UK Manufacturing Is Efficient

      

UK Manufacturing is Efficient

I recently had the opportunity to be invited to look around Siemens' Poole factory by the IET. 

Having worked in traffic signals for years, I realised I had never been in their factory before, so was quietly excited and intrigued what went on behind the scenes of one of the UK’s leading traffic technology companies.

The first thing you need to know about Siemens in Poole, is it is the original Plessey site in Creekmoor. 

Creekmoor is a quiet residential suburb, but just after passing the local grammar school, you’re presented with a mixture of post war and modern architecture.

My first thought was that I would find a run-down dusty, dirty warehouse with scruffy men hammering kit together.

Siemens Traffic Head Office - Poole

Well what a pleasant surprise. The factory is very sleek, clean, bright, and very quiet! I was presented to the factory managers, who were very professional, and came across as very proud of their work.

The factory was amazing. More than I thought it would be. Inside were fabrication machines, soldering and assembly lines, all running and very quiet.

Siemens do not have the capacity to make thousands of products there. They stated, quite rightly, they would be swallowed by the Chinese manufacturers on that level. 

However, they make a few hundred to order, and in fact sell to the Chinese, as well as over 20 other countries, which surprised me.

The Factory Floor

They assemble traffic light heads, push button units and their own comms units as well as many circuit boards, all designed and built to fit over 400 different models. The logistics of setting the machines for that was mind boggling. 

The main product was of course the controller for traffic systems. These are assembled to order in full, then moved to another section where they are thoroughly tested and sprayed with Tecqua protection before being shipped to the client. 

Even the shipping rota is efficient. It’s all sent to Leicestershire twice a week, then despatched from there by a national haulage company. Saving them and customers P&P costs.

So why was this factory doing so well in the UK?

Well it is all down to Siemens LEAN 3i system. An anglicised version of Toyota’s LEAN system. This system is where staff earn bonuses (yes money!) for trying to make their work more efficient. If it is a success and Siemens use it, then they get their bonus. This means all staff from floor to manager, are working to be as efficient as possible. The managers also meet on the factory floor, so there is no ‘them and us’ scenarios.

Tecqua Protected Controller

As I’ve previously stated, manufacturing is alive and well in UK. We may never compete on Chinese, and Indian levels, but for high tech manufacturing and assembly, we easily compete with the US, Germany and Japan. Long may it continue to grow.

And I hope Siemens in Poole continues to be successful too. I think they should open their doors more often to the public, as it is a great way to showcase modern UK manufacturing and assembly.

Poole

Location of Poole, Dorset, England

Find The Engineer

0845 021 2468

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HS2. Is it HS Too Late?

HS2. Is It HS Too Late?

Here’s a controversial blog in some aspects. 

A non-scientific experiment carried out by myself and my co-director Nick Brown has resulted in a ‘Top Gear’ style result. 

Before I state what the result was, the relevance to this experiment was due to the regular cost updates and business return projection for the HS2 project. 

Of course we hear that this rail line will upturn a lot of countryside, and cause a lot of noise and pollution and split communities in half along its route (I wonder if I.K Brunel had this outcry?)

Looking at the figures and the proposition it is hard to see what return of investment the route may bring, but as with all things this big and directly controlled by a government, the costs can be recouped by other means.

The route seems a logical one. Connecting North & Northwest England with Midlands and Greater London. This model has worked well in Japan, North America and closer to home in France, linking Paris with Lyon, Toulouse and Marseille.

However, the key is, that these rail routes have operated for years and brought benefits to those countries. How can it bring investment into parts of England today? If this was built in the 80’s or even 90’s there is no question the benefits would outweigh the costs, but today?

Will people travel to/from London to Leeds or Manchester? Think about it. Twitter, Facebook, Skype, email, Dropbox, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, Interactive channels and more and more. All these fabulous communication links. And the key? Working from home and hours that suit your clients is the way to work today. 

We, at Find The Engineer all work from home, and communicate with all the means above. We no longer travel into offices, or commute to work. Just a quick cuppa and into the study to start work at 6am for me! We have video conferences via Skype, use LinkedIn to publish papers. Blogs, emails and our websites to broadcast news and views. We use Twitter and Facebook for latest vacancy updates to the minute. Everything is very fast, and all from our recruiter’s home computer, tablet or phone.

So recently, us two directors’ had to attend a meeting in Mayfair, central London. 

Do we get the train, the tube? Or do we drive to the outskirts and commute in. 

Well, we drove right into Mayfair (paid congestion charge), parked outside the office, had our meeting. Walked across to a restaurant. Had lunch. Got in the car and drove back to Bristol. 

All for £90!! That’s £45 each. Compare that to the other two choices. Train £153 return. Each! Tube ticket £8.80 each. That’s over £160 each by public transport.

Not worth it. 

That’s why we work the way we do. It’s cheaper to work from home. 

Keeps our overheads low, which means customers get a better price. And let’s be honest if we do travel it's cheaper by car! 

So why bother with HS2? It’s 30 years too late!

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