The current Euro crisis has an important manufacturing competitiveness dimension. Nations with different levels of competitiveness are operating with the same exchange rate which favours the more competitive nations in international markets for manufactured goods; however this poses a serious burden on the less competitive nations. Germany has already become the largest manufacturing exporter in the world – ahead of China, Japan and the US, for example.

Manufacturing competitiveness is being tackled in Europe 2020 – the plan that is being led by the Commission to direct European strategy to the end of the decade. In their view manufacturing competitiveness can only be achieved by tackling the issues on a Europe-wide scale, rather than in individual member states. In addition, global manufacturing competitiveness lies at the heart of overall European economic competitiveness and spills over into other sectors such as services.

For some while the main focus of manufacturing policy in the Community has been the Manufuture platform.  This has been driven by a vision of advanced manufacturing much of which is mostly German in origin. In the past two or three years UK policy has moved noticeably in this direction, first under Peter Mandelson and then with the Coalition and the emphasis on rebalancing the UK economy with advanced manufacturing as a key driver.

The mission of the European Technology Platform Manufuture is to propose, develop and implement a strategy based on research and innovation, capable of speeding up the rate of industrial transformation to high-added-value products, processes and services, securing high-skills employment and winning a major share of world Manufacturing output in the future knowledge-driven economy. For more information about the platform go to http://www.manufuture.org/manufacturing/

In Framework 7 which will operate until 2013 this agenda is carried forward in the  NMP theme  – Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies which covers nanotechnology and nanosciences, knowledge-based multifunctional materials and new production processes and devices. The aim of NMP is  to improve the competitiveness of European industry and generate the knowledge needed to transform it from a resource-intensive to a knowledge-intensive industry. The budget in Framework 7 for NMP is 3.5bn Euros.

Industry Forum have been involved in some consortium discussions in response to a NMP call in 2007 led by a German R&D institute. We are also taking an interest in the current NMP call – particularly the elements which aim at creating conditions for continuous innovation and the development of generic production ‘assets’ (technologies, organisation and production facilities as well as human resources).

Framework 7 will be replaced by Horizon 2020 which will run up to 2020 and promises to be the largest ever R&D programme in history. An important thread in Horizon 2020 will be six manufacturing technologies which have been developed by comparing the technology priorities of Germany, France and the UK. The thinking behind this has been pushed forward by a High Level Group. David Willetts, the UK Science Minister, has been the most senior politician on this group. Their draft report was published in December 2010. It is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/files/kets/6_advanced_manufacturing_report_en.pdf

According to the report in the Community manufacturing represents 17% of GDP (significantly higher than in the UK) and 22 million jobs (which means that the UK is just over 10% of EC manufacturing employment). The six Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) are advanced manufacturing systems, photonics, nanotechnology, advanced materials, micro/nanoelectronics and biotechnology.

The education and training recommendations of the High Level Group are relevant to UK priorities and include:

• combine the education of world class scientists with the education of highly skilled engineers to manufacture and handle new materials and technologies at industrial scale
• promote math and science studies, lifelong learning, opening up our education system, mobility between industry and academia and facilitate the re-skilling of personnel
• review visa policies to Europe which is currently subsidizing studies of foreign students
• ensure continuous skills development through life-long learning. Training should also address skills required for exploitation and cooperation along the value chain
• promote math and science studies, lifelong learning, opening up our education system, mobility between industry and academia and facilitate the re-skilling of personnel
• send strong positive political signals about the future of European manufacturing to attract people to careers in engineering and sciences

The Commission page on KETs can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/key_technologies/index_en.htm

The Commission has also received a 216 page study of  impact of international policy on the KETs by the Danish Technological Institute which can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/files/kets/ket-report_en.pdf

A lot of the study is taken up with valuable international case studies covering Japan, the US etc. It concludes that there are four key areas if Europe is to realise its international potential given the rate of Asian progress:

• create critical mass in knowledge and funding through increased synergy
• increase market focus on R&D projects
• large scale demonstrators and pilot test facilities
• provide post R&D commercialisation support

Some other possible priorities for  Horizon 2020 have been mentioned recently by Commission officials in the UK. For example the high speed rail industry – both manufacturing and operations – is seen as a sector where the EC has potential to be globally competitive. In the next year or so many more priorities are likely to become visible and in due course substantial R&D funds will be directed towards these goals through the Horizon 2020 programme.

 

 

 

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The German trade association for the automotive industry is known by the initials VDA (Verband der deutschen Automobilindustrie E.V.) and given the size and importance of the automotive sector within the German economy it enjoys a good reputation and substantial influence. In 1997 the VDA set up a Quality Management Centre (QMC) for the benefit of German automotive OEM’s and their suppliers.  The work of the QMC ranges from developing systems and methods to shaping the future of quality management systems in the automotive industry.

Developed by VDA QMC and the German automotive industry, VDA 6.3 defines a process based audit standard for evaluating and improving controls in a manufacturing organisation’s processes. Revised in 2016, the standard was comprehensively restructured to reflect the changes to ISO9001 and IATF 16949 and customer specific requirements in the automotive industry. SMMT Industry Forum are licensed by VDA QMC Germany to deliver approved VDA 6.3 training and qualification modules. The standard can be used by any organisation, either for internal process audits, or for evaluating potential or existing suppliers. Compliance to VDA 6.3 is mandated by some vehicle makers and encouraged by others.

VDA 6.3 is an excellent tool for process audits within the automotive industry acting as a guideline for performing audits. It provides information on the significance and application scope of a process audit over the entire product realization cycle in both manufacturing and services It defines the audit process, the criteria for evaluation of the process audit results and the requirements of the processes. At the heart of the standard, each step in the process is modelled with six links and is governed by the Deming Loop – Plan Do Check Act. There are three grades that an organisation can reach under VDA 6.3 – A, B & C. This means that an organisation can pass the audit but still have scope for further improvement.

To gain VDA 6.3 qualifications, the best place to start is with the VDA 6.3 Process Auditor Training

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The German automotive industry is recognised on all sides as having successfully followed a premium strategy – developing brands which stand for high performance and high quality and production values. VDA 6.3 provides an opportunity to master some of the tools and approaches that have helped make this success possible. VDA 6.3 is particularly useful to a prime in any sector who wants to follow a premium strategy and wants to ensure that the supply chain is capable of supporting this approach to global competitiveness.

For further information on our VDA 6.3 training, please view the VDA 6.3 page.

If you would like to speak to someone about booking a place on one of our open courses or would explore the possibility of arranging a course within your organisation, please contact the Learning Centre on +44(0)121 717 6600 or email enquiries@if.wearecoal.work.

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Aerospace is a major engineering, manufacturing and service industry within the UK, significant on both a European and a global scale. It employs over 100,000 people directly, and over 220,000 indirectly, and is one of the UK’s largest exporters adding around £2.8 billion annually to the UK balance of trade. Besides famous name global companies (several of which are UK owned) the sector encompasses around 2600 companies across all regions of the UK many of which are SMEs especially at tiers 2 and 3 in the supply chain.

The industry uses a broad range of skills and disciplines, including engineering and science, production, service, supply chain, training and financial skills at all levels. It is central to high value added advanced manufacturing in the UK which is a national priority under the Coalition’s policy of rebalancing the UK economy. As such a high rate of technical innovation typifies the sector.

Opportunities ahead for the UK aerospace sector, in the medium term include the A320/737 series New Short Range replacement programmes and unmanned aerial systems; whilst in the shorter term, new programmes such as the Airbus A350XWB and A400M, Boeing 787, Bombardier C Series and possible Airbus A320 and Boeing 737re-engining offer a substantial workload.

New regional and business aircraft and emerging platforms from new prime contractors in China, India, Japan, Russia and Brazil are also targets for the UK sector. Next generation rotorcraft will be developed, offering lower noise and operating costs offering much higher speeds. Environmental regulations and considerations are key drivers for the latest technology developments, which the UK is particularly well-placed to exploit.

To make the most of these opportunities, improved supply chain performance and management is critical. This was acknowledged by the sector when it launched SC21 (21st Century Supply Chains) at the Farnborough Airshow in 2006. SC21 is a major change programme designed to accelerate the competitiveness of the aerospace and defence industry by raising the performance of its supply chains.

SC21 has been endorsed by the aerospace prime companies for the benefit of their complete supply chains which include many SMEs and also by the UK Ministry of Defence. To date there are over 500 businesses committed to improving their performance and thereby positively impacting the competitiveness of the UK aerospace & defence supply chain.

From its initial base in the automotive sector, Industry Forum has worked extensively in UK aerospace sector for over a decade and has carried out numerous process improvement and supply chain improvement projects successfully.

Supply chain solutions with Industry Forum begin by assessing and setting improvement strategy and goals. This includes analysis of current and future supply chain impact to the host organisation against a number of key variables, resulting in a comprehensive improvement plan. Industry Forum can help firms deliver every aspect of the improvement plan and as far as the aerospace sector is concerned make decisive progress towards sustainable global competitiveness.

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Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is best known for its use world-wide by major companies particularly in the food and chemical sectors.  However, as the UK moves more and more into capital intensive advanced manufacturing the TPM approach will pay dividends in many sectors and in firms of all sizes and mark a path to the achievement of true global competitiveness.

TPM started as an approach to maintenance which aimed to integrate equipment maintenance into the manufacturing process. TPM was originated in Japan in 1971 from the Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) following a couple of decades of development in various major companies.  Since then TPM has expanded substantially to form a structured approach deploying a comprehensive set of tools and techniques in order to eliminate all losses across a whole organisation and throughout the value stream.

TPM has emerged as a credible way to give organisations the structure to make any improvements sustainable through employee ownership. A 12 step structure guides the organisation through the deployment of 8 Pillars (a type of major activity which is deployed to eliminate the losses) combined with a number of more traditional improvement tools. The key to its success is the overlapping group structure deployed and the link to the organisation’s Policy Deployment method.

The word ‘total’ in TPM signifies total organisation or total participation. Everyone in the organisation at all levels and across all functions plays an active role in TPM including contract and part time employees. It also means total life-cycle, pre-empting losses of all types throughout the life cycle of the production system.  Finally it means total effectiveness, judged by maximising the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) performance measure.

OEE is a metric developed to measure the success of early TPM programmes.  OEE enables organisations to benchmark and monitor their progress with simple, easy to understand metrics and it is one of the seven key measures of Quality, Cost and Delivery (QCD) which underpin all Industry Forum’s offerings.  It is not unknown for the initial measurement of OEE at the start of a project to be less than 40%.  A well-managed TPM programme can, over a period of years raise this to over 90%. This means that the productivity of capital has effectively doubled. However, the philosophy of TPM is that the quest for improvement is unlimited and should never plateau.

The TPM approach incorporates a proactive style of thinking, aiming at a zero condition or zero losses – zero accidents, zero defects and zero breakdowns. The traditional data driven reactive improvement approach will by itself never achieve a zero condition. The reactive data approach should be used to build the experience and understanding of the workforce to allow the adoption of a proactive approach.

TPM incorporates the familiar Demming Cycle – Plan, Do, Check, Act – and maps this onto the process model.

The role of management is critical in TPM – demonstrating and reinforcing the correct behaviour and attitude throughout the entire organisation, providing leadership and showing commitment to achieving and sustaining improvements. Management  must  provide a clear link between the improvement required and the policies that evolve from the long term vision and goals of the organisation.  Priorities must be set and resources allocated with an appropriate level of follow up. Management must allocate time, initially for training in the appropriate tools and then and in the long term for the continual deployment of the tools.

Industry Forum  can offer TPM Assessment, TPM Consultancy and TPM Training services to organisations in all sectors on a global scale. It is one of only six accredited JIPM TPM Assessment Agencies in the world and the only agency with assessors speaking English as their native first language.

 

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