Tag Archives: manufacturing

#Automotive Competitive Sport………

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Today Jaguar Land Rover revealed the all new Range Rover Sport in Manhattan New York. This fabulous vehicle is a terrific example of British Engineering at it’s best. The West Midlands manufacturer goes from strength to strength with double digit sales growth across the globe.

Rumour has it that JLR could sell their entire manufacturing capacity for the new Sport to China alone.

The new Range Rover sport is built to ultimate quality standards and features many examples of innovative design, from the all aluminium body shell (which is half a ton lighter than the previous model saving 15% in fuel) to the class leading infotainment system.

JLR are leading the world in automotive product design and manufacture. Long may it continue.

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Your #business cannot compete on cost alone…

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According to new research published today by Allianz Insurance, some 83% of UK managers rank Innovation as the key to their organization performing strongly.

However, despite the fact most leaders are fully aware of the benefits of innovation, the ongoing challenging economic environment has caused many to opt out of such projects in recent months.

For instance, 23% of the 500 respondents noted that the economic slump has pushed innovation further down their list of business priorities, with issues such as a lack of funding and a focus on profits being the main reasons behind this fact.

This approach is not only wrong it is patently short sighted. Innovating value added products or services is the only way to ensure long term survival never-mind success. Long-term it is not possible for organizations to compete purely on cost. Globalization ensures that whenever you compete purely on cost, someone, somewhere will be able to undermine your cost base and do it cheaper. The only way to compete successfully, particularly in the West, is to produce differentiated products with high added value, which cannot be easily reproduced elsewhere where labor costs are significantly cheaper.

This requires investment in R & D, training and advanced manufacturing techniques.

Innovation is essential to long term survival.
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Invasion of the Robot cars….#auto #innovation

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Last week saw a little reported milestone in Automotive history when Californian Governor Jerry Brown signed through legislation to allow fully automated vehicles  on California’s roads.

This took place at Google’s ‘Mountainview’ headquarters where the team have been working on a car which utilizes Google’s ‘Street View’ mapping technology, a number of sensors & some clever software to enable the car to navigate without human intervention. The company has already done over 300,000 miles testing with zero collisions so far.

So why is all of this so important ??   As Highways get increasingly congested it has long been a dream to enable convoys of vehicles to travel nose to tail in close proximity in separate lanes, breaking off as necessary, to reach local destinations.

Robot cars may smack of Sci-Fi but this development could herald a massive social change and a glimpse of the future.

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#Auto output drives toward production record

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The UK automotive industry is set to break its all time production record of 1.92 million cars (set in 1970!!) in 2015. These figures are from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders.

This success is hard won and it has been a long upward climb to return to the heights of the 1970′s. It is hard to believe that UK auto manufacturing then represented approximately a 10% world share. Now it is just over 2%.

A heck of a lot of ground was lost following the 1973 oil crisis and the gradual decline of British Leyland.

Success now depends on innovative Product Design. Take a look at Jaguar Land Rover’s Evoque (see above) which has sold over 100,000 units in it’s first year and has led to 24/7 manufacture at the Halewood plant.

Another great example is BMW’s mini which is turned out at it’s expanded Oxford plant.

Manufacturing in the UK Automotive industry has been revolutionized since the sad days of the 1970′s, much of this led by Nissan in the North East with  the adoption of Japanese manufacturing techniques such as LEAN & JIT.

If we can capitalize on current success the UK Automotive industry has a terrific future.

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Jaguar Land Rover has a taste for Chinese #automotive

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A new sales record of over 314k cars and profits of 1.5 billion GBP illustrate the success of British car maker Jaguar Land Rover and it’s innovative new products including the Range Rover Evoque which is selling like “hot cakes” at the moment particularly in China. In fact Jaguar Land Rover is opening a new dealership in China every week. China sales now represent almost 20% of the companies sales.

There is, however, another less publicised side to this story.

Since 2007 the British Pound  has devalued against the Chinese Yuan (or RMB)  by a whopping 56% as a direct result of the U.K Governments policy of Quantitative Easing. In March 2009 75 billion pounds was created electronically followed by another 200 billion pounds later that year. Further episodes of Q.E pumped a total of 325 billion pounds into the U.K economy, devaluing the pound & increasing exports.

It also goes a long way to explaining why foreign ownership of London property has increased 20% since 2009 & conversely why imported foodstuffs & other goods now seem outrageously expensive.

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Great #design brings great results….#engineering

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quashqai Recently released results from Nissan the Japanese automotive manufacturer illustrate how good product design leads to improved financial returns.

Nissan’s Net Profit was up a whopping 7% at 341.43 billion Yen and Turnover was also up 7.2% at 341.43 billion Yen.

This was largely based on sales of the distinctive Quashqai SUV in Europe.

Quashqai’s design team was  headed up by Stephane Schwartz who conceived the distinctive ‘bone line’ styling whilst thinking about Lean & Athletic images at his home in London. Nissan’s European design studio was put to work on the Quashqai at its base in Paddington London and the results are reflected in Nissan’s financial performance despite a strong Yen.

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Candid Camera………….#pmot #innovation

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1st digital camera

1st Digital Camera

The recent news that Eastman-Kodak had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy created much derision around the fact that Kodak invented the digital camera back in 1975 but failed to exploit this achievement.

Of course hindsight is a wonderful thing & perhaps we should consider that back in 1975 Kodak had 90% market share of the conventional film market & the vast expansion of digital technology was difficult if not impossible to predict. In 1975 only a handful of hobbyists had a computer at home & most of these were incapable of displaying a decent colour image.

Innovation isn’t easy. Companies have to decide very carefully what to invest in & can spend many millions backing the wrong “horse”

One way to make this process easier is to capture the “Voice of the Customer” by carrying out carefully worded customer surveys, engaging the customer in online conversations via Social Media, having effective call centers  & by analysing customer return data. All of these activities can help organisations predict market trends.

The closer the supplier can get to its customers the better the chance of  Innovation success.

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What recession ??? #pmot #entrepreneur

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This week Jaguar Land Rover announced a multi – billion pound investment program which will generate over one thousand new jobs in the West Midlands – a fantastic example of how a company can thrive in a recession when it focuses on producing a quality product range which exceeds customer expectations.

Here is just a short list of some major companies which not only started in a recession (or even a depression) but went on to grow into some of the biggest and most successful companies in he world today.

growthGeneral Electric – 1873

Disney – 1924

Hewlett Packard – 1939

Burger King – 1957

Microsoft – 1975

So here are some thoughts on growth in the current recession:-

  • Business Case – if the business case is sound and has been rigorously reviewed – forget the recession. Have the courage to invest in your convictions.
  • Ignore the herd – just because the majority of companies are acting like rabbits caught in the headlights doesn’t mean that yours has to.
  • Crush Competitors – that’s right, take the opportunity to mop up your timid competitors markets.
  • Eliminate waste – apply LEAN principles to maintain the competitive edge.
  • Ensure Quality – apply 6 Sigma t0 minimize defects & maximise yields.
  • Employ Interims – If you are cautious about taking on full time employees make use of highly qualified contractors available at short notice to meet your immediate business needs.

Fortune favours the brave !

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Unemployment – #Innovation is the answer #pmot

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UnemployedIn the U.K today we slumped to another level of misery with unemployment hitting 2.57 million, the highest for 17 years. What a tragedy especially for our youth with levels above 21% for 16 – 24 year olds.

So what’s the answer – there is no magic solution to the world economic crises but how about some of the following:-

  • less focus on “the markets”, our repeated emphasis on stock indices performance has led to short terminism in the extreme.
  • Stop bailing out failing financial institutions. Trillions of pounds of taxpayers money on both sides of the Atlantic has been thrown away propping up banks which have made disastrous risky investments at our expense.
  • Using the money saved from the above embark on a major series of public works, transport, housing, digital technology and green energy solutions should be at the forefront.
  • Set up a state bank to invest in small businesses. Small Businesses employ around 60% of the private sector workforce & are desperate for funds to enable growth.
  • Set up more Technology parks. Cambridge is a fantastic example of how successful this strategy has been over the last 20 years.
  • Encourage start-ups in the North by offering financial incentives to do so. Far too much of our industry is currently situated in the overcrowded South East. There is a wealth of untapped talent in the North which is currently going to waste & plenty brownfield sites to build on. The developments at Salford Quays including Media City is a great example of what can be done when there is a will to do it.

These are just some ideas how we can stimulate the economy by investing in Innovation & Technology instead of continuing to bail out banks  pouring more valuable resources down the drain.
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Casino Capitalism….#pmot…#biz..#innovation

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traderWe have seen trillions wiped off stock markets worldwide, the FTSE 100 has lost over 10% of it’s value in the last week alone & our TV screens have been filled with hysterical traders and concerned politicians.

So does it really matter, in the long term probably not, but if you were planning on retiring soon and have an equities based pension scheme you may well have to think about postponing your retirement.

The markets have become the biggest casino on the planet, where billions are traded on market fluctuations to generate financial gain for wealthy funds. The problem is that massive losses can also be generated especially in times (like now) of great volatility.

It is almost as if Government policies are primarily based on satisfying short term targets of financial speculators.

Over the last 30 years we have seen increasing numbers of large corporations listed on the Stock Market. The benefits of this are increased transparency and greater share ownership but the downside is that company boards are increasingly focused on short term share performance rather than long term strategic growth. They are also more vulnerable to deselection which increases their focus on knee jerk reaction to stock market fluctuations.

So how do we escape from all this madness ?

Here are a few suggestions which may help:-

1) Corporations should seriously consider de-listing from publicly listed stock exchanges & revert to private Limited Company status. Directors will then be able to take a more objective long term view divorced from the daily vagaries of the markets.

2) They should follow the example of German organizations and involve workers representatives at board level, increasing participation and integration.

3) The only way to pay down debt is to generate growth; Governments need to think beyond printing money and subsidizing banks. Innovation in manufacturing and services should be strongly encouraged.

4) Failing corporations, whether banks or otherwise, must be allowed to fall. The risks of failing institutions should not be born by the taxpayer.

5) A state bank should be established to act in direct competition with the private sector so that essential Capital flows can be maintained.

6) Government (NOT essential public services) must be streamlined and taxes reduced. For too long those in business & manufacturing have subsidised those working for the state who provide no added value whatsoever.

We need a radical rethink if we want to escape the madness of Casino Capitalism.

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