approach to enable results that were impossible a decade ago. Companies do not ask specifically for ‘Industry 4.0 solutions’ - and the technology industry should not want to create such a label. Rather there needs to be an Industry 4.0 approach to solving customer demands as the new technology enables.

For example, let us suppose the ‘brief ’ is to increase the speed of business processes and to run semi-autonomous processes that can produce more efficiently. Or to deliver customised or specialist products in small quantities, without risking lost productivity and higher production costs.

For either set of demands, it is easy enough to identify elements such as communication between machines, the analysis of large volumes of data in order to optimise the processes and the need for secure links between design and production. What is needed however is a holistic strategy to pull all this together, with modern software applications able to span these connections and deliver the data needed for analysis.

Industry 4.0

Challenges presented by technology itself are simply a consideration of the benefits that can arise from better management of the digital components of existing systems

There are two notable pressures on the development of this software. Firstly, speed: the timeframes for innovation are getting shorter.

Consequently this software must be developed and evolved faster than ever. Secondly, complexity: due to the increased automation and networking, every process has far more ‘moving parts‘. As a result the software must be flexible.

Not just another technology From a business perspective there is also the need to recruit, retain and develop a specific set of collaborative problem-solving skills. If Industry 4.0 is grounded in identifying customer requirements and the issues they face, it becomes an inherently collaborative process to solve those challenges.

Sadly many of those skills are still very difficult to find.

Broadly speaking there are three categories of these challenges: market, business and technology.

Market challenges could include the entry of a new competitor or a new geography opening up.

Business challenges are typically more ‘internal’ - a change to the business model, or threats and

opportunities presented by partners and suppliers.

Challenges presented by technology itself are simply a consideration of the benefits that can arise from better management of the digital components of existing systems.

That management is dependent upon the solid, flexible integration of systems. A standardsbased framework that provides the technological foundation to build business processes and workflows throughout and beyond the Smart Factory is critical. Likewise, the interface between people and technology has to be quick, intuitive and reliable.

In addition, change management will be a vital part of Industry 4.0 success. As employees’ areas of responsibility change from the management of standard tasks to tracking automated processes and detecting errors and fixing them, the ability of staff will be to solve complex problems will demand substantial re-training.

These are challenging goals. Thankfully Industry 4.0 is less of a fourth revolution and more of an evolution in many small steps that will truly change how manufacturing and industry does business.

Paul Carreiro Paul Carreiro is executive vice-president and managing director, EMEA at Infor. Infor is fundamentally changing the way information is published and consumed in the enterprise, helping 73,000 customers in more than 200 countries and territories improve operations, drive growth, and quickly adapt to changes in business demands. Infor offers deep industry-specific applications and suites, engineered for speed, and with an innovative user experience design that is simple, transparent, and elegant. www.infor.com

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Driving the

future

Is it really so hard to see why drivers are difficult to find asks Mike Farrall

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he driver shortage is critical, it’s not getting any better, and it is not so difficult to see why. It’s not about the money. Good rates are being offered across the industry, but I believe the problem is more closely related to the way drivers are regarded and treated. Do we, collectively, as consumers and as commercial organisations dependent on an efficiently run logistics sector, fully appreciate the increasing pressures, demands and constraints placed upon drivers in their everyday work?

Businesses are under constant pressure to cut costs and at the same time speed up the flow of goods in their supply chains. Retailers are becoming more dependent on internet sales, omni-channel solutions and ever-faster delivery, with later and later cut-offs and constricting delivery windows. And this places a heavy burden on drivers to perform

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under increasingly difficult circumstances.

According to the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) 205 million home deliveries were forecast for November and December 2014, up from 177 million last year. If this trend is to continue, where are the drivers going to come from? The Road Haulage Association estimates the sector needs 60,000 drivers and will be 257,000 short by 2022.

What’s more, 40 per cent of HGV drivers are over 50 and only one per cent is under 25.

The recent introduction of CPC regulations has pushed many older drivers into early retirement. Clearly, something needs to be done.

If we are to appeal to a younger generation of drivers, we need to look closely at the pressures we place on these key people who hold our supply chains together. Of course, we should expect that standards of competence

and safety are maintained and sustained, however, there are many areas where some empathy, better planning and a little flexibility could make drivers’ jobs less frustrating and more appealing to the young.

There may be little we can do in the short-term about the stress caused by road congestion, but more could be done about the time drivers spend waiting due to inefficiencies in the loading and unloading process. Long periods of delay are both frustrating for the driver and have knock-on impacts to schedules, all of which make for longer shifts and result in less time with the family. As for most people, a job’s impact on family life is a very significant factor when considering a career.

Better planning and control of processes in the warehouse would help cut these delays and reduce order inaccuracies, both points that often have negative consequences

Fleet

Mike Farrall for both driver and customer.

Furthermore, we should ask ourselves: When vehicles are being unloaded, should drivers be left standing in the rain as they so often are? Or for those offered shelter, could more inviting waiting rooms be provided? After all, drivers are expected to work long days – a few creature comforts would help.

But, perhaps, beyond anything else, we all need to treat our drivers with a higher level of respect – and that’s across all sectors of commerce and industry. These are people doing their daily work to the best of their ability and we should respect them for it. If we could just stop and appreciate what they do to keep our supply chains moving, and demonstrate that appreciation, rather than just expecting more from them, then surely we would send a message to the young that being a driver is a worthwhile and rewarding career.

Mike Farrall is chairman of Farrall’s Transport.

Established in Cheshire in 1956, Farrall’s Transport is a family owned logistics business offering over 160,000 sq ft of food grade warehousing space across sites in Chester and Deeside and full and part-load multi-drop deliveries across mainland UK through its fleet of 40 tractor units and 60 trailers. The company is a founding member and shareholder of Palletforce, an active member of the Transport Association, the Road Haulage Association and the UK Warehousing Association, and is accredited to ISO 9001:2000. www.farralls.co.uk

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LMV – Innovative electronic airfuel ratio control Control Products & Systems OEM

Economical operation and environmental protection are important criteria with plant for large building complexes and in industrial process heat generation. With large burner and boiler capacities, efficiency becomes a major cost factor. Also, high emission levels can cause problems to plant operators.

Siemens electronic air-fuel ratio control can bring into play a number of benefits: Simpler burner design and greater precision ensure higher efficiency levels while reducing emissions. So, all in all, it‘s a more economical and more environment-friendly solution.

www.siemens.com/buildingtechnologies-oem

Plastic bearings

up Bearing

Rob Dumayne reviews the latest developments in plastic bearings, and how industrial manufacturers can use them to produce cost savings while increasing their environmental credentials

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he history of the plastic plain bearing goes back a long way, spurred on by the discovery of the lower friction properties of nylon in around 1860. But in the last few decades, the composition of plastic materials has been refined considerably; in the last 30 years igus has developed 35 different tribologically-optimised materials, which offer a lower coefficient of friction than conventional metals or composite materials – from the economical iglidur G all-rounder to the FDA-conforming iglidur A180 material. In addition to being lubricant free, plastic bearings are maintenance-free, impervious to dirt, water, chemicals, heat and shock loads; and because they have essentially the same dimensional structure as conventional bearings they are relatively straightforward replacements.

The base of each polymer bearing is, depending on specific requirements, a carefully selected and blended thermoplastic matrix material. To increase the compressive strength of the bearing, reinforcing fibres are embedded within the material during the moulding process, as well as solid lubricants that optimise resistance to wear and reduction of friction. The solid lubricants are very important for the dry-running performance

of bearings between the running surface, usually a shaft and the bearing, where they sufficiently lubricate the immediate area.

The great advantage of this type of homogeneous construction is its lack of layers; during the transition to the next layer, there is a distinct change in material properties which can cause wear with traditional composite bearings, this usually means the end of the bearing, since the huge increase in rates of friction and wear lead to catastrophic failure. With an injection-moulded iglidur plain bearing however, this does not occur, and the friction and wear rates are constant over the entire wall thickness and therefore life of the bearing.

Replacing metal bushings igus self-lubricating and maintenance-free plastic plain bearings are today replacing millions of metal bushings that require oiling or greasing.

They increase the safety of the machinery, reduce costs and protect the environment; and because igus rigorously tests it plastics continuously – over 8000 tests per year for durability, friction and wear – their lifespan can be reliably predicted.

At www.igus.co.uk/iglidurproducts, the ‘Product Finder’ tool helps engineers find the

most appropriate iglidur polymer material that matches specific requirements (highest service life in dry run operation, dirt-resistant, vibrationdampening, resistance to chemicals, good for edge pressure, etc) and state the allowed static surface pressure, as well as upper and lower temperature information.

Every year igus develop many new and innovative plastic-bearing materials; this interdisciplinary research involves mechanical engineers, materials scientists, physicists and chemists working closely together to meet industry demands. By investing in plastic bearings, engineers can reduce production and maintenance costs whilst their equipment and machinery operate with total reliability in a more environmentally friendly way. v

Rob Dumayne Rob Dumayne is a director at igus, the largest producer of injection moulded polymer bearings and reinforced plastic cable carriers in the world.

Product lines include industry-leading e-chain cable carriers, chainflex continuous-flex cables, iglidur plastic plain bearings, igubal spherical bearings, drylin linear bearings and guide systems.

For further information visit: www.igus.co.uk.

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Crackdown on late

payment

Chris Buxton reports on current steps being taken by UK Government to address the cultural malaise of late payment and the role being played by the Association

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nyone who has spent any amount of time in a customer supplier relationship has encountered it – late payment of bills. We’ve all heard the phrase ‘the cheques in the post – haven’t you received it yet?’ Another favourite trick is to query the most trivial of details and to use it as an excuse not to pay what is often a very substantial invoice. Let’s be clear from the outset - late payment of bills is not a clever strategic initiative to improve cash flow, it’s a crude, un-ethical breach of contract. It can have devastating effects upon totally innocent parties and reverberate all the way down the supply chain. It doesn’t matter how those that do it want to ‘dress it up’ – it’s just plain wrong.

Late payment is not a new issue but the problem has worsened since the financial crisis of 2009 and particularly affects small and medium sized firms. Between 2008 and 2012, the overall level of late payments due to these businesses almost doubled from £18.6 billion to

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£35.3 billion. As of February 2013, the overall level of late payment owed to small and medium sized businesses stood at £30.1 billion – an improvement on 2012, but well above pre-2008 levels. The average amount owed to a small business stood at £31,000 and 85 per cent said they had received a late payment.

It doesn’t require a PhD in Economics to appreciate the negative effect that this kind of culture has on UK GDP and in particular, those companies that tend to be SME’s in the ‘middle’ of the supply chain – exactly where most BFPA members operate. That is why

As we go into 2015 the Government is introducing measures to encourage prompt payment by obliging bigger companies to publicly report their payment performance

the BFPA, along with sister associations in the Engineering & Machinery Alliance (EAMA), have been working with other stakeholders such as the British Bankers Association and Government departments to try and address the problem.

2014 saw us engage in government consultations on the subject, the associated research from which showed that: · Small businesses on average spend 130 hours each year chasing late payments, which equates to just over three weeks of work, at an average cost of £1500 per business. · 34 per cent of companies report that they have sought external finance to cover gaps in cash flow caused by late payment. The Federation of Small Businesses states that this has led to £180 million in debt interest charges – money that could otherwise be used for investment and growth. · In 2011 124,100 businesses were almost put out of business due to their customers paying late. In 2008, 4000 UK businesses became

Late payment

insolvent as a direct consequence of late payment. · Good cash-flow is vital in enabling businesses to continue to raise finance and invest when required and late payment has a major negative impact on businesses ability to access finance. According to Professor Russel Griggs, the independent external review of the major banks’ Appeals Process, in 2012/2013 48 per cent of declined finance applications over £25,000 were rejected on ‘affordability’ grounds – the ability of an SME to service the debt from its existing cash-flow.

As we go into 2015 the Government is introducing measures to encourage prompt payment by obliging bigger companies to publicly report their payment performance.

These measures formed an important part of the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Bill and government has said that it will consult with industry on the best way to address it.

BFPA is at the heart of those consultations

and is encouraging a ‘name and shame’ policy.

Conversations with members reveal a great deal of support for what we are doing.

The details of exactly how these measures will be implemented is still under discussion and great care is being taken not to undo all the good work that has been done to reduce the regulatory and administrative burden on UK companies at all levels – but the current culture has to change. The current view is that if the large tier one companies can be encouraged to improve their performance through a mixture of ‘carrot and stick’ regulation, the improvement will ‘ripple-down’ the supply chain and improve performance at all levels.

As Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business Innovation & Skills stated: ‘Some of the options [being] explored are quite radical, and I make no apology for that – the importance of the issue demands it!’

Late payers beware – your days are numbered.

Chris Buxton Chris Buxton is CEO of the British Fluid Power Association - BFPA (incorporating the British Fluid Power Distributors Association – BFPDA).

The BFPA represents hydraulic and pneumatic businesses commercially and technically throughout the UK. With some 240 distributors and manufacturers in membership the BFPA is a truly full-service trade association. www.bfpa.co.uk

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Sensing the

future Amarnath Shete gives his advice for defining a smart sensor strategy

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he Internet of Things (IoT) has evolved significantly in the past few years and has gained huge attention across a range of industries, not least in manufacturing. To this point, much of the focus has been on IoT technologies that define data transmission as well as those emerging technology areas such as analytics. In reality, few IoT implementations have put adequate focus on defining a detailed sensor strategy that concentrates on the collection of data. The value derived from the entire IoT value chain can only be as good as the first stage – data acquisition.

Therefore, it is imperative that manufacturers, as well as other industries looking to adopt IoT technology, create a smart sensor strategy at the acquisition stage to ensure the insights collected are of a high value.

Why bother with a sensor strategy?

Typically, during an IoT implementation, sensor deployment is outsourced to a third party vendor who often implements the sensors. There are

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chances of deployment without having a welldefined and detailed strategy in place. This could lead to two outcomes. Firstly, the quality of data could be low when examined in the context of the wider IoT and business strategy; or, the parameters against which the sensors collect data could be too detailed, thereby costing the business a lot of capital and putting unnecessary pressure on the other aspects of the IoT implementation.

To avoid this, manufacturers need to build a smart sensor strategy based on four key aspects: 1. Define the parameters to be measured The surge of recent technological innovation in the area of sensing has created a situation where a huge number of parameters can now be measured precisely and accurately. The availability of high quality technologies tempts implementers to measure data which is not crucial or, at times, even redundant. Therefore it is important to look at all of the possible parameters that can be measured and determine which can actually add value to the business

2. Identify optimal data quality standards Sensor data quality has a significant downstream impact and any problems encountered at the start will ultimately impact on the final insight drawn from the IoT value chain. While good quality sensor data is important, a standard that is beyond what is required will add extra costs that are not required. There is a fine balance that has to be maintained between quality and cost to determine the optimal data quality standards for the purpose of the IoT solution. There are now sensor technologies available that can measure at exceptionally high levels of precision but these do come at a higher price premium.

3. Calculating frequency of data management Some sensors could be used to measure defined parameters continuously, whilst others could be set to measure at set intervals. Again a balance needs to be drawn between whether or not continuous data measurement is required and the amount of data that can be handled by the system at any given time. Continuous measurement generates millions of bytes of data per second,

Sensors

It is imperative that manufacturers, as well as other industries looking to adopt IoT technology, create a smart sensor strategy at the acquisition stage to ensure the insights collected are of a high value

an amount that could overwhelm a system if it is not designed to handle that kind of data measurement. This volume of data is not justifiable if the parameters typically remain stable over a long period of time, and can result in poor use of data storage at a cost to the business. Hence it is important that data is measured at the right frequency.

4. Volume of sensors to be deployed According to conventional deployments, companies tend to optimise the number of sensors. However, this practice cannot fit all scenarios. In some instances where sensors are remotely located, sensor redundancy must be taken into account. This involves the implementation of ‘reserve’ sensors that can be switched on should primary sensors fail. This can help to minimise the costs of replacement as in person visits may be difficult and/or costly when sensors are deployed in remote areas. Of course, in the manufacturing industry this is less likely to occur than say in specific scenarios in energy and utilities sector.

By taking into account these four steps when determining a strategy to implement data acquisition sensors, manufacturers can ensure that the data they are feeding to the rest of the loT value chain is of optimal quality and of the best value. Given the scale of a typical IoT implementation the impact of a smart sensor strategy is very high. A fine balance of cost and effectiveness has to be maintained, with sensor strategies meticulously defined for the best results.

Amarnath Shete Amarnath Shete is consulting manager, Internetof-Things Advisory Practice at Wipro Limited, a leading information technology, consulting and business process services company that delivers solutions to enable its clients do business better.

Wipro delivers winning business outcomes through its deep industry experience and a 360 degree view of ‘Business through Technology’ helping clients create successful and adaptive businesses. www.wipro.com

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Get

positive Gary Wyles highlights the five signs of disengagement

Engaged employees directly impact the bottom line through increased levels of customer satisfaction, proactivity and innovation

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he positive aspects of employee engagement are well documented. Yet in the manufacturing industry, we still seem to struggle to achieve happy and productive employees. In a survey, sponsored by Festo Training & Consulting, 63 per cent of manufacturers say that maintaining morale is the biggest issue within the workplace, followed by employee engagement (53 per cent). However, less than half of the respondents (46 per cent) measure employee engagement. The survey also showed that the majority of managers spend approximately half of their time dealing with disengaged employees. This is a double whammy that impacts on productivity.

Employee engagement makes the difference between keeping valued staff and losing them to competitors. It creates a highly productive workplace and enables organisations to grow faster and more sustainably than others. It’s what underpins the brand of organisations and contributes to becoming one of the ‘Best Companies’ to work for. If there are no measurements in place there are five warning signs of disengagement.

1. Poor retention of staff If an organisation has a high turnover of staff, this could be a sign of disengagement. Ask the HR department for figures for how many employees have left in recent years. Conducting exit interviews is an important part of understanding the reasons why employees leave. This takes tact and diplomacy, as staff are often reluctant to divulge the exact reasons. Perhaps it might be a poor manager, lack of reward and recognition or slow career progression. Understanding these reasons can help combat churn in the future.

2. Lacklustre business performance A perennial issue for business leaders is how to increase profits and turnover. Engaged employees are

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Recruitment

more productive and can be the key to unlock business success. Whether the organisation is looking to develop new markets, launch new products and services or introduce new processes, all of these involve motivating staff to achieve these goals. Engaged employees directly impact the bottom line through increased levels of customer satisfaction, proactivity and innovation.

3. Poor productivity While the desire to grow and expand is in place for manufacturers, the industry suffers from a skills gap. This means that productivity needs to be high – usually summed up in the phrase ‘doing more with less’.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK’s output per hour is 21 percentage points below the average for the rest of the major G7 industrialised economies in 2012, the widest productivity gap since 1992.

4. Skills gap A recent EEF report1 found that, “There is an increasing risk that growth plans will be restricted because of problems accessing employees with the required skills.” In Festo’s recent research, we have found that 82 per cent of manufacturers are suffering a skills shortage and 86 per cent say this is likely to stay the same of get worse over the next year. The largest skills gaps are in experienced engineers (61 per cent), skilled shopfloor (57 per cent), and multi-skilled engineers (40 per cent).

While employee engagement does not directly lead to closing the skills gap, it will aid recruitment of people and the retention of those already in the organisation. This means that investment in training up employees will be retained for the benefit of the organisation.

realisation that the modern day workplace has changed. Pay and perks have been replaced by flexibility, self-realisation and work-life balance as key motivators.

The first step to understanding employee engagement is for leaders to assess the levels in their own organisation. This might be the first time that the views and opinions of employees have been listened to. It can be tough and it can be challenging. It is easy for issues to be glossed over. Measurement is no good though if it’s just for measurement’s sake, or for reaching a specific target.

Allow people to tell managers what they think and feed back to them. Leaders must be prepared to identify priorities for action and when these are going to be put in place.

Increasing employee engagement is not something to be entered into lightly but it is worth focusing on. High levels of employee engagement will ensure the business goes from strength to strength, outstripping the performance of competitors, attracting the best talent and becoming one of those companies that others look at with admiration and, quite often, a touch of envy. v

To find out more about employee engagement and why it is important, download the whitepaper Manage to Engage…, The role of managers in employee engagement, available from www.festo-didactic.co.uk/ee

Gary Wyles Gary is managing director of Festo Limited and has been with the company for more than 25 years. Festo Training & Consulting specialises in the development of people, organisation and technology. Offering a range of open courses, structured development programmes and tailor-made, customerspecific projects, the business has over 40 years experience when it comes to training clients and helping them achieve their maximum productivity. For further information visit: www.festo-didactic.co.uk.

1 ‘Skills for Growth: A more productive and flexible labour force’. EEF The Manufacturers’ Organisation

‘Tough decisions in a downturn don’t have to lead to disengaged employees’. The Hay Group. 2009

2

High levels of employee engagement will ensure the business goes from strength to strength, outstripping the performance of competitors, attracting the best talent and becoming one of those companies that others look at with admiration and, quite often, a touch of envy

5. Low levels of customer satisfaction A price driven strategy is one of the hardest for UK manufacturers to adopt, due to tough competition from new and emerging economies that are focused on driving costs down. UK manufacturers have to assess different ways to compete. This might be through innovation and new technologies, however, customer service and satisfaction underpins all drives for growth.

There is a direct correlation between customer satisfaction and employee engagement. A report by the Hay Group2 says: “Businesses that have high levels of engagement show customer satisfaction scores 22 per cent higher than companies with low levels of engagement. But companies that both engage and enable employees demonstrate a total increase in customer satisfaction of 54 per cent.”

Part of understanding successful practices for employee engagement is the fundamental

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ERPwhat should you be looking for?

Exel Computer Systems plc provides an insight into the most important factors manufacturers are taking into consideration when deciding on their ERP investment

An investment of this nature involves making a long-term partnership/ collaboration with a supplier, because once the system is in you are reliant on them if anything goes wrong

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his needs to be set against an ERP sector which has seen wide ranging consolidation over the past decade, inevitably leaving manufacturers with fewer products and vendors from which to choose. Not only do many solutions now look similar, they often promise the same level of functionality. The functionality considerations most often sought include real time Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Workflow Management, fully integrated Shop Floor Data Collection (SFDC), Field Service Management (FSM) capabilities and seamless integration up and down the supply chain. It goes without saying that the best solutions are expected to be built on the latest architecture and designed to be future-proof.

Faced with this, a growing number of manufacturers have made a high priority out of working with an UK author such as Exel. For some, such as Linecross, a full service supplier of innovative, high quality engineered polymer solutions, it was the decisive factor.

As finance director David Austin explains: “We quickly realised that most of the solutions we reviewed could probably do what we needed, which brought the focus onto the solution provider. An investment of this nature involves making a long-term partnership/collaboration with a supplier, because once the system is in you are reliant on them if anything goes wrong. We didn’t want a system developed by a couple of guys in an office, nor did we want to deal with a large reseller of a US programme developed in India. We wanted to work with a partner that shared our ethos, our approach and our passion for our business.”

He continues: “It was obvious from the outset that Exel not only was a similar size to ourselves but also shared many of the same values. It was as passionate about its own products as we are to ours, understood our business and was committed to developing its products on a long-term basis. The fact Exel is also just down the road also helped,” adds Austin, “because if anything ever did go seriously wrong, I could be down there right away until I got it resolved.”

Another key consideration is investing in a system that provides class leading levels of customisation

ERP

allowing the best possible fit not just with existing business processes but also the necessary flexibility and agility to adapt in the future as these business processes evolve. This was very much the case for Kent Brushes, one of the UK’s oldest companies and long-time user of Exel’s ERP solution, EFACS E/8, as production manager and IT director Steve Davis explains. “It is the flexibility and customisability of EFACS E/8 that remains the most valuable contribution to the company’s current and ongoing success. It remains as important as ever for our ERP system to be easy to customise without going down the path of bespoke. The ADAPT toolset that comes with EFACS E/8 enables us to internally tailor the system to our requirements and also quickly and cost effectively make use of external consultants.”

While selecting a UK-based author and a flexible, customisable ERP solution are clearly important factors, so also is the ability to successfully implement this quickly, efficiently and with minimal disruption to the ongoing nature of the business. For some manufacturers, especially those without dedicated IT teams, this is mission critical because a disruption in day-to-day running could cause the company to go under.

However, what works for one company won’t necessarily work for another, so what is central is the need for a flexible, reliable implementation approach that makes best use of the resource of both vendor and manufacturer. For example, Ondrives Ltd, a precision manufacturer of gears, gearboxes, bearing housings and mechanical drive components, opted for a very specific, in-house, approach as sales director Andy Higgs explains.

“I called Exel and told them we would be going live on April 1st 2011, which was only a matter of a few weeks away. I then told everyone involved at Ondrives they were going to have a headache for a few weeks.” And go live the company did, successfully, on April 1st, and while it undoubtedly was hard work, Higgs credits the success to “everyone pulling together, including the help we received from Exel.”

It was a totally different scenario with Bennett Opies, a leading manufacturer of quality pickles and preserves enjoyed across the world. Business development director Paul Fox explains why.

“With Exel we knew we would be building a partnership directly with the authors of the software – those most knowledgeable about the system – and this proved invaluable during our implementation.” This was because of Opies’ recognition of the value of the right approach to training. Not only did senior management attend

in-depth training at Exel’s dedicated training centre, Exel provided an onsite consultant that worked directly at a hands-on level with each EFACS user.

This had a much greater benefit than simply ensuring that the implementation went smoothly, as Fox explains. “Many times the Exel consultant would make suggestions about doing things differently which had a real impact on our overall business approach. This was exactly what we needed and as a result, we ended up with a business in much better shape than when we began and much better than we expected.”

Finally there are businesses, which have more than just one company to take into consideration.

As well as seamless inter-company communication, a key requirement here is accuracy and visibility of data not just at a company but group wide level. Leading manufacturers and suppliers of commercial building interiors Laidlaw Interiors Group has first-hand experience of this.

Generating sales of £130m from its 1500 staff in 35 locations in the UK and overseas, the group initially was selecting an ERP system for Komfort, one of the group companies with a £45m turnover.

Ian Govier is head of IT & business systems for the group and explains just how important this was. “EFACS E/8 from Exel had been identified as the best ERP solution, not just for Komfort but for the entire group. At the heart of this decision was the fact that EFACS has a hierarchical framework structure ideal for individual companies working within a combined group. EFACS also provides a built-in workflow facility that enables companies to automatically interact with each other while the powerful customisation facilities make it possible for the same solution to be tailored to the specific needs of each company. Irrespective of what the user sees, everything across the entire group will ultimately be driven by EFACS E/8 in the backend.”

Modern ERP has evolved to the extent that many systems, if implemented correctly, now have the potential to interact with not just every area within a manufacturing enterprise, but increasingly outside the physical constraints of the business to suppliers and customers alike. While every manufacturer will have their own unique requirements, it is clear that to get the best from any ERP investment, companies need to recognise this and make any decision based on a holistic business perspective and not an IT, functionalitybased set of considerations. v www.exel.co.uk

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The right

system

The five continuous improvement paradoxes. By Joakim Ahlström

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ucceeding with Continuous Improvement has proven harder than expected for many organisations. One big reason is that there are a few challenges most organisations sooner or later encounter and where your intuitive responses actually prevent you from succeeding.

Continuous Improvement Paradox #1 – Simplicity A common reaction to failed improvement initiatives is going for a more advanced solution.

Go the other way! Simplicity will stand the test of time.

For your organisation to succeed with Continuous Improvement you have to make it a natural part of the everyday work of every employee. For that to become reality your approach can’t be complicated. If it is, new employees will need special training to understand your improvement method, you will need additional support resources to keep progressing and backing it up will demand a

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great deal of your managers’ time.

Time is probably your most limited resource, and in the long run you won’t afford not to use everyone’s creativity. Kill two birds with one stone, keep it simple to both save time and to give everyone a chance to contribute.

Continuous Improvement Paradox #2 – Focus A common reaction to recurring problems is bombarding them with solutions. Go the other way! Focus and dig deeper to find the real cause of the problem.

Imagine what would happen if I took you and ten of your colleagues to a junkyard and asked you to build whatever you wanted.

The most common reaction would probably be to just stand there looking around, not sure what to do. Imagine instead that I asked you to build a vehicle that could transport all of you at least ten yards without any of you touching the ground. Now your heads would probably fill with images of wheels, axles, planks to stand

on, and steering wheels to guide you along the way. Instantly you would become more creative and could start to organise and divide the work among you. Some people think that creativity grows best when all boundaries are removed.

The opposite is true. When we limit and clarify the task it becomes easier for everyone to contribute.

The same principle applies to problem solving.

When you zoom in, dig deeper, divide into smaller pieces and discard the unessential the ‘aha’ moment will come, and that’s when you find easy-to-implement solutions with great impact.

Continuous Improvement Paradox #3 – Visualisation A common reaction to lack of initiative is pointing out problems that need to be fixed.

Go the other way! Visualise good examples and positive results first to inspire action.

In an environment where managers constantly tell or show people in what way they are

Continuous improvement

inadequate nobody wants to be the centre of attention. To draw focus away from themselves, people will start pointing out faults they see around them instead, and before you know it you have developed a culture of blame.

If you start by visualising good examples and positive results instead you will create a positive atmosphere and give people a chance to adopt a behaviour worthy of praise. But even more importantly, when you continually highlight progress made and focus on the strengths people have you also create a safe environment where improvement potential can be expressed without people becoming defensive.

Continuous Improvement Paradox #4 – Ownership A common reaction in crucial situations is adopting a command and control approach. Go the other way! Ownership is a prerequisite for using one’s full potential.

If you are told exactly what to do when it really matters you will start to question your

own ability to handle difficult situations. What’s worse, when you are confronted with challenges in the future it is likely that your insecurity prevents you from taking good decisions or even acting at all.

For a manager it’s a good idea to monitor how many questions he or she asks compared with the number of statements he or she makes.

What is your question-statement ratio? Do you try to be more interested or more interesting?

If you double your question-statement ratio, you will both learn more and get more out of your colleagues.

Continuous Improvement Paradox #5 – System A common reaction to shortage of improvement ideas is launching an idea campaign. Go the other way! Only a systematic approach builds organisational improvement competence.

Running an idea campaign is a popular method for tapping into the creativity of an

organisation. There is only one problem with them. They kill creativity! If there is an unmet need to be listened to in an organisation, an idea campaign might create a surge of ideas, a surge so big that only a fraction of all ideas can be implemented. This means the majority of people will get yet another confirmation that no one listens to their ideas, and next time they are less likely to contribute.

A systematic approach should not only make sure that improvements are made and problems are solved daily but also increase the improvement competence of your organisation every day. When you have a SYSTEM like that you will Save Yourself Stress, Time, Energy and Money!

Joakim Ahlstöm Joakim Ahlstöm is the author of How to Succeed with Continuous Improvement: A Primer for Becoming the Best in the World, available at Amazon. or more info, visit http://www.SucceedwithCI.com.

www.manufacturingtoday-europe.com 31

George Utz

Breaking the Reinser

Epsilon technology for George Utz Superior cooling technology for maximum efficiency: George Utz relies on German cooling system manufacturer Reisner GmbH to support its injection molding production.

The Reisner ‘Epsilon’ cooling system is equipped with Turbocor compressors and a unique control unit. It reliably provides the needed cooling capacity while operating on a minimum consumption of energy. This combination of operational safety and economic efficiency has proved extremely successful for two years now.

mould W

George Utz Ltd, part of the Utz Group, is expanding its Alfreton factory to meet rising demand

George Utz Ltd Products: Material handling products Sites: UK, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, France, the US and China Employees: Aprox. 800 www.utzgroup.com

ith a history dating back nearly 70 years, the Utz Group has developed a market-leading reputation in the design, development and manufacture of both custom and standardised material handling products in plastic.These are boxes, containers, pallets and returnable transport packaging (RTP) for the global market.

The company was founded as Georg Utz,Toolmakers in Zürich, Switzerland by Mr Georg Utz during 1947 and today remains a successful family owned company with production facilities in Switzerland, Germany, the UK, France, Poland, the US and China. George Utz Ltd was established as the UK branch with a sales office of the group during 1990 in Alfreton, UK and continues in the tradition of delivering off-the-shelf and bespoke material handling solutions across the automotive, chemistry and pharmaceutical, food, textiles, postal, warehouse and logistic, electronics and retail and distribution industries.

Along with the other associated members of the wider Utz Group, George Utz Ltd is able to act independently to respond to the needs of the local market, while enjoying the financial support and stability of its healthy parent company. “The Group has a turn over of around 200 million euros and approximately up to ten per cent of this is reinvested directly into the business for new facilities, equipment and technologies,” explains George Utz Ltd general manager, Carsten Diekmann. “The main market focus for

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George Utz

the group is Europe, the US and China and all of these areas are currently developing well.The need for logistics is growing and we follow our customers and grow with them so we offer the same good service throughout the entire business. Presently the group works with nearly 130 injection and vacuum moulding machines and converts around 50,000 tonnes of raw materials into products. Investment is mainly in machinery and injection moulding tools where we are investing in new product families in Europe and globally.”

Within the UK specifically, George Utz Ltd is preparing to double its turnover by 2020 and to capitalise on the momentum it has built over the years. “Within the UK we have experienced constant growth and during the last ten years we won considerably new customers within England and Ireland with new innovations and products. In fact each year we deliver between nine and ten new products that are developed inline with customers’ needs and also for the general market,” Carsten says.

“We have a strong growth strategy in place and we

Inotec UK

inotec Barcode Security are Europe‘s leading Auto ID label specialists, supplying George Utz as their chosen label partner for ten years and supporting their significant investment in in-mould technology. inotec‘s in-mould labels, allow full-colour logos and barcodes, to be injection moulded into the wall of a container, eliminating the need for costly post mould, printing or label application processes. The permanent bond offers a smooth edgeless surface, highly resistant to heat, sunlight and totally waterproof.

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need additional capacity and new machinery and equipment as well as to reduce lead-time, to be leaner and to be more efficient because customers tend to not want to wait anymore.They need a product today and they want it more or less tomorrow.”

During March 2014 George Utz Ltd announced a £3.5 million expansion to its Alfreton factory including increased manufacturing space, offices and warehousing to meet the rising demand for of-the-shelf products and bespoke RTP solutions.

The increased manufacturing space will house a new 2700-tonne injection-moulding machine to complement the UK companies existing 650-tonne to 1000-tonne machine range. “Our plastic containers are primarily used in the retail and automotive markets where they are used to move parts around supply chain company’s distribution centres.The UK is moving in the right direction and, although it is still tough, there are lots of positive signals. We make approximately a million parts a year and with this investment, we are looking to double our output in the future.The building work should be completed by Christmas and then the additional injection moulding and vacuum forming equipment can be installed,” Carsten elaborates.

“We have a core strategy for really high quality machinery where we invest in additional equipment that is also more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Within the Group the main companies that supply our injection moulding equipment are KraussMaffei from Germany and Engel from Austria,” he continues.

Environmental concerns and responsible operation are at the core of how George Utz Ltd conducts its business and interacts with its customers.

“We are audited in the UK for our environmental management system, which is compliant under ISO 14001,” Carsten details. “We recycle the material that we use and we also promise customers that once products have reached the end of their life cycle, that we will take the products back and recycle it to use the raw materials in new production runs.

Furthermore we also use our own production rejected heat to heat the factory and our offices so environmental concerns are something that have been quite important to us for many years.”

As well as increasing the productivity of the company through greater numbers of machines and more efficient energy management, the new equipment due to go into operation in 2015 will allow George Utz Ltd to enter in a new market with a new plastic pallet as an effective alternative to the traditional wooden design. “We will enter into new markets through the creation of 1200 millimetre by

1000 millimetre dimension plastic pallet for the UK market, with the additional advantage that we will be the first UK plastic pallet producer and we will have the benefit of avoiding logistical costs because we will manufacture here in Derbyshire,” Carsten says. “The pallet will be produced using a new large injectionmoulding machine. An additional 1000-tonne injection-moulding machine for RTP products will arrive at the end of 2014, supplied by KraussMaffei from Germany.”

In terms of the advantages of plastic pallets over wooden pallets, Carsten observes: “The lifetime of a plastic pallet is longer and the quality is very high.

The dimensions can be guaranteed, which is very important for automated warehouses and there is not a problem with water or oil becoming absorbed into plastic pallets.The main advantage is the lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the pallet and in terms of health and safety plastic pallets does not splinter in the way that wooden ones can, which is very important in food processes and distribution.”

As George Utz Ltd and indeed the wider Utz Group seeks to expand its market share and grow

the business, its will continue to focus on increased capacity, efficient fabrication and new products.

However, core to its strategy is also it commitment to long-term customer relationships as Carsten concludes: “We are committed to develop the company further and offer our customers the security to know that we will produce locally for the local markets and remain on hand for the next ten to 20 years, so it is real long-term investment.”

THE KraussMaffei Group

The KraussMaffei Group is amongst the world’s leading suppliers of machinery and systems for producing and processing plastics and rubber. Its products and services cover the whole spectrum of injection and reaction moulding and extrusion technology, giving the company a unique position in the industry. The KraussMaffei Group is innovation powered, supplying its products, processes and services as standard or custom solutions which deliver sustained added value along the customer’s value adding chain. The company markets its offering under the KraussMaffei, KraussMaffei Berstorff and Netstal brands to customers in the automotive, packaging, medical, construction, electrical, electronics and home appliance industries.

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Teagle Machinery

tow

Generations on Teagle Machinery Ltd is very dedicated to developing innovative new products and getting them to market effectively

Teagle Machinery Ltd Products: Agricultural plant and machinery Sites: Global Employees: 150 www.teagle.co.uk

I

n 2013 the family-run business Teagle Machinery Ltd celebrated its 70th anniversary, which was born from a long history of running farms. With a keen interest in manufacturing machinery, Tom Teagle Snr started off supplying local farmers in the Cornish area with equipment such as tip carts, manufacturing more sophisticated machinery as the business developed. As interest grew, the decision was made to sell off parts of the family farm to invest in the infrastructure needed to make the machinery. Today, the original farmhouse on the site has become a conference centre for training distributors, dealers and service teams. “With six members of the family involved daily in the company, we try very hard as we grow to retain that family business ethos, which is really important to all our customers.

“There was a real boom for mechanisation in

the post-war years and the range and scope of machinery that my grandfather developed was quite incredible,” says Tom Teagle, sales director, continuing: “He actually developed his own twostroke engine that was fitted into hedge trimmers and lawn mowers and all kinds of different handheld machinery. We actually made some of the first mounted broadcasters and spreaders in the world.” The business has manufactured a range of products, from fertiliser spreaders, to the Titan range of trailers and the Toucan forage harvester.

In the mid 1980’s Teagle Machining developed its first machine for processing straw to be used for bedding livestock. Named the Tomahawk 100, the range has become the cornerstone of the company and makes up a large proportion of its turnover. The Tomahawk range is made of the widest variety of feeder bedders available from any manufacturer in the world with over 30 unique

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Teagle Machinery

models; these machines are designed to deliver comfort to livestock and to ensure the correct preparation of feed and performance. “One of the most important strands to our success has been ensuring that we offer innovative and reliable products, and to achieve this ten per

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cent of our workforce is focused on research and development. It is also important to get the product to market effectively and whilst the UK is a very mature industry we are successfully developing it further, finding new markets and developing new products. Recent growth has been

on the back of enormous investment in developing export sales, which started 20 years ago when my father began focusing on the export trade,” explains Tom. Over the last six years, this drive has been further progressed, seeing in the employment of a US based salesman and a European sales manager, to which Tom adds: “When working in export markets it is important to have a structured aftermarket service, whether that is servicing or spare parts and we ensure that these aspects of the business are first class.”

One of the key considerations for the company is addressing the difficult question of how to protect designs and intellectual property from being copied, particularly when selling to a global market. “The way to ensure that it doesn’t become a problem is to make sure that by the time someone has copied one design we are already onto the next one. In addition to technology within agriculture moving at a fast pace, farming practises are also changing quickly, and it is really important that the machinery we are offering to the market is in tune with the demand from the farmers,”

says Tom. Through ongoing research the business is always looking for ways to offer machinery to farmers to facilitate this to make sure that livestock are comfortable, productive and ultimately, for the farmer, that they are profitable.

As a family company it reinvests heavily to ensure a good foundation for future growth. Every year over the last six years there has been a major capital project delivered on the site, from a new hall for precision machining, to a shot blasting and powder coating facility, the redevelopment of the farmhouse, and a new production hall specifically for manufacturing larger machinery. “As farms grow larger, so do tractors, and ultimately machinery too. In 2015 we will open an additional building to accommodate a restructuring of the factory layout.

Our focus has been on utilising the space we have more effectively to reach new potential.

“We have also established what is essentially a strategic partner arrangement, where we work hand-in-hand with businesses specialising in electronics and hydraulics, both very sophisticated systems,” points out Tom, explaining that this

‘‘

In addition to technology within agriculture moving at a fast pace, farming practises are also changing quickly, and it is really important that the machinery we are offering to the market is in tune with the demand from the farmers

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Teagle Machinery

ensures the ability to keep up with the fast moving pace of the technology. Recognising the challenge of recruiting individuals with the correct skill base to succeed within the manufacturing industry, the company works closely with Harper Adams Agricultural University, and also provides apprenticeship-training schemes, in all aspects of the business.

During the first three quarters of 2014 the product range has been sold to over 35 countries worldwide, trading to countries such as Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Ukraine, as well as North America, South Africa, Japan, Australia and everywhere in between. Commenting, Tom says: “The strength this this give us is that we can spot trends that are taking place and develop machinery to take to other parts of the world as the trend emerges. That presence worldwide is an enormous strength for us.” The company’s leading position is highlighted by the 50 per cent market-share in the UK. “Of course we have to work very hard to stay in that position and almost every year we are releasing a new product. We need to maintain the focus on our home market because it provides us with a significant ability to continue with our export activities. We are continuing to put in additional resources and recruiting salesmen to be resident in export regions, and by localising our offering, and developing machinery specifically for those markets we are going to substantially develop our turnover,” he adds.

Over the past five years not only has the business directly grown its manufacturing capabilities but it has also invested heavily in renewable energy sources such as PV and wind power and today 50 per cent of electricity used on the site comes from renewable sources. “We have a really strong appetite for growth and nobody on the board is satisfied with sitting still.

We are always looking to develop and expand what we offer to our customers. With 15,000 sqm of production halls on the site we have a strong manufacturing ethos and invest heavily in precision machining centres where we make our own hydraulic rams and gearboxes. In total, 85 per cent of what we sell is manufactured on site, ensuring we can maintain good quality control. We have also invested in a new website, delivered in 11 different languages. With around 90 per cent of our customers researching products on-line before they make a purchase this is increasingly important.

In addition the new site allows our dealers and product owners to interact with us more easily, so developing stronger relationships. It is important that people feel comfortable with the product that they are investing in,” concludes Tom.

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Spicer Gelenkwellenbau

Drive for

life

The GWB brand of industrial driveshafts from Spicer Gelenkwellenbau is recognised across the world

Spicer Gelenkwellenbau Products: Industrial driveshafts Sites: Several, globally Employees: 150 in Germany, 600 worldwide www.gwbdriveshaft.com

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picer Gelenkwellenbau is part of Dana, and for almost seven decades it has focused on the sales, engineering, manufacturing, distribution and service of heavy driveshafts for industrial applications under the brand name GWB. Hubert Lepoudre, MD of Spicer Gelenkwellenbau, explained that the company’s facility in Altenessen, Germany has worldwide sales and engineering responsibilities, but still performs the bulk of its machining and assembly of driveshafts in Germany. “The core of our manufacturing capabilities remain German,” he confirmed. “With a material content below 50 per cent of the COM, it is a fairly vertical integrated plant that does both machining and assembly. In-house we machine our split design yokes, complete journal crosses, and length compensations on dedicated machines. Machining

and assembly, welding, balancing and painting (every desired colour or paint specification) are all undertaken with German craftsmanship under a lean philosophy.

“Furthermore, a focus on continuously reducing waste in the process and on avoiding stagnation results in a top quality product with shorter lead times. We can proudly say that we are successfully implementing automotive lean thinking, in a low volume and project environment.”

Hubert also highlighted that alongside the manufacture of driveshafts, Spicer Gelenkwellenbau offers inspection on site everywhere in the world with GWB engineering capabilities, as well as shaft repairs, which are undertaken in its service workshops or the workshop of a certified distributor with original GWB parts. “Over the past years we have

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Spicer Gelenkwellenbau

strengthened this position to deliver aftersales service with genuine GWB knowledge from this location, as well as having a manufacturing and service site in China,” he said. “But this is not the end of our value proposition. We want to expand our support service towards preventative services, and even play our role in further development of smart monitoring, to enhance predictive services.”

One of the strongest foundations of Spicer Gelenkwellenbau is the excellent market reputation of the GWB industrial driveshaft, which can be considered a best buy when looking at total cost of ownership. It is this product, in combination with added value services that really creates such an attractive market proposition.

“GWB does not only deliver a standard driveshaft,” said Hubert. “We pride ourselves in offering best solutions for the customer, based on our in-depth knowledge of the applications in which the driveshafts operate. We are the original developer of the split eye design, which facilitates assembly and disassembly of the knuckles. Our service free journal crosses dramatically reduce the intervals between lubrication, thus further reducing the cost of ownership for the end user.

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Our driveshafts are designed for infinite life, not just on paper, but also in genuine working situations.”

GWB also continues to strengthen its global presence by closely supporting and co-operating with a number of approved first class valueadded distributors that can deliver parts and local service. These include GKN, MSI, JP and DLS. Given this overall dedication to excellence across the board it is no surprise that customers keep returning to the GWB brand. “Our clients value a robust solution, that is German engineered towards the application and with the guaranteed quality that comes with GWB,” said Hubert. “They are supported by a vast network of trained and certified value added distributors who are close to the customer, and this means that customers can focus on the production process, knowing that GWB will support them with a product that assures the best cost of life for his installation.”

Going forward into the New Year, the GWB brand looks set to remain at the forefront of the industry. “Markets are not expected to have a spectacular growth over the next couple of years, but GWB is well equipped to continue to position itself as a market leader in its territories, as well as continue to expand its product and service offering, reduce its lead times and being a customer oriented solution provider,” said Hubert.

These plans are reinforced by the skills and support of a very successful parent company – Dana. “We belong to the Off-Highway division of Dana,” added Hubert. “Being part of a multinational like Dana is an advantage for a 170

‘‘

The sourcing knowledge and combined sourcing purchasing power, gives us a competitive advantage, and the global presence gives us access to markets in regions where we were not active in before

people plant, playing in a global environment.

Given the fact that Dana believes in ‘local ownership’, we still fully own our strategy and future, and maintain our agility to allow us to quickly react in the market.

“Dana however brings to us a lot of processes that we independently could not roll out.

They bring us experienced support in lean manufacturing (with access to professional lean tools, and specialists that support us with subject matter expertise to drive continuous improvement), HR processes, IT, program management, VA/VE and so on.”

He concluded: “Dana gives us access to the best engineering resources in an innovation oriented multinational. The sourcing knowledge and combined sourcing purchasing power, gives us a competitive advantage, and the global presence gives us access to markets in regions where we were not active in before.”

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Wax Lyrical

More than common

scents

Following a major change in its business model in 2008, Wax Lyrical has transformed itself from an ailing organisation to a major success

Wax Lyrical Products: Luxury scented candles, reed diffusers and private label collections Sites: Cumbria Employees: 130 www.wax-lyrical.com

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ased in the scenic Lake District, home fragancing company Wax Lyrical’s team of 130 skilled and dedicated employees strive to produce and market more than 15 million high quality products to its global customer base. Perfecting its innovative and unique products in Ulverston, Cumbria, the company collaborates with the best fragrance houses in Europe to ensure customers receive true to life fragrances that come from the

purest and finest ingredients. Offering customers a range of candles, reed diffusers, room mists, scented sachets and refresher oils from its own Wax Lyrical collections, the company’s products all emphasise its commitment to the best ingredients and materials, stunning designs and bold fragrances. Furthermore, the company has partnered with five prestigious brands, the Royal Horticultural Society, Jelly Belly, Fired Earth, Julie Dodsworth and Churchill China (UK) Limited Hidden World; by manufacturing these products under license, the company has further strengthened its appeal to a broad range of

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Wax Lyrical

Fragrance oils (international) Ltd

Fragrance Oils is extremely proud to be a key fragrance supplier to Wax Lyrical. We have worked alongside them since their establishment and during this time, we have gained a unique insight into their growth and success. We have an in depth understanding of the Wax Lyrical brand which enables us to create bespoke fragrances that are tailored to suit the company’s evolving consumer base. Our ongoing partnership is built on trust and loyalty and the secret of our joint success is the fact that we share many of the same philosophies and values. Equally important is our mutual passion for the luxurious world of home fragrance.

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consumer groups.

Originally established in 1980 by the Williams family when they noticed potential in the home fragrancing market while working as hotelier and restaurateurs, the company has exchanged hands over the years and faced financial difficulties before its was acquired and rebranded by owner and chairman Mike Armstead in 2006, as

managing director Joanne Barber discusses: “The Williams family had been using candles in their hotel and restaurant and, upon realising that there was an opportunity in the market place, began manufacturing candles in 1980. Following business growth, the company, then known as Nice Things, moved to our current site in 1990, which was opened by Princess Diana. The company’s name

Owner and chairman Mike Armstead

was changed again to Colony Gift Corporation and was later sold to Blyth Industries, an American candle manufacturer. While in Blyth Industries’ hands the company became more of an importer and began to lose money to the point that by the time Mike acquired it the company was on the brink of administration. It was in dire need of a turnaround, but we have now been profitable for five years, employ 130 people and are market leaders for the manufacturing of home fragrances in the UK.” Renamed Wax Lyrical in 2010, the company today is a true success story for British manufacturing, supplying many of the major retailers in the UK and across the globe with its luxury scented products. By rejecting the previous owners decision to import 65 to 70 per cent of its goods from the Far East and India, the dynamic and innovative firm has reaped the benefits of manufacturing 95 per cent of its products in-house. Indeed, by bringing the focus back to UK manufacturing and exporting, the company has not only enjoyed major success in a struggling economy, but has also enhanced its control over issues such as flexibility and product

Continental Bottle Company Ltd

quality, as Joanne discusses: “Reverting from importing to exporting was a key aspect to our successful turnaround, a strategic decision we made in 2006 when most companies were still sourcing from locations such as the Far East and China. It was an unusual choice to make back then, but it has become more typical over recent years for companies to say they are a proud UK manufacturer.

“This decision enabled us to shorten our lead times and ensure quality to our customers;

Continental Bottle Company’s (CBC) vision is to provide their customers with the highest level of customer service and be recognised in the home fragrance, perfume, and cosmetics market as the first choice for the supply of candle glass, glass bottles and quality closures.

CBC strives to create new products and ranges to enhance the ever changing requirements of the industry.

Its mission is to be the first choice for glassware, delivering products of outstanding quality and great service through Its commitment, hard work and dedication to meet their customers’ requirements.

CBC serves both large and small companies nationally and internationally, and the company attributes its success to the fact that it offers a wide range of exceedingly flexible services. Its full decoration service includes screen-printing, frosting, spraying, hot foil stamping, sublimation and metallisation. This can be supplied on bottles or glasses for wax fill.

Future investment in new innovative projects and designs ensures that CBC remains at the forefront of the industry.

CBC has a wealth of experience and design know-how contributing to quality and excellence in all parts of the design process. CBC is here as your first choice on custom projects to complement your packaging requirements.

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Wax Lyrical

we are the first home fragrance factory to be awarded the British Retail Consortium quality approval, which we have had for seven years now. This was a real accolade for us, but our core focus was on enhancing our manufacturing

The Raiseprint Group

Raiseprint packaging is a specialist in design and production of bespoke, printed, die cut packaging, encompassing everything from blister cards to gift boxes, in solid board and micro flutes.

All Raiseprint’s packaging is designed and manufactured in the UK, offering quality, flexibility and control. These are important underpinnings when working with retail driven clients like Wax Lyrical, who need to be responsive to their market’s needs.

Over the last four years, Raiseprint and Wax Lyrical have worked closely to align themselves, making the best of every opportunity.

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capabilities, IT and management information and planning systems to ensure we could drive productivity and double our production rate. For example, tealights were not a product that we could previously manufacture, but we now have

the machinery in-house; this is also the case with our reed diffuser range.”

Joanne notes that other strategies used by the company to ensure further growth included investment into training for staff and developing stronger relationships with more locally based suppliers: “We weren’t just focused on bringing back manufacturing to the UK, we also looked at our supply base in the UK and focused on enhancing these relationships to allow for a more short and flexible lead time. We now work closely with our suppliers at all levels.”

With 35 per cent of its products sent abroad to emerging markets such as Russia, the Middle East and Europe, Wax Lyrical is keen to continue its success story with further expansion both in the UK and across the world. Affirming that a growth plan is in place for the company’s ongoing growth, Joanne concludes: “We want to remain a key player in the UK and global market place and be a strong, profitable company. To make this aim a reality we will invest further into our factory, which will double our output on our tealight line and potentially result in 60-70 per cent growth in our wax filling lines too. Investment is key to retaining our status as a market leader.”

‘‘

We want to remain a key player in the UK and global market place and be a strong, profitable company. To make this aim a reality we will invest further into our factory, which will double our output on our tealight line and potentially result in 60-70 per cent growth in our wax filling lines too. Investment is key to retaining our status as a market leader

Managing director Joanne Barber

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NACCO Materials Handling Group

The best in the

business

Since 1989, NACCO Materials Handling Group (NMHG) has provided the strategic leadership and global support behind Hyster and Yale lift trucks

NACCO Materials Handling Group (NMHG) Products: Lift trucks Sites: Global Employees: Approx: 600 in UK www.hyster-yale.com

Kubota Engines

Kubota is a total solutions provider in the manufacture of world class oil and water cooled diesel and duel fuel engines. Available to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and dealers, the company’s range of quality, highly durable and innovative engines are renowned across the globe for their exceptional performance.

Designed to provide maximum fuel efficiency and minimal noise and vibration levels, Kubota engines feature the latest in technological advancements to meet and exceed emissions regulations. It’s range of engines are used in a wide range of applications including plant equipment, power generation and industrial equipment and include either Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) technology or Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) as an after-treatment device to reduce emissions.

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ACCO Materials Handling Group (NMHG) is the operating company of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.The primary NMHG brands include Hyster and Yale lift trucks, two of the most respected names in the materials handling industry.Together, the Hyster and Yale brands maintain one of the leading market share positions, both in the Americas and worldwide.

NMHG’s history has been marked by innovation in the Hyster and Yale brands that have helped power the industry forward.Yale was responsible for introducing the industry’s first battery-powered, lowlift platform truck, the first fluid coupling transmission, and the first hypoid drive axle. Hyster Company’s MONOTROL pedal for speed and direction control was revolutionary when patented and introduced to the industry in 1959 and is still in production today.

Today at Hyster-Yale that spirit of innovation is alive and well as NMHG works to bring new and better technologies to market.This includes the use of hydrogen fuel-cell batteries and a new generation of electric counterbalance trucks.

The products created by NMHG are crafted at 12 world-class, ISO-certified manufacturing facilities located in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Its global manufacturing network enables NMHG to remain responsive to regional and even local needs in the materials handling markets.

Each NMHG manufacturing site uses state-of-

the-art fabrication and testing to ensure all lift trucks exceed application requirements.The processes the utilised by the organisation to ensure world-class manufacturing include: l Certified ISO 9001 – Global Registration l Certified ISO 14001 – Environmental l Demand Flow Technology (DFT) l 100 per cent product audits l Corrective and Preventative Action Process (CAPA) Using computer-based and physical testing, each finished lift truck must conform to a rigorous standard of excellence that checks for stability, noise and vibration, ergonomic functioning, service access, performance and much more. In addition, each lift truck is subjected to an exhaustive battery of physical and field tests designed to ensure that every component is built to last.

In order to maintain a leading position in the market, NMHG appreciates that it has to ensure its products continue to meet the increasingly demanding needs of its clients. As a result, the company’s product development strategy is informed, on going and proactive. Its wide global presence, among the largest of all material handling manufacturers, enables NMHG to commit the resources necessary to ensure its lift trucks are some of the most innovative in the industry.

Strategically located technology development centres in the United States, Italy, India,The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Japan, enable

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NACCO Materials Handling Group NMHG to be responsive to regional product needs.

NMHG’s talented and experienced design and test engineers have the industry’s most advanced design tools and processes at their fingertips.

At each development centre, input from Hyster and Yale brand managers and regional industry consultants is combined with global trends and voiceof-the-customer research. From concept to launch, every new product follows a carefully structured and rigorous six-stage development process. Each step must confirm that the product will deliver all the intended benefits to its future users.The result is a level of toughness and reliability clients can count on, from one of the most capable and innovative material handling lift truck manufacturers in the world.

As a result of its dedication to innovation, the portfolio of materials handling equipment that NMHG designs, engineers, manufactures and sells is among the most comprehensive in the industry. It covers hundreds of end-user applications in more than 700 industries.The product range now includes a full range of electric and internal combustion engine lift trucks for nearly all indoor and outdoor applications. From narrow aisle warehouse trucks to the toughest cargo handling equipment, the organisation’s counterbalanced lift trucks are recognised as some of the most productive in the world.

Furthermore, NMHG recognises that lift truck users don’t always have identical needs.There are hundreds of different industries and applications and different intensities with which users must operate their equipment. For that reason, NMHG offers the choice between utility, standard and premium in some of its lift truck models.

Premium trucks, now offered in a number of internal combustion engine (ICE) and electricpowered lift trucks, offer performance and durability

designed for the toughest and most demanding operations.These trucks, such as the Hyster Fortis and Fortens and the Yale Veracitor, offer a wide array of special attachments and customisable features.

Standard trucks, now offered in some lifting capacities of ICE trucks and electric trucks with basic battery sizes, are designed for the most typical applications and lift truck usage.

Finally, NMHG began introducing UTILEV brand utility forklift trucks in 2011.These lift trucks, offered currently in limited lifting capacities of ICE trucks with pneumatic tires, offers a truck for lower intensity operating environments, particularly without the need for special attachments.

Whether Hyster,Yale, or UTILEV, it is the independent dealer that is a key link between NMHG and the customers it serves.This diverse network includes independent forklift dealers throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and China.Through their partnerships with NMHG, the businesses dealers have access to the most comprehensive support and services in the materials handling industry: from the most recent information regarding regional pricing and marketing, to assistance with product and service training. NMHG views the relationship with each individual dealer as vital and all parties work to ensure mutual success.

In addition, when it comes to product support for forklifts, NMHG also prides itself on providing unmatched service after the sale.The aftermarket service begins with demand-flow technology, a customer-driven manufacturing process that enables NMHG to anticipate clients’ parts and service needs.

Once produced, individual parts are then shipped to NMHG’s parts distribution centres, which are located in the US, Brazil, Australia, the Netherlands and Japan.

This well-stocked global supply chain gives NMHG dealers and their customers virtually instant access to a worldwide inventory of aftermarket forklift parts and accessories.The organisation provides replacement parts for all makes and models of forklifts.

NMHG is continually upgrading and improving the quality of its parts and the efficiency of its distribution. As a result, it is helping customers save time on forklift repair while lowering the overall cost of total ownership.

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, NACCO Materials Handling Group continues to drive the industry forward. Its partnerships with experts in areas such as hydrogen fuel cell and advanced battery technologies are helping bring more sustainable and greener technologies to the market while increasing productivity and decreasing operational costs.

Wallace McDowall

Wallace McDowall has been a supplier to Nacco for over 15 years.

During this time it has built an excellent relationship with various Nacco plants throughout the world. Wallace McDowall has found dealing with Nacco to be professional and fair in all areas of their business. They produce an excellent product and Wallace McDowall prides itself in being able to provide quality laser cut, fabricated and machined parts to its customer’s satisfaction. Wallace McDowall was delighted to receive Nacco’s Continuous Improvement award during 2013.

Nichol McKay

For over 30 years, Nichol McKay have been a proud supply partner of Nacco Materials Handling Group. Over that period, Nichol McKay have developed from a steel stockholder and through ongoing investment in fabrication technology and process capability have become one of the UK’s premier suppliers of production ready fabricated metal assemblies and components to some of the UK’s leading OEM’s. Nacco’s stringent requirements of quality and service excellence, has helped drive Nichol McKay on this journey and we look forward to supporting Nacco for the next 30 years of their continuing success.

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Aztec Oils

The lubrication

specialists

Aztec Oils is one of the UK’s leading specialists in high performance lubricant manufacture and distribution

Products: High performance lubricants Sites: Two in the UK Employees: 57 over two sites www.aztecoils.co.uk

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A

s company Managing Director Mark Lord began by explaining, the company’s initial offering evolved quickly to meet the needs of customers: “We started trading in packaged lubricants in 1998 and soon realised there was a need for a bulk storage facility for the products. Soon after the bulk storage was created, we then expanded into blending, which also required a laterally run laboratory function for testing of blended products. We now manufacture approximately 95 per cent of the products we sell from our own facility in Bolsover and we are one of the largest independent oil manufacturers in the UK.” David Ashard, Operations Director, added some further details about the capabilities of

Aztec’s Bolsover site: “This facility contains several key areas, three production, one blending, one laboratory, two warehouses, one engineering and our admin block,” he said. “We are currently working towards a more lean approach to manufacturing and have installed the use of work instructions and encourage our team leaders to record and communicate methods of ensuring our continual improvement.

The management team are also standardising our entire procedure portfolio ready to move into the next phase of our lean journey.

“As part of our determination to form a solid foundation for our growth we invested heavily into achieving ISO accreditation for our business.

We have now been running to ISO 9001, 14001 & 18001 standards for several years and are confident that our procedures and processes

are robust enough to support our future development.

“ISO accreditation has become almost a standard requirement for our customers and holding and working to these standards gives our customers the confidence that the high quality products they purchase are produced in a safe and environmentally conscious setting.”

The production facility receives over half a million pounds of investment each year in order to maintain its state-of-the-art approach, and furthermore, the company’s laboratory has recently received a £75,000 facelift. This investment has created, on average, ten new positions per annum at its Bolsover site. Mark pointed out the benefits the lab brings to Aztec: “Our laboratory quality checks our entire product range and also takes on a

‘‘

We now manufacture approximately 95 per cent of our sold products from our own facility in Bolsover and are one of the largest independent oil manufacturers in the UK

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Aztec Oils

developmental role for customer specific requests, normally within the industrial sector.

We are also currently installing the processes required to test products that customers send us for profiling.” He continued: “Investing in our production, laboratory, warehousing, site and staff has allowed us to keep up with the high demand for our products we have experienced over the last several years. We have doubled our operation and installed a more robust manufacturing and admin software suite giving our systems the flexibility to grow alongside the rest of the operation.”

David added: “During the last 12 months all drivers have completed driver related NVQs, and the production and warehouse teams have also completed NVQs. Staff training is very important to us and we have seen some good results from these courses, the general understanding of the operation and their individual input to the success of the company has increased with the knowledge gained. The Operations Manager has also started an NVQ/ QFC level five leadership and management course.

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“As a company, we find investing in our team instrumental in the continued success of our business. Several of our key operational employees have progressed through the company and brought along their knowledge into their new roles, and we fully support all aspects of developing the skills our team require to continue into new roles within the company.”

Further investments at Aztec include new software, social media accounts, and a new website, which is under development. “We have invested in a sophisticated software package, which helps with forecasting, planning and stock usage,” added David. “We are also increasing our tank farm storage capability, as well as purchasing new production filling machines and blending tanks. Finally we are investing in food grade blending equipment, as we are creating a new product line for 2015.”

The new product David referred to is Aztec’s own range of food grade oils. “We already offered one of the largest ranges of food grade lubricants, greases and aerosols in the UK market place, and so the development of our own range of food grade oils was the

‘‘

We already offered one of the largest ranges of food grade lubricants, greases and aerosols in the UK market place, and so the development of our own range of food grade oils was the natural next stage

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Aztec Oils

natural next stage,” highlighted David. “We were delighted to have met the tough requirements to become NSF registered and achieving this certification provides our customers with the assurance that these products have been produced in compliance with the relevant regulations.”

As Aztec Oils moves into 2015, it has more exciting plans in the pipeline, including a major acquisition. Mark explained: “The purchase of Oiline Ltd will strengthen our position in the West Midlands giving us better connections and improving our product expertise in the metalworking sector. Oiline have a long history of trading in the West Midlands and have organically grown a significant database of customers who have confidence in their products and quality, which is something Aztec can continue to supply in the future.”

Looking longer term, Mark and David have more plans for expansion and investment, with the vision of a total redevelopment of the Bolsover site and the creation of more jobs:

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“Over the next five years we will continue to grow and develop our operation and set the foundation for a solid future in Bolsover for the company and the staff equally,” stated David, adding: “This vision includes the purchase of rented land and surrounding five acres to develop our production and warehousing operation, and further working with our new depot in Birmingham in April this year.”

It is clear from talking to Mark and David at Aztec Oils that the company’s success is due to not only hard work and innovation, but also a willingness to invest and an acknowledgement of the important role played by a hard working and well trained team of staff. This latter point was recognised at the Annual Derbyshire Times Business Awards in 2014 when Aztec was nominated for employer of the Year: “We were delighted at reaching the finals of the awards,” said Mark. “All at Aztec are a vital part of our current and continued success and we recognise the importance of this in our everyday operations.”

Robertson Timber Engineering

The

wonders of

wood

Part of the Robertson Construction Group, Robertson Timber Engineering has been providing precision engineered timber frame solutions for more than 25 years

Robertson Timber Engineering Products: Engineered timber frame solutions Sites: One Employees: 42 www.robertson.co.uk www.timberkit.co.uk timber@robertson.co.uk

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Robertson Timber Engineering

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‘‘

If you look at our competition in brick and block, there is a huge demand for materials and not enough capacity to handle it, so house builders are looking for alternatives to bricks. A lot of builders have also been forced to go down the route of timber frame due to the lack of bricklayers and labour available, and what we are finding is that once they have used our solutions, they embrace it and wonder why they didn’t do it years ago

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s Barry Armstrong, technical sales manager, explained, the Robertson Group is comprised of several different divisions, including construction, property, facilities management, civil engineering, mechanical and electrical, and house building, and as such offers a multidisciplinary service to clients.

Focusing on the Timber Engineering side, Barry noted that the factory was originally created to feed timber and joinery solutions into the house building division of Robertson, but it soon expanded and evolved into a specialist in providing precision-engineered timber frame solutions for clients from a variety of sectors. “We are now one of the market leaders, and have a very strong brand and name within the industry,” Barry confirmed. “We not only supply our own in-house products to our construction and house building divisions, but we also do a lot of work with external contractors, large construction companies and national house builders as well.”

These blue-chip clients turn to Robertson Timber Engineering because its products offer a range of benefits, one of which is particularly topical at the moment, as Barry noted: “If you look at our competition in brick and block, there is a huge demand for materials and not enough capacity to handle it, so house builders are looking for alternatives to bricks. A lot of builders

have also been forced to go down the route of timber frame due to the lack of bricklayers and labour available, and what we are finding is that once they have used our solutions, they embrace it and wonder why they didn’t do it years ago.

“These clients can also now appreciate the further benefits of timber framed solutions, such as the fact they are made off-site, under controlled factory conditions, and are therefore extremely accurate and can be erected very quickly. They offer a very low CO2 footprint, better air tightness, better insulation, and there are lesser defects on a timber frame house as well.

“Our timber buildings also have the same life span of masonry buildings, but they have lower running costs over that time,” he added. “So while there is still an element of reluctance in England about timber frames, especially when you compare it to the world market where 75 per cent of all houses are timber framed, I think it is a bit of a mind set and a fear of change, and with our superior products we are starting to transform this.”

As Barry highlighted, many of the benefits of Robertson’s timber solutions stem from the fact that they are created in a state-of-the-art factory.

“Our facilities utilise a lot of automation, and this saves both time and increases accuracy – in fact, our factory manager is a real stickler for quality and detail.”

Robertson controls the process from sale to production, and the company is keen to partner with clients at the early design stage: “The earlier we are involved, the longer we have to plan out the job, iron out any problems and that makes

everyone’s life easier,” said Barry. “Our process has been carefully created to ensure that our products are of the highest quality and our clients

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Robertson Timber Engineering

and installers frequently comment that they are the best in the industry.”

Indeed, such has been the recent success of the products that the company is planning on extending its capacity, through the re-opening of another factory. Said Barry: “This was purposebuilt by us around four years ago, but we had to cease production for a couple of years while

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the construction market recovered from the recession. It was a huge investment for us at the time and it is still one of the most state-ofthe-art factories in the UK, featuring some very sophisticated equipment. It covers an area of around 40,000 sq ft and is located in a position that has excellent access to the motorway and distribution network. The re-opening of this factory will bring numerous new jobs to the north east of England, so we anticipate our workforce significantly increasing from its current level of 42.”

The impetus to re-open this factory has been partially based on the success Robertson Timber Engineering has seen in the hotels sector. “Over the last year or so we have worked on 14 or 15 hotels, for a range of clients,” said Barry. “The advantage for these projects is our speed of build – for example a 100 bed hotel can be ready to accept guests in just six months from first putting a spade in the ground using our solutions, compared to nearly double that with traditional, masonry, steel or concrete techniques. We just supply the timber frame, and work in partnership with other companies on these projects.”

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