The week is Manufacturing & Engineering Week, and is set to be a special time in the UK manufacturing sector’s annual events calendar. This year, the event culminates in a series of concurrent free two-day events on 7^th and 8th June to be held at the NEC Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, in which industry thought leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs will meet to map out the future of the manufacturing and engineering sector.

In March 2023, Make UK published a key report, ‘No Weak Links: Building Supply Chain Resilience’, which laid bare the soaring pressure on supply chains that is resulting in long lead times and rising prices. The severe disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic persuaded many manufacturing businesses that their supply chains needed to become more sustainable, resilient, and collaborative to protect themselves against global instability.

The UK’s manufacturing industry plays a crucial role in driving economic growth, innovation, and job creation. Consequently, the development of a robust industrial strategy for manufacturing is imperative, to lay the foundations for a thriving sector and ensure its competitiveness on a global scale. 

According to research, 99 per cent of manufacturers believe that the UK should have a clear industrial strategy.

If your manufacturing business isn’t achieving optimum efficiency and productivity, now is the time to give serious thought to how you can transform its operations in 2023. Manufacturing efficiency ensures that you can produce as many products as possible in the shortest possible time, without compromising on quality. This enables you to achieve higher profits and unlock business growth by pitching your products and services at a more attractive price point.

Customer satisfaction is all-important, especially in the days of social media, where poor service can severely impact brand reputations among B2B manufacturers. When considering customer satisfaction, it's common to look at front-end factors like service, personalisation, and convenience. Basics like value for money, availability, lead-time, and quality are also essential.

However, customer satisfaction can be driven by mechanisms largely invisible to the end client.

If there’s one thing thatmanufacturers should have learned in recent years, it’s to expect the unexpected. Brexit, the global pandemic, and the Ukraine war have caused economic turmoil that has posed major challenges for the manufacturing industry, least not the supply of raw materials and key commodities required for efficient and resilient production supply.

CNC turning combines long-established machining principles with cutting-edge Computer Numerical Control (CNC) technology, to deliver outstanding and consistently reliable results. Many businesses find it more cost effective to outsource some or all of their CNC turning requirements to an experienced precision machining provider, such as Hone-All.

The global pandemic had far-reaching effects for manufacturing businesses, not just in the UK, but worldwide. Supply chains proved to be more fragile than had been judged, particularly for businesses obtaining services, materials, or parts from the Far East.

The saying ‘speculate to accumulate’ has been in existence for more than 70 years: businesses must be prepared to invest to make meaningful gains. While this implies a degree of operational risk– the truth is that businesses cannot prosper unless they make significant investments in their assets which, for manufacturers, are facilities, materials, equipment, and personnel.

The skills shortage affecting the UK’s manufacturing sector is well-documented, the result of a combination of factors, including the changing face of the British workforce, the political upheaval of recent years, and the long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although many fields of industry are affected, manufacturing is suffering the most, with an estimated 85 per cent of businesses in the sector experience problems because of a shortage of skilled workers.