The recent outbreak of the Coronavirus across the world has affected global supply chains and has clearly highlighted that age old saying “don’t put all your eggs into one basket”. Our reliance on cheap, imported products has led to supply issues of much needed medical goods.
Over recent weeks we have seen fantastic support from manufacturing companies across the UK. Despite having never manufactured these products before they have turned their attention to manufacturing ventilators and related PPE equipment to help with the outbreak, highlighting British ingenuity and their ability to quickly and efficiently transform production when needed.
Support for UK manufacturing is essential to ensure job retention, growth and innovation. For this to happen, products “Made in the UK” need to be competitive. Consumer appetite for UK products is a start but a moral standing alone has little impact if you can get the same item for 20% less. By supporting and promoting UK manufacturing, companies can invest and look to find ways to bring the cost of manufacturing down making products more competitive.
Investment in automation is essential. There are many system integrators, robotics manufacturers and resellers up and down the country able to offer technical advice. For those SME’s yet to dip their toe in to automation or robotics, getting an assessment in to your manufacturing operation to highlight where automation can help, is a great starting point. You may be surprised at just how cost effective automation can be. For example, the
average price of an industrial robot is circa £35K. Significantly less if you buy a reconditioned one.
We are confident that manufacturers will start to see their production levels increase and when this happens, the team at Cartisian Technical Recruitment is ready to help. If you need highly skilled, contract or permanent candidates, please get in touch.