Page 5 - Industrial Technology EXTRA - Brexit Briefing

Post-Brexit compliance Every organisation can make
for CE-marked products savings to secure their future

From 2021 the UK’s notified bodies have As organisations look to position
lost their status in the EU, and UK notified themselves for the future following
bodies are no longer authorised to assess whether products the Covid-19 crisis, research from PA
conform to EU standards or determine that a product may be Consulting, the global innovation
CE marked. and transformation consultancy,
Instead, UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) will be the new UK shows that leaders across sectors have an untapped
product marking that will be used for goods being placed on opportunity to significantly reduce costs in their organisation:
the market in Great Britain (England, Wales and l Don’t fear emerging technologies and ways of working
Scotland) and covers most goods which previously l Look beyond single cost-out levers
required the CE marking. 20 l Design your organisation for simplicity 22

Remote set-up support Over half of small businesses risk
closing within 12 months
VIEWPOINT – RICHARD MOSS
A new study amongst smaller businesses in the UK has
Precision positioning systems are used for a broad variety of found that 55% say trade is suffering due to lockdown, with
complex applications worldwide, but they need to be just 30% able to operate as normal. As a result, 53% of small
efficiently installed and optimised to offer the necessary business owners admit they are at risk of closing within the
accuracy. But how can this be achieved when on-site support next 12 months.
is either not cost-effective or is prevented by travel bans? l Whilst 87% of medium sized businesses in the UK have
This article discusses the benefits a low-cost, remote set-up been able to trade to some degree, just 73% of micro
service can bring, giving customers access to expert businesses and 60% of sole traders have been able to
guidance, and ensuring that new systems can be fully l 1 in 12 smaller businesses say they ‘will close’ in
optimised and productive from day one 24 a matter of weeks 26

Hidden costs damage Economic predictions for 2021
businesses’ profitability l Covid vaccination program is expected to enable a
transition to post-pandemic economic growth of 4.5%
Hidden costs in the supply chain could l A divergent timeline for economic recovery, with a return
be seriously eroding profit margins. Here to economic growth varying widely across regions
we look at some measures to avoid them: l A shift in focus of investors and policymakers from
l Vendor reduction and rationalisation is a good way to Covid-19 to the impact of climate change
reduced procurement costs l Monetary policies should remain accommodative
l Smaller companies can benefit from the leverage of a l Finished goods prices are expected to accelerate in 2021
larger VMI service partner l The global financial sector should avoid major crises
l Finding a balance that suits your production schedule next year
and still ensure a reduction in on-site stock will l The US economy is forecast to start 2021 slowly,
deliver cash flow benefits 27 accelerate in the second half 29

BREXIT BRIEFING

Industrial EXTRA! is published by Industrial Technology
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Technology Tel: +44 (0)161 374 5615 Sale, Cheshire M33 2DA
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INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXTRA – WINTER 2021 5