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Does motivation hold the key

to manufacturing resilience?

ENGAGING WITH CUSTOMERS TO UNDERSTAND THEIR FUTURE PAIN over-60s, reduced staffing levels, split shifts, consolidated
shipments and furloughing half the workforce at any one
POINTS IS AMONG THE STEPS MANUFACTURERS CAN TAKE TO ENSURE
time.For a specialist sensor manufacturer at least, the
THEIR OPERATIONS CONTINUE THROUGH THE CRISIS AND BEYOND crisis has presented an unexpected opportunity. “We are
soon to implement an online webinar and training
ow do you keep a factory running during the sample group of UK manufacturers to find out how they platform for our customers in reaction to Covid-19”, they
COVID-19 crisis? The main problem isn’t continue to operate whilst still protecting their staff from said. “This may actually prove to be a long-term service
social distancing necessarily, but keeping the the threat of COVID-19. The responses from the for customers if it is successful. We would not have done
Hteam motivated during the slowdown. That’s manufacturing community were as varied as they were this had COVID-19 not forced us to respond to the ban on
according to new research by money.co.uk, which spoke illuminating. face-to-face customer meetings”.
to 25 business leaders from the manufacturing industry to At one end of the spectrum, a food manufacturing Money.co.uk’s research also shed light on the biggest
gain insights into how coronavirus has affected them. plant boss said they had no choice but to “close all challenges currently facing British manufacturers.
Some 91% of the manufacturers interviewed operations”. However, for one valve manufacturer, a can- Unsurprisingly, “cash flow” and a “drop in sales” were
experienced a dip in output and 66% have witnessed a do attitude of “masks and smiles” was proving enough to among the chief concerns, with one valve and
slump in productivity. But despite the fact
that 75% of those manufacturers have
furloughed staff, many have found new ways
to keep production going. Like many UK
industries, manu-facturing has been hard hit
by the ripple effect of Covid-19. Uncertainty
breeds caution, with many businesses forced
to pause their operations. The knock-on
effect for manufacturers has been profound.
A staggering 91% of the manufacturers david.b@atlas.co.uk
interviewed reported a dip in output since
lockdown restrictions were put in place,
according to money.co.uk’s research.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the slump in output and keep the wheels of industry rolling. For the vast majority instrumentation supplier even revealing that customers
general air of uncertainty, two thirds of the manufacturers of manufacturers though, working from home and were actively withholding payment on pre-crisis invoices,
admitted that staff productivity has been badly affected by rotational shift patterns for shop floor workers have proven until normal business resumes.
the crisis. These sobering statistics go a long way to the most effective measures. For others, worries extended beyond the stress of
explaining why a massive 75% of the manufacturers “Those that have the possibility to work from home do money woes into more practical areas. These concerns
interviewed had been forced to use the government so,” said one steam equipment manufacturer, “and those ranged from “international shipment delays and costs” to
furlough scheme to protect the livelihoods of their working from the manufacturing facility undergo a quick “reduced air travel impacting cargo space availability”, key
personnel in the longer term. As well as this quantitative health screening prior to entering the building”. contacts being unavailable through furlough and the
data, money.co.uk also gathered qualitative data from a Elsewhere, other effective strategies included shielding constant pressure of trying to “do the right thing”.

6 INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY • May/June 2020