Steven Barr introduces Hennik Edge – a new consultancy service from Hennik Group, publishers of The Manufacturer.
Manufacturing is a word that embraces a gloriously diverse array of activities, each of them operating – more often than not – inside their own silos.
The old way of consulting was for single-issue experts to help businesses by solely addressing issues within their particular silo.
Hennik Edge offers a new way that actually reflects the way modern UK manufacturers work best, which is by reaching across and connecting those silos.
Just as successful manufacturing depends on innovators talking to those on the production line and in the supply chain, treating them as members of the same team, so Hennik Edge commands expertise across the entire gamut of operations to assist clients with their problems.
Helping single-issue experts to see problems from other perspectives is often the secret to dealing with the seemingly insurmountable.
I’m an engineer by training and a problem solver by inclination, excited by tackling and resolving challenges that have defeated others. I’ve been a consultant and a maker of things all my professional life, and been lucky enough to work on some challenging projects with some fantastically innovative people.
Future of Making Things
Launched by Autodesk and The Manufacturer – and supported by key partners, the Future of British Manufacturing Initiative takes a hands-on approach to enable British design and manufacturing companies to respond to the challenges of trends the likes of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things.
Gain a firmer grasp of the trends that are shaping design and manufacturing, and how other companies are already responding to them, by attending one of the four regional Future of Making Things event at a High Value Manufacturing Catapult Centre:
As national director of the Government’s Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), I oversaw a team which exceeded all targets ahead of deadline, and developed new strategies to help smaller UK manufacturers.
The GROW Offshore Wind supply chain programme and our work on the Nuclear AMRC’s Fit for Nuclear scheme demonstrated what could be achieved through collaboration between experts who came together share a clear vision, underpinned by strong coordination.
Industry 4.0 and UK manufacturers
Hennik Edge is building on one key asset of MAS – relationships with UK manufacturers and their supporters; but on a far greater scale and with full focus on managing those relationships effectively for the benefit of all concerned.
Hennik Edge is now connecting with producers, their customers, industry partners and solution providers to champion how collaboration can work for them all, together. The case is strong for avoiding wasted costs, maximising productivity with new technologies, and speeding up the process of innovation, design, production, and getting to market.
The wider opportunities of creating things and processes that have not been thought of by lone companies is even stronger.
Many UK manufacturers are currently struggling to understand how the fourth industrial revolution – or Industry 4.0 – might make a difference to them and their business.
Advanced digital technologies will only work when aligned with new business models and processes, and new ways of thinking and behaving in an interconnected world.
Hennik Edge is working with experts in IT and automation, helping to engage them more effectively with the people who run the physical world of production.
“Smart supply chains” offer the potential for better, faster, cheaper production – but only if the systems solutions are tailored to the many organisations and people concerned.
Delivering effective collaboration means managing fundamental change in the way we work with technology and with each other, and that is a core value of Hennik Edge.
