Manufacturing co-ops key to beating economic slump
1 min read
Manufacturers must pool investment and training support into local co-operatives to shore up businesses against the threat of recession in 2012, industry leaders have said.
Safety in numbers offered the sector's best defence against a much-hyped global downturn, WM's recent Manufacturing Outlook roundtable debate heard.
Mark Bown, head of CI at power giant Cummins, said: "I think the opportunity, particularly for SMEs, if there is a double dip recession would be through co-operatives and supporting each other to ride it through."
Teaming up would be vital to preventing a critical loss of skilled workers warned Mick Jones, factory manager at Eschmann Equipment .
He commented: "As an industry we're very quick to say that's it, we're in a recession and we'll need to lose x amount of employees. Once those skills leave the industry it's very rare that you bring them back again."
The warning came as a panel of site managers debated business prospects for 2012 as part of WM's Manufacturing Outlook survey.
Manufacturers producing products from traffic lights to tractors voiced heady optimism over the outlook for the coming year.
Confidence was partly down to the rigorous adoption of continuous improvement techniques, the roundtable heard.
The resulting boost in product quality and reduction in waste meant businesses were primed to overcome any economic slump, WM heard.
SME operators also reported stellar export orders and an influx of new business as larger OEMs looked to source supplies domestically in the face of rising operating costs in Asia. However, optimism was undermined by ongoing frustrations over access to bank finance, site managers said.
See the full roundtable report in WM's January issue.
