We use cookies to ensure we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on this website.
To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, see our Privacy policy.
Manufacturing
Overview
The common perception of manufacturing as a shrinking sector within mature economies may be accurate.
It is also overstated.
Certainly, recent headlines1 do little to dispel the notion that the recession was the death knell for an industry starved of exports and short on finance.
But this is not the whole picture.
In the United States, for example, manufacturing has been shedding jobs for two decades. Yet manufacturing output has increased by 15% because modern management and technology have created huge gains in productive capacity2.
Similarly, in the UK, the underlying strength of the sector was reflected by a purchasing managers’ index at record levels in early 2011 as well as employment rising at a record rate and exports growing too3.
None of this is to underplay the intractable challenges which manufacturers in these mature economies face – notably, competition from the major emerging markets, rising costs for fuel and materials, challenging taxation regimes and skills shortages.
It is therefore encouraging that manufacturers themselves are clearly looking to emerge from the recession and other shocks stronger, fitter and positioned for future growth.
This is evidenced by creative tactics adopted to minimise redundancies, protect the skills base and retain productive capacity with a view to competing for market share in a recovering economy4.
The true competitors are using the downturn as a launch pad for long term growth. They are cutting costs without slashing their ability to respond when opportunity returns. They are taking market share and taking advantage of cheaper capital equipment and competitively priced talent. They are making the most of discernible green shoots such as the long term drive to a low carbon economy5 and its anticipated transformation in the products we are all likely to use in future.
Somebody will need to make these and, after all, manufacturers exist to make things.
Through recession and growth alike, the most successful manufacturers make something every customer will always want.
They make a difference.
With an innovative product. A better tool for performing a familiar task. An improvement in day-to-day living.
By focusing on this mission through relentless R&D, ruthless quality control and robust relationships throughout the value chain, manufacturers can look forward to good prospects as economic growth returns.
Should they decide their focus can be sharpened by shedding peripheral functions and business processes, Xchanging is ready to provide the necessary support.
To discover more about the ways in which we can help our customers, please click the links below:
We offer manufacturing enterprises the opportunity to remove complexity across a full range of business processes – including payroll, learning and development, recruitment, HR administration. We can also offer offshoring services delivering advantages including speed to market, back office transformation, on-demand business, improved customer service and cost optimisation. The result is more flexibility and greater efficiency in the face of formidable challenges.
We offer extensive technology capabilities across a variety of industry sectors. In manufacturing specifically, our Enterprise Solutions team is already helping customers maximise their administrative and operational effectiveness and manage product lifecycles. We also provide product assurance testing through our outsourcing facilities in Tokyo, Malaysia, Singapore and India. On the wider stage, our infrastructure team supports customers’ growth with cost effective, scalable and rapidly-deployed solutions. We also design, build and run the software that supports a range of business processing solutions. We embed our intellectual property (IP) to create a solution faster and more cost-effectively than our customers can themselves. We can also provide customers with Total IT Outsourcing (ITO) solutions – a single point of supply for an end-to-end managed service.
Customers include: Masoneilan-Dresser, GE, LG Electronics and Lenovo
We are experts in supporting procurement professionals with services including sourcing, spend management, procure to pay (P2P), system management and software solutions. We actively engage with the procurement community across industry sectors and look to provide thought leadership and develop strategies for creating added value procurement.
