Bosses at the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN), a collective of seven sub-contract manufacturers and an engineering design agency, believe the country has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring back work from low-cost countries as the demand for taking risk out of the supply chain intensifies.
Importantly, there has also been a change in mentality with more OEMs considering both geo-political risks along with the full ‘landing price’ of the part and this is making domestic companies competitive with international rivals.
Rowan Crozier, CEO of metal stamping specialist Brandauer, has seen this first-hand after securing over £500,000 of new tooling projects in the past twelve months, projects that were previously carried out in the Far East and the EU.
Better still, the business has a further £1m of potential opportunities in the pipeline and, with an increasing number of companies looking for security of supply, it is a trend that Crozier believes is just beginning.
“We’ve been talking about reshoring for some time, but the good news is we’re finally seeing the hyperbole turn into real orders,” commented Rowan.
“Despite the challenges and complications of Brexit, there has been a definite shift towards more UK sourcing of precision tooling and that has certainly been driven by an overwhelming desire to shorten supply chains.
“De-risking supply is high on the list of priorities after the disruption we’ve seen because of geopolitical pressures, Covid-19 and, more recently, a global lack of materials.
Rowan, who has invested more than £1m into new Yamada and Bruderer presses to cope with an increase in demand, went on to add: “However, the interesting conversation that we haven’t had before is that domestic manufacturing is now as competitive as our international rivals.
“And this is all about the price of the landing part - so the total cost of a product on its journey from the factory floor to the customer. When you take this overall picture into the equation, there is no reason UK manufacturers can’t be bolder when going after international opportunities.”
It’s a train of thought that is echoed by Hamish Campbell, Sales Manager at KimberMills International in Cradley Heath.
The manufacturer of high-quality forgings and finished machined parts has also seen a surge in export orders, primarily from the oil and gas and construction markets.
Both firms are members of the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN) and key signatories to the MANifesto, a new blueprint for making the UK globally competitive and a direct response to a lack of a coherent industrial strategy from our Government.
The collective launched the plan of action in May and is lobbying the powers at Whitehall to provide additional support towards the four key pillars of investment, people, sustainability and Net Zero and international trade.
“We have seen the damage offshoring has done to UK manufacturing, now is the time for us to reverse the trend,” explained Hamish, who has worked in industry for the last thirty years.
