28th January 2020
An up and down year for the UK manufacturing industry
2019 was an up and down year for the manufacturing sector, partly due to Brexit uncertainty and political instability in the UK and beyond. It will be interesting to see how Brexit will impact the manufacturing sector in 2020 as it’s finally put into place, at Southern Springs and Pressings we continue to remain optimistic.
Many manufacturers saw a downturn in orders in the second half of 2019 due to stock piling in the early part of 2019 because of the planned Brexit in March 2019. This could be seen in reports such as the Markit PMI Report.
The decisive election result in December 2019 will hopefully bring some confidence to the industry with optimism amongst manufacturers increasing after Boris Johnson’s landslide victory in December 2019 as seen in this article. With Brexit now firmly in place for the end of this month, we can now better plan for 2020 and beyond.
Technology is still very much an important factor for UK manufacturers with many developments such as cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence and robotics continuing to play a growing part in Industry 4.0 and the advancement of the industry. The Manufacturer has published a handy checklist for maximising the potential of Industry 4.0 in 2020.
Ensuring there are enough skilled engineers to plug the looming skills gap is a very real threat to manufacturers, older members of the workforce are retiring and there is an insufficient number of trained young people entering the sector. This article in the Financial Times analyses the issue in depth. At Southern Springs and Pressings, we are focused on ensuring we have a skilled team of engineers so we can continue to design and manufacture bespoke components. As members of the Institute of Spring Technology, we can access their specialist courses to ensure our staff are trained on the most recent spring design software and machinery.
Exporting is a key area of opportunity for the sector to grow as seen in this report from The Manufacturer. In the last few years we have seen an increase in our export sales and we will continue to look to increase our exports especially once Brexit is firmly in place.
Tim Page, Managing Director, said “Despite a fairly unsettled 2019 for the manufacturing industry, a new year is always an exciting prospect and we are looking forward to facing new challenges and continuing to grow relationships with our customers both new and old. We are very positive about what 2020 has in store for us.”
Many manufacturers saw a downturn in orders in the second half of 2019 due to stock piling in the early part of 2019 because of the planned Brexit in March 2019. This could be seen in reports such as the Markit PMI Report.
The decisive election result in December 2019 will hopefully bring some confidence to the industry with optimism amongst manufacturers increasing after Boris Johnson’s landslide victory in December 2019 as seen in this article. With Brexit now firmly in place for the end of this month, we can now better plan for 2020 and beyond.
Technology is still very much an important factor for UK manufacturers with many developments such as cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence and robotics continuing to play a growing part in Industry 4.0 and the advancement of the industry. The Manufacturer has published a handy checklist for maximising the potential of Industry 4.0 in 2020.
Ensuring there are enough skilled engineers to plug the looming skills gap is a very real threat to manufacturers, older members of the workforce are retiring and there is an insufficient number of trained young people entering the sector. This article in the Financial Times analyses the issue in depth. At Southern Springs and Pressings, we are focused on ensuring we have a skilled team of engineers so we can continue to design and manufacture bespoke components. As members of the Institute of Spring Technology, we can access their specialist courses to ensure our staff are trained on the most recent spring design software and machinery.
Exporting is a key area of opportunity for the sector to grow as seen in this report from The Manufacturer. In the last few years we have seen an increase in our export sales and we will continue to look to increase our exports especially once Brexit is firmly in place.
Tim Page, Managing Director, said “Despite a fairly unsettled 2019 for the manufacturing industry, a new year is always an exciting prospect and we are looking forward to facing new challenges and continuing to grow relationships with our customers both new and old. We are very positive about what 2020 has in store for us.”
