The impact that design can have to drive excellence in manufacturing means that it should be integrated into the manufacturing process from concept to production, argues Gus Desbarats, chairman of design consultancy TheAlloy.
At a dinner in late May hosted by Yorkshire Bank and The Manufacturer, directors of several manufacturing companies based in the north-west talked to Yorkshire Bank representatives about the events that caused the recession, current economic indicators, pension deficits, relationship banking, global competition, regulation and other issues affecting manufacturers today. Tom Vosa, chief economist at National Australia Bank (Yorkshire Bank) provides an economic overview of the last 12 months and a glimpse of what the future may hold.
Is carbon management important when manufacturers are struggling in a recession?
Some say yes, and that product life cycle analysis is an unavoidable part of modern
manufacturing, with several tangible benefits beyond the environmental, says Will Stirling..
Many manufacturers will be aware of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) legislation that comes into effect in April 2010. But exactly how it works, who is eligible, who is exempt and how it will affect manufacturers is hidden in the detail. Dennis Frize gets to the nub of the issue.
If a shattered economy isn’t bad enough, reports Colin Chinery, sterling exchange rates and the spectre of global supply chain disruptions is putting further pressure on UK manufacturers, who are having to take a closer look at their supplier strategies.
A big issue for manufacturers’ IT is the efficient integration of different IT systems. One of the battlegrounds for enterprise resource planning software is between traditional legacy ERP solutions and more modern enterprise applications, where there is a tradeoff between cost, functionality and suitability to the business. Adam Prince, senior director of product marketing at Epicor, makes the case for a modern ERP system.
One global packaging manufacturer has consolidated its telecoms network to a single provider, producing a 25% annual saving. TM case study: Rexam and AT&T
Manufacturers take employee satisfaction and performance appraisals seriously. But a recent survey of appraisals shows that manufacturing consistently scores the lowest in a range of industries. Why? Sarah Coles investigates.
Lean and six sigma are not mutually exclusive business improvement strategies, rather the efficacy of one is reliant on implementing the other, says Joe Goasdoué,
CEO of the British Quality Foundation. A recent survey by YouGov provides evidence that a combined Lean Six Sigma strategy is highly effective.
