If you haven’t got any, “forget it, mate!” says Sir Richard Needham of Dyson.
Sir Richard offered this stark assessment as part of the wealth of advice for manufacturing businesses during his presentations at the Survive and Thrive events, hosted by The Manufacturing Institute. The former Minister of Trade told businesses in North West to find their ‘diamonds’, or core strengths, and perform them better and smarter than their competitors – a strategy that has paid off for Dyson in cornering 35% of the global vacuum cleaner market by value.
Once you know what you diamonds are, what’s the plan? If it’s to do the same thing you’ve done for the last 40 years, only a little bit better, then Sir Richard thinks that just isn’t going to cut the mustard in this economic climate. While most of us are battening down the hatches, the Independent International and Commercial Director for Dyson advised we should instead be innovating and taking risks to meet the challenges of the radically changed market landscape.
Speaking at the launch of the Northwest Regional Development Agency’s Manufacturers’ Survive and Thrive series these key messages were founded on a raft of tips and tricks gleaned from almost 50 years in the business. The manufacturers who were present took away practical advice on topics from guarding profit margins to networking and marketing opportunities, from supplier relations to strategic decision making and from workforce management to accelerating past the competition.
Sir Richard’s presentations are now available to all free of charge, as an online video webinar, where you can experience his sometimes controversial, frequently amusing but always eminently valuable and practical advice.
Those manufacturers who attended on the day certainly found the Dyson chief well worth listening to, with 96% rating him as an excellent speaker and offered comments such as “exceptional presentation”; “gave me the conviction to face my business challenges” and, of course, “a diamond.”
Several companies are already using these webinars as internal training tools for all their staff, but you can see for yourself and assess Sir Richard’s “diamond” status, along with his co-presenters Graeme Leach, Chief Economist for the Institute of Directors, and representatives from Eversheds LLP, Business Link Northwest, the National Skills Academy for Manufacturing and The Manufacturing Advisory Service Northwest in the Week 1 webinar at www.manufacturinginstitute.co.uk/survive
SOURCE: Manufacturing Institute
