Can Lean Manufacturing Consultants Save UK Industry?

Lean Manufacturing Consultants or Offshoring?

There is a stampede to "offshore" UK manufacturing to low labour cost countries such as China because of the compelling cost savings. However, there are also significant drawbacks:

• The risk of getting the offshoring exercise wrong in some way.
• Cash tied up in inventory either on the water or on trucks is costly.
• Where there's additional inventory, there may be an un-detected quality problem
• If there is a quality problem with inventory that's on the water, the chances are that it'll be a very costly one.
• The lead time for any inbound logistics leg, limits the flexibility to either increase or decrease demand in line with market requirements. This means there's a greater chance of too much inventory on the dockside on the one hand, and product shortages when demand peaks.

Despite collosal labour costs Germany has cleverly orchestrated its evolution into higher added value products (Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Porche come most immediately to mind), to ensure that it remains able to pay for its remaining manufacturing workforce, whilst simultaneously using lean manufacturing techniques to strip out waste and cost wherever it exists .

Companies like Dyson though, are offshoring their manufacturing, whilst retaining high value added product development and innovation centres of excellence in the UK. Using this model, as long as new product developments are engineered from the UK then, for some businesses there will be at least be a need to manufacture tooling locally, so that emerging product modifications can be transferred into steel, trialed and accordingly modified, without the communications complications of dealing with time differences and language barriers.

Manufacturing businesses aiming to tough it out in the UK will probably have to both find innovative ways to add more value to their product/service offerings and at the same time use lean manufacturing methods to eliminate the "eight wastes". So if you'd like to know how our former "Big Four" lean manufacturing consultants can help your UK business, thrive in testing times, don't hesitate to get in touch.

Other Lean Manufacturing Articles

• Lean Manufacturing Tools & Techniques.
• Lean Manufacturing Consulting an Introduction.
• Engaging a Lean Manufacturing Consultant.
• A Lean Manufacturing Consultant's View of Cell Manufacturing.
• Lean Manufacturing Consultancy - Diagnostic.
• Lean Manufacturing Implementation for Cellular Manufacturing.
• Are you looking for a Lean Manufacturing Consultant in the UK?
• The eight wastes and how a Lean Manufacturing Consultant Eliminates Waste
• Implementing Lean Manufacturing in Non-Manufacturing Environments.

Interested About What Lean Manufacturing Consultants Can Do for UK Industry?

If you'd like to understand what lean manufacturing consultants from Executive Interims - Supply Chain Practice can deliver, don't hesitate to get in touch. See our "Contact Details" in the main menu.