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Engineering Conferences
News Release from: The Manufacturing Institute
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 04 July 2005
Manufacturers urged to address
generation gap
Manufacturers need to engage with teenagers if the industry is to survive in the future.
Manufacturers need to engage with teenagers if the industry is to survive in the future - The Manufacturing Institute's Chief Executive Julie Madigan told a conference of North West companies in Bolton on Tuesday 28th June 2005 The one-day Manufacturing Conference was being staged by the Manufacturing Advisory Service North West (MAS NW), which is delivered in the region by the Manchester-based Manufacturing Institute
Some 500 manufacturers from across the region attended the conference: "In pursuit of manufacturing excellence", which was sponsored by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and NATEC.
It spotlighted the steps manufacturers can take to improve productivity and sharpen their competitive edge and highlighted strategic issues and trends that may affect the region's future business planning.
Opening the conference, Madigan cautioned that the way in which teenagers view manufacturing industry is absolutely critical.
Announcing a new plan to boost the industry's image, she said: "We need young people at the entry level to want to be in manufacturing, as their first choice, not their last resort".
"I want to persuade them that if they enter manufacturing, there is more likelihood of a career path, of making themselves some money, of working in a great team, of seeing something tangible produced at the end of the day, something they played a part in".
Neville Chamberlain, Chairman of The Manufacturing Institute countered the "popular theory" that manufacturing is in irreversible decline.
He said: "I don't think that the migration of manufacturing to low-cost bases in the emerging economies of Asia and Eastern Europe will signal our ultimate demise", he said.
"Manufacturing remains a vital sector of the UK economy and it always will be".
"It plays more of a lead role in innovation and research than any other sector".
"It constantly strives towards productivity gains and makes a huge contribution to exports, and will continue to do so".
Mark Hughes, NWDA Executive Director for Enterprise and Innovation, discussed the importance of facing challenges that lie ahead: "With an annual turnover of more than GBP 59 billion, the Northwest is the most productive manufacturing region in England, but it is vital that we continue to build on our strong position".
"The NWDA works alongside our partners like the Manufacturing Institute to drive up the productivity and competitiveness of our region's manufacturers".
Top manufacturing leaders from companies including BAE Systems, Siemens, Coca-Cola and Westinghouse were among the keynote speakers; together with TUC Chief Economist Ian Brinkley; Nick Brayshaw, Chairman of the CBI's Manufacturing Council; and global commentators - including Dr Robert Hall, a founder of the US Association for Manufacturing Excellence.
In his speech, Ian Brinkley of the TUC urged the Government to examine how British industry can prepare itself to tackle the threat to companies and jobs posed by the rapidly expanding Chinese economy.
He said: "We need to invest in the things that matter like skills, research and innovation".
"And while each firm has to make and sell its own products, it is right to ask how government and the sector can work together to make the changes needed".
The conference was organised as part of the support provided by the MAS NW to deliver high impact productivity improvement programmes to North West manufacturers.
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