The Resilience Index is a comprehensive investigation into the status of UK manufacturing business resilience. The research, commissioned by RS Components, uses 20 years of informed data sets to examine how resilient UK industries are, and where improvements can be made to drive commercial security and success.
The Resilience Index: Process is the second in the series of three reports which unpack the topic of industrial resilience. Here, Richard Jeffers, Director of Maintenance Solutions at RS Components shares some of its findings which reveal how a strategic approach to outsourcing can help strengthen process resilience across manufacturing.
Outsourcing is part of a suite of measures to help protect companies, push them to think and act differently and establish a culture of continuous improvement which will be the foundation for future process improvements, stability, and transformation.
Think differently about outsourcing
Outsourcing strategies need to focus on the benefits that can be gained, alongside potential cost savings. For example, outsourcing can increase quality and innovation or make processes more efficient. A good example would be outsourcing control of a site’s inventory to supply experts.
Companies should carefully consider if outsourcing decisions would free-up enough internal capacity to help the organisation concentrate on core competencies or allow for quicker adaptations or transformations.
The default position of taking processes in-house to drive cost efficiencies needs to be continually challenged, and the holistic benefits of a strategic outsourcing approach closely scrutinised.
When reviewing processes, senior engineers need to ask questions about why they undertake what they do, as well as determine the overall benefit of keeping it in-house. Outsourcing to an expert supplier could well be the answer.
RS Components’ range of strategic outsourced support can help deliver tangible resilience-linked results across a wide spectrum of infrastructure and operational areas. They include inventory, procurement and maintenance solutions, technical support, managing supplier relationships, extensive product ranges, PPE and safety products, supplier partnerships for training, and education programmes that can help make a difference.
Outsourcing to expert suppliers needs to be viewed as a significant strategic tool that senior engineers can deploy to their advantage. Successful outsourced partnerships are proven to free up senior engineers to concentrate on core competencies that matter and enable them to strive to add greater value to improve operations and productivity.
The Resilience Index: Process
The Resilience Index: Process is the second report in the series of three from RS Components. The first report focused on plant resilience and the third report due to be released soon is on people resilience. Each report has actions and advice for senior engineers seeking to strengthen their plant, process, and people to thrive.
For a copy of The Resilience Index: Process report, click here.