The Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN), a group of seven sub-contract manufacturers and an engineering design agency, is highlighting the long-term lack of a coherent industrial strategy that they believe is holding the sector back.
They took matters into their own hands last year when they launched their own MANifesto that delivered a potential blueprint for making the country globally competitive again.
Bosses focused on the four key pillars of Investment, People, International Trade and Sustainability & Net Zero, with the latter now a key priority for companies keen to focus on green tech and decarbonisation of their supply chain.
Peter Davies, Co-Chair of MAN and Chief Executive of James Lister & Sons, commented:
“How manufacturing can help the transition to Net Zero is one of the most talked about business topics of the last few years and there are no easy answers.
“As SMEs we want to do our bit, but it’s not easy when you consider the rising energy costs we’ve had to deal with and the disruption we’ve faced in the global supply chain. We’re trying to achieve our own easy wins that don’t have a negative impact on our bottom line, but, ideally, we need Labour to take a more co-ordinated approach.”
He continued: “Our MANifesto calls for new ways of boosting UK manufacturing innovation to create green products and technologies and access to supported investment and grant funding to make our factories cleaner. We’d also love to see a national business energy efficiency programme to ensure we are not held hostage by the energy companies like we have just been.”
MAN employs over 1500 employees across its member companies, which include Alucast, Brandauer, Fluxsys, Grove Design, James Lister & Sons, KimberMills International, Nemco and PP Control & Automation (PP C&A).
Several of its companies have taken part in a WMG Net Zero Innovation Network Cohort to transfer knowledge and implement sustainable best practices.
This has seen PP C&A invest £150,000 in solar powered lighting (saving 3.74 tonnes of CO2), Alucast use energy monitoring systems to save nearly £80,000 on bills and saw James Lister & Sons develop a bespoke piece of software to track offcuts of steel tube so they can be repurposed for other work.
Sustainability isn’t just about the environment, but also about good corporate governance and ensuring manufacturers are offering social mobility by offering young people long-term careers.
One such example is Amy Pearce, who is currently a Systems Engineer at Brandauer.
The 24-year-old started at the Birmingham company as an apprentice and has gone on to achieve her Level 4 HNC in General Engineering and a Level 4 NVQ Extended Diploma in Engineering Manufacture.
In her current role, she is responsible for controlling, updating and maintaining the metal pressings specialist’s Quality, Health & Safety and Environmental management (QHSE) systems.
ISO 14001, the environmental accreditation, was achieved several years ago and has matured under Amy’s tenure to deliver £100,000 of associated cost savings since 2019.
Amy continued: “We are very conscious of our commitment to having a positive impact on the environment and the societies we operate in, and this is reflected in a very strong Environmental, Social Governance (ESG) policy.
“I’m delighted that even at this young age I am helping make decisions that contribute to this philosophy, including changing waste provider so none of our waste is now going to landfill and investing in a quick shutter door to prevent heat escaping.”
She concluded: “One of our biggest projects is now underway and that is based on producing a Net Zero plan to ensure we have achieved Scope 1 by 2030.”
