Foundation for the Advancement of British Manufacturing Industry
| Published date | 01 July 1987 |
| Pages | 13-14 |
| Date | 01 July 1987 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057483 |
| Author | Norman E. Hearson |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Foundation
for the
Advancement
of British
Manufacturing
Industry
by Norman E. Hearson
A former Major in The Life Guards, the author joined
IBM in the UK, taking, in 1984, early retirement after
27 years to form his own consultancy organisation,
Phoenix Industrial Enterprises Limited. On 29 October
1986,
with very considerable national support, an
innovative and exciting new initiative was launched,
the Foundation for the Advancement of British
Manufacturing Industry (FABMI). Fundamental to this
is the setting up of a computerised database enabling
British*
suppliers, inventors and entrepreneurs to reach
those UK-based manufacturing companies whose
needs include competitively priced products and
components.
The article which follows does not seek to be yet another
contribution in the debate on whether Great Britain Limited
has a greater or lesser dependency on a vibrant,
internationally competitive manufacturing base. It is
assumed that every sector of the economy should have one
aim — the optimisation of its capability to create wealth.
On this premise, British manufacturing industry must put
its house in order and drive unceasingly to secure annual
increments in world trade markets. The responsibility of
government in this task is constantly to encourage the
creation of an environment in which entrepreneurial
management, both corporate and individual, can identify
and capitalise on opportunities which are essentially both
latent and demanding.
With all humility, FABMI sees itself as a catalyst assisting
the constituent parts of British manufacturing industry to
get its act together, to harness its internal disciplines and
centres of excellence irrespective of regional or functional
bias.
"Nation shall speak unto nation", but nearer to home,
how effectively are our regions communicating?
The foundation abhors protectionism where such a
philosophy is trailed as an alternative to fair competition.
The "British option", whether in terms of capability,
component, product or service, must be an offering of "total
quality" in design, manufacture and price competitiveness.
When the chips are down, purveyors of venture and
development capital have no god-given commitment to
invest in manufacturing industry. So long as the return on
investment in manufacturing in the UK stands at eight per
cent and Japan at 24 per cent, West Germany at 17 per
cent and the US at 19 per cent, much of the solution of
combating trade wars lies in our own hands.
Ad nauseam, the partnership between engineer and
marketeer has been the subject of conference, seminar and
personal entreaty. Whilst much progress has been made in
enhancing this vital relationship, the profits from such
synergy are still calamitously underestimated. Similarly, the
necessity to identify applications when considering R&D
investment, especially in respect of strategic, applied and
developmental research, is still woefully neglected. (If the
inventor of the zip fastener had majored on the market for
shirts rather than trousers he would never have been heard
of again.) The history books are full of examples of the folly
caused by the parochialism of industrial designers, their
colleagues in R&D and marketeers. Great Britain Limited can
no longer afford such a luxury.
What,
then,
is "the way forward"? It would be trite to say
that British manufacturing industry has a communication
problem.
Nevertheless, unless all available talent throughout
the UK is harnessed for the common cause, the UK will
continue to be highly vulnerable to external market forces.
FABMI has identified an on-line applications dababase as
the preferred communications vehicle. Membership of the
foundation will be open to all who manufacture and service
manufacturing in the UK, irrespective of size or organisation.
Thus,
the offerings of one company, whether they be
component, assembly or completed product, will be made
known to all FABMI colleagues. Additionally, engineering and
marketing capability will similarly be on offer. Where a
market need is identified (especially in the case of an export
opportunity), FABMI will use its best offices to identify those
members who could participate in producing "the British
option",
available to the home as well as the export markets.
This enabling process will also recognise that within
associate membership, industrial designers and R&D
exponents in both the private and public sectors (e.g.
universities, polytechnics and colleges) will similarly be
provided with the opportunity to contribute.
To this end, FABMI will establish contacts with every known
centre of competence and excellence which can be har-
nessed to address the resolution of the problem. (In the 15
months of research which the author carried out prior to
the formation of FABMI, confirmation of this need, if any
was required, came almost daily. As an example, a vital piece
of the jigsaw necessary to produce a specific "British
option"
was subsequently known by the author to have been
available in Northern Ireland, but, especially when time was
of the essence, the chances of A knowing of B, let alone C,
*"British" (e.g. British manufacturing industry) is used in the
context of the "employment of UK nationals by British and foreign
companies trading in the UK".
IMDS • JULY/AUGUST • 1987 13
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