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Vol 27 - No 06 - July/August 2001 Letter: Manufacturing and the General Election The recent intense election campaign was conducted mainly through the media. Pressure group after pressure group demanded more for their particular cause and "They have done nothing for me" was a frequent complaint of many of those who appeared on TV. This reminded me of Jack Kennedy's statement: "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country". Which brings me to manufacturing... "Where were the manufactures and their successes of the last four years during the election campaign? Where were those who contribute more than they take out of our society? At a time when UK manufacturing falls as a % of our national output and the Climate Change Levy begins to impact on raw material and fuel prices there was hardly a mention of manufacturing in the four week campaign. The people who create the wealth to satisfy the clamour of those who want more were not represented in the media. Perhaps this is not so surprising when few MPs and media gurus have manufacturing experience or expertise and show even less interest in making and selling products. One of the party leaders did mention productivity but I was not convinced that he knew what he was talking about. He commented that labour productivity is lower in the UK than Germany and the USA. This statement from someone who has never made anything in his life is unlikely to encourage the makers and shakers in our society. Members of the Institute will confirm that throwing money at our many challenges is not going to solve the productivity challenges that we all face. All is not lost. There are techniques available to all of us which are easy to understand, easy and quick to apply and proven to get substantial improvement in all processes from the assets that are already in place in our factories. These techniques will work equally well in our hospitals, schools and police operations. As our members know these techniques have been around for 150 years and more and over time have attracted different titles such as Just in Time, Kanban, Lean Manufacturing etc etc. By all means increase the value adding capacity in our hospitals, schools and police by converting the 90% non value adding to value adding. Meanwhile the pessimists in our society continue to attack our manufacturers. The CBI seems to relish the doom laden statements which it produces. A recently published report claims that labour productivity is 80% higher in foreign owned factories in the UK than in British owned factories in the UK. O'Connor's experience in European based companies is more encouraging. Such is the low productivity in the European companies where we have worked that it is beyond belief that British owned and Britain based companies do not sweep the board with their European competitors. Give credit where it is due and our manufacturers will continue to support our hospitals, schools and police. Use the well proven techniques to expand our manufacturing base and to gain market share in Europe. Who is stopping us from doing this? Sincerely Brian O'Connor, FIOM B J O'Connor International Ltd Page number: Page: 4 Word count: Approx. 180 Related Topics:
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