One of the keynote speakers at this year’s Manufacturing Leaders’ Summit in Liverpool was John Robinson, creator of the Quorum Principle. The team at The Manufacturer has followed John’s radical approach to collaboration over the last five years, and recently caught up with him to discuss a breakthrough year for the approach ahead of John’s November keynote.
Performance improvement is a never-ending objective for manufacturers, but there is a systemic problem in global manufacturing that is having a negative impact on results. The established business model has led to the four key areas of strategy, IT, OT and operational excellence operating in silos, both within the manufacturer and the solution provider ecosystem.
John Robinson believes that the key to unlocking manufacturing value is a highly disruptive new approach to collaboration that would see major solution providers working together to achieve manufacturers’ objectives. The Quorum Principle is an approach that has the potential to bring about a paradigm shift in global manufacturing.
The Quorum Principle is a concept that John first presented in a virtual breakout room at Manufacturing Leaders’ Summit in 2020, during the dark days of the pandemic. Even so, the concept resonated with the remote audience and a fascinating journey began that has now resulted in an incredible year of breakthroughs. Five years on, John will again present his concept at the summit but this time, it will be in person and to the entire audience.
Like most people who have been introduced to the Quorum Principle, The Manufacturer can see both its logic and its potential value. The message is simple: historic investments have underperformed. The cause is a systemic problem with the business model in global industry and the solution proposed makes perfect sense.
It sounds simple, but the solution is so disruptive to the status quo that it would turn the global manufacturing sector on its head. This has resulted in John essentially becoming one man attempting to change the global industrial machine. However, John’s conviction has resulted in this now becoming his life’s work and it seems that it is starting to bring about change.
John commented: “I often describe the moment that I first saw the systemic problem in global industry as an epiphany. Not the religious definition but ‘a moment of sudden and great realisation’. In truth, it wasn’t an idea that just appeared from nowhere, it was a process that took around 30 years. The ‘epiphany’ was simply the culmination of everything I had experienced leading up to that point. A strange thing is that I don’t remember a time gap between spotting the systemic problem and developing the solution. As I remember, they both happened at the same time.”
In the Autumn of 2020 John developed his thoughts into a presentation that essentially shares the 30 year journey he has experienced and leads the viewer to the same conclusion and solution.
He added: “The first time I presented the Quorum Principle to an audience, I knew immediately that my life and career had changed. I have been presenting fantastic products, concepts and solutions my entire career for organisations such as SAP, EY, Kearney, Atos and Aveva. Most of those solutions were very successful commercially. However, in all my years of presenting, I had never delivered a presentation that received the incredible feedback that the Quorum Principle did. What was even more exciting was the fact that this was my ‘idea’ and I also knew that nothing like it existed globally. It was and still is unique.
“The other factor in the equation was the potential for change that this idea had. I knew this could have a global impact on key topics such as financial performance and sustainability.”
For the first few years, John tried to develop the concept within his roles at SAP and then Kearney, but to no avail.
“Eventually I realised that I could not change the system from within. My solution was not part of my employer’s go to market strategy and by its nature, took many of my colleagues outside of their comfort zone.”
In early 2023, John decided to leave his full-time career and start his own business in order to develop the concept. Like most start-ups, the first few years were very challenging but the momentum continued to build. John travelled globally, presenting his concept, but realised he was ‘trying to boil the ocean’ and that he needed to focus.
September 2024 – launch of the UK Manufacturing Initiative
Last Summer, John decided to try and build a working model for his concept in one geography and launched the UK Manufacturing Initiative in September 2024.
He chose the UK for three reasons. First of all, his passion for UK manufacturing and the desire to see the sector succeed despite its unique challenges. Post-Brexit the UK is essentially on its own and, given the global trade volatility with tariffs and geopolitics, it is in danger of becoming irrelevant. John added: “We have to be competitive to create inward investment but technology is not a differentiator so that begs the question: ‘what can we do differently?’. My answer is that we can work differently to the other major manufacturing economies by collaborating in the way I am proposing with the Quorum Principle.”
The second and third reasons are based around logistics. John’s largest group of Quorum ‘advocates’ are based here, so the momentum was already in place. In addition, John is based in the UK, so it is easier for him to focus on this sector.
Things began to develop quickly after the launch of the initiative but the real turning point was at a Smart Manufacturing event in Berlin in December. After delivering his Quorum keynote, John was approached by the event organisers and was asked if he was interested in organising an event dedicated to the Quorum Principle. “I was given carte blanche over the format and agenda so naturally I jumped at the chance,” he added. “In January we firmed everything up and settled on a date in the middle of May in London – which was very ambitious.
“Between January and May we managed to secure a fantastic group of sponsors, world class keynote speakers and also created a really exciting new format. The event was an incredible success and as it turned out, proved to be the catalyst I needed.”
The event accelerated every workstream within John’s business plan. Each step forward triggered other workstreams and the domino effect has almost become viral. The events form an interesting chronological timeline:
April – Global Initiatives: On 1 April John had a meeting with the World Economic Forum in Geneva. Up for discussion was ‘pilot purgatory’, the WEF’s Global Lighthouse Network and the WEF’s recently launched Lighthouse Operating System.
From Geneva John flew to Hannover Messe where he delivered a keynote at a specially organised Industry 4.0 event. John also met John Dyck who is the CEO of CESMII in the US, an organisation comparable to the UK’s HVM Catapult.
John added: “The Americans have the Smart Manufacturing Interoperability Platform and this ultimately led to discussions with people involved with Germany’s Manufacturing-X. Through those discussions, I realised that all of these initiatives are focussed heavily on technical interoperability. None of them focus on organisational interoperability and in my view, that is a fatal flaw.”
The Quorum Principle is entirely focused on this area. The discussions with these global initiatives are at an early stage but what that does mean is that we in the UK have a window of opportunity to gain a competitive advantage over some of our largest global competitors.
April also saw the delivery of the first Quorum Training Course. As John prepared for the May event, a lot of people began to express an interest in The Quorum Principle Playbook – the codified methodology behind the initial concept presented at events. The five-day Quorum training course is a key component of the Playbook which resulted in John delivering the first Quorum training course at the Make UK headquarters in London.
May – The First Quorum Event: The event took place on the 16 May and was a fantastic success which, as mentioned previously was the catalyst John needed.
First Quorum Client: John was approached at the event by a major UK manufacturer who felt that The Quorum Principle was exactly what they need for the £1.3bn transformation project they were about to embark upon. The hope is that this client will be formally announced at Manufacturing Leaders’ Summit in November.
Make UK Partnership: Following the event John and Make UK agreed a three-year partnership which was formally announced on 30 September. Under the partnership agreement, Make UK will be The Quorum Principle’s dedicated training partner for the UK market, providing members with access to its training programme, and The Quorum Principle with access to Make UK venues.
Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK, said: “UK manufacturers face unprecedented challenges in maintaining a competitive advantage in an increasingly complex global marketplace.
“The Quorum Principle’s approach to breaking down internal silos and fostering better collaboration with solution providers directly addresses fundamental issues that continue to hinder operational excellence in our sector.
“This partnership reflects both organisations’ commitment to addressing these fundamental challenges, and further expands our members’ access to cutting-edge methodologies that enable the sector to maintain its position as a global leader.”
Left to right: Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK and John Robinson, creator of the Quorum Principle.
MTA Partnership: Early October saw the announcement of a formal partnership with the Manufacturing Technologies Association. James Selka, CEO of the Manufacturing Technologies Association, said: “Manufacturing in the UK faces a unique set of challenges to its ability to compete internationally and remain profitable.
“The Quorum Principle’s approach to breaking down internal silos and enabling better collaboration echoes the MTA’s belief in the power of collaborative growth, and our goal of fostering a dynamic, competitive and sustainable UK manufacturing sector.
“Our members design, manufacture and supply the advanced machinery and equipment that enable modern manufacturing, and this partnership more effectively equips them to seize emerging opportunities and to remove barriers to growth.”
Chimp Management Partnership: Early October also saw the announcement of the partnership with Chimp Management. One of the critical success factors for the Quorum Principle is the mindset of the people working on a Quorum project. As John explained: “I was introduced to The Chimp Paradox over a decade ago and it genuinely changed my life. When we understand the basic principles of how our brain works and what drives our decisions and behaviours, it can make a profound and hugely positive difference. To now be working with Professor Steve Peters and the team at Chimp Management is incredibly exciting.
“I think the partnership is a win-win. The performance improvement results the Chimp Model has achieved in other fields have been incredibly effective and genuinely world-beating. To be able to embed that into the Quorum Principle will be a huge benefit to the effectiveness of the overall concept. The benefit of the partnership to Chimp Management will be to expose the Chimp Model to the global industrial sector which is a relatively new area for the model to be applied.”
Investment
Given the success of the event and the developments immediately after it, John knew that he had to secure the investment needed to capitalise on the opportunity. “Because the Quorum Principle breaks all the ‘norms’ I also didn’t think that a traditional investment approach would work.”
So, instead of seeking one or two professional angel investors, John decided to try and crowdfund the investment he needed. “I approached a specific group of people in my network; professionals in our industry who already understood the concept and could see both the market need and market potential. In the end, it proved to be relatively easy to raise the investment and I also managed to do it very quickly. The demand was actually higher than the percentage of the company shares I initially planned to release, but that is a far better problem to have.”
Manufacturing Leaders’ Summit co-organiser
“All of the events over the summer have enabled me to achieve one of my major targets for this year – a Quorum Principle keynote at Manufacturing Leaders’ Summit. I have been attending the summit for many years and it provides the perfect opportunity for me to present the Quorum Principle to a large section of the UK manufacturing sector’s leadership in one go. If the concept has the same impact it has had with everyone else over the past five years, then it will be a very significant moment. I can’t wait to see how it is received.”
The future
While the UK manufacturing sector is John’s primary focus, his goal is to build a working model in the UK that can be applied globally.
“The UK has a long history of innovation and global leadership and a reputation for being inventors and leading the way. After all, the first industrial revolution started here in the UK. I want the UK to lead the way on this too.”
The systemic problem the Quorum Principle solves is a global one. The opportunity to reduce the consumption of raw materials, energy, waste, emissions and pollution globally is John’s ultimate goal. The initial discussions with the World Economic Forum, CESMII and Manufacturing-X could eventually lead to a global impact. The momentum building behind The Quorum Principle here in the UK and globally does suggest that the wind of change is starting to blow.
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