Product category:
Manufacturing industry news
News Release from: The Manufacturing Institute
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 01 July 2005
Captivate teenagers - NW UK
manufacturers told
Manufacturers need to engage with teenagers if the industry is to survive in the future - The Manufacturing Institute's CEO Julie Madigan told a conference of North West companies.
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, June 28 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
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 4 Feb 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Support for manufacturing enhanced
The Manufacturing Institute, a non-profit making organisation driven by manufacturers for manufacturers, is to deploy Epicor for Service Enterprises software.
North West UK companies can learn to be 'lean'
The 'Accelerated Route to Lean Manufacturing' programme is being run by The Manufacturing Institute and led by some of Britain's best manufacturing experts and practitioners.
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.
Further reading
Attracting the young to manufacturing
Major UK manufacturing employers have pledged their support of the 'Make It' campaign designed to promote the sector's exciting career opportunities to young people.
Encouraging manufacturers to apply lean thinking
For manufacturers seeking to find new ways to boost shop floor performance, improve productivity and reduce costs, the Accelerated Route to Lean Manufacturing programme brings real results fast.
Funding to help UK manufacturers study for success
Almost GBP 200,000 in funding is available to UK's North West manufacturing companies who want their key personnel to benefit from acquiring The Diploma in Manufacturing.
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 do not 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 upon 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.
• The Manufacturing Institute: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
