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News Release from: Manufacturing Technologies Association
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 15 October 2004
An extra person to deal with red tape?
According to an SME survey carried out by the Engineering and Machinery Alliance (EAMA) for HM Treasury Regulatory Review, SME manufacturers have to employ an extra person to handle red tape.
According to an SME survey carried out by the Engineering and Machinery Alliance (EAMA) for HM Treasury Regulatory Review, SME manufacturers have to employ an extra person to handle red tape In its submission to HM Treasury's Hampton Review, EAMA says that its manufacturing members spend between GBP20,000 and GBP50,000 a year on staff time related to the introduction of new regulations and regulatory inspections
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 13 Apr 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Typically the managing director of a Midlands component manufacturers said: "A new compliance issue means understanding the requirements and putting new systems in place to ensure that we do it right.
I reckon that it takes half of my time and the time of other people in the business equivalent to at least GBP50,000 in money terms, when profits have been running at GBP30-50,000 for the last three years." The main conclusions were that most companies rated their inspectors as good and believe that they are treated fairly.
ISO standards, which are used as a commercial framework to set process standards, help simplify regulatory inspections.
However, regulation affects manufacturers much more than service companies.
Too many of the regulations are ambiguous and a source of conflicting advice where there is a high turnover of inspectors.
The complexity and ambiguity of the VAT regulations on exports is such that the CEO of the packaging sector company said that it would be easier for him to export the identical machine made in his US factory than to export it from the UK.
New employment guidelines issued with good intent on issues such as stress at work became a 'rogues charter', feeding the claimants' culture and giving work to the legal profession.
EAMA is an alliance of trade associations representing 1,000 SME manufacturers with a combined turnover of GBP3 billion.
For its Treasury submission it interviewed executives in five different manufacturing sectors, packaging, machine tools, components, printing and engineering and one in sales and service for robotics.
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