26 March 2010

Manufacturers share secrets of their success at Best Factory Awards conference

Positive signs of significant amounts of production returning from Asia to the west and the value of investment in training were two of the key themes underpinning this week's Best Factory Awards (BFA) Conference, which took place at the Leicester Marriott on 23 and 24 March.

Manufacturers from sectors as diverse as aerospace, food and beverage, automotive and packaging squeezed into the sell-out event – organised by Cranfield School of Management in partnership with Works Management – to hear the 2009 Best Factory winners discuss their journeys to excellence.

In addition to the invaluable insight shared by the BFA winners, delegates also heard from Nick Brayshaw OBE (pictured), former chairman of the CBI's manufacturing council and now chairman of UK manufacturing for Barclays Corporate. Brayshaw presented an overview of industrial statistics and assured the audience that most manufacturing trends are positive, despite what many may think. For example, he said, UK manufacturing had still seen positive growth of just over 1% in the last 20 years. Exports were growing strongly until Q4 2008 – and are forecast to be positive in Q1 2010 – and he urged the audience to capitalise on sterling's weakness to drive exports further. He added that he believes offshoring to low-cost countries may have run its course as manufacturing is now too fast moving to sustain long lead times from places as far afield as China. "Looking forward, the trend will be for manufacturers to be making product closer to their customers in faster, shorter cycles," he said.

This was a view supported by many at the conference, and indeed several of the BFA winners reported that they are succeeding and winning business from low-cost competitors.

The conference also heard that the recent downturn had been markedly different for the UK manufacturing industry from those that had gone before. We were now seeing a new behaviour pattern where reducing labour costs had not resulted in mass job cuts, but rather employers and employees had worked together to reduce overheads through salary sacrifices, frozen bonuses and by working flexible hours. This, together with the continuous investment in training was, Brayshaw commented, protecting the core DNA of business and was a measure of a modern manufacturing skills-based economy. Indeed, with economic recovery imminent, UK-based manufacturers were well equipped to take advantage of new opportunities.

The conference opened and closed to presentations from two of the BFA judges: Cranfield's Dr Marek Szwejczewski discussed the awards process and revealed common trends identified in BFA winners over the two decades of the programme. Professor Mike Sweeney shared the results of findings which show how the best sites sustain manufacturing improvement.

Many delegates commented on the generosity of the BFA winners and their willingness to share their experiences with others for the benefit of the sector as a whole. Everyone discussed their experiences – good and bad – with the utmost honesty and, in many cases, a hefty dose of humour. The ability to learn from award-winning peers was undoubtedly seen as a huge benefit. As Cranfield's professor Mike Sweeney told the audience: "Copy with pride."

The BFA winners all highlighted the benefit of the free benchmarking report, which is issued to every Best Factory Award entrant. As one speaker said: "I can benchmark my plant against others in my group, but where else can I benchmark against my competitors?"

Entries are open for the 2010 Best Factory Awards: for an entry form, call Maggie Bridge at Cranfield on 01234 754498 or see www.bestfactoryawards.co.uk.

Author
Laura Cork; additional reporting Jitendra Gill

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