“The dip in automotive sales
is a natural correction”
Mike Dickinson, general manager, Industry Forum
AUTOMOTIVE JULY/AUGUST 2019
chain needs. A result of this has been the Long-
Term Automotive Supply Chain Competitiveness
funding scheme (LTASC), completed in 2018,
which offered flexible funding to the automotive
supply chain, to fund R&D, capital funding and
training. As manufacturers are only as strong as
their supply chain, LTASC met the challenge of
finding ways to speed up supply chain suppliers’
level of investment.
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Endorsed by car manufacturers, and run
by Industry Forum, an SMMT subsidiary, the
holistic nature of LTASC made it truly beneficial
for the industry, creating and safeguarding
jobs, training people and leveraging £41 million
of private investment. In a global sourcing
environment, LTASC has helped UK-based
suppliers to complete with those abroad – giving
the UK supply base a greater level of resilience
and confidence, as well as the ability to compete
for new contracts as they appear.
The successor to LTASC was recently
announced: National Manufacturing
Competitiveness Levels (NMCL) is designed
to provide a qualitative measure of business
competitiveness for automotive supply chain
companies. Measuring competitiveness not
only indicates current performance but
also highlights where improvements can be
made. NMCL provides a way a comparing
competitiveness of manufacturing, regardless
of shape, size or sector.
Sharing best practice
Since the formation of the Automotive Council,
there has been a willingness within the industry
to share best practice. This includes collaboration
among members, information cascaded down
through the supply chain tiers and transferring
technology out of the
automotive industry, for its
benefit. By ensuring a capable,
competitive, integrated supply
chain of strong Tier One, Tier
Two and Tier Three suppliers,
business improvement
programmes are transforming
the business landscape of the
UK and making the country a
compelling investment location.
NMCL is a great example
of how the automotive and
aerospace supply chains, which
contain many manufacturers
that supply both sectors, have
jointly developed an approach.
Interested companies are able
to apply for funding.
What happens next?
Despite the industry’s best
efforts, the dip we are seeing
in automotive sales at the
moment is likely part of
a natural correction – as
manufacturing output in the
industry tends to be cyclical.
However, the situation is
being made worse with tighter
emissions legislation, the
demise of diesel, the demand
for new technology, and the
as-yet-unknown implications
of Brexit.
As well as ongoing activity
to attract foreign direct
investment into the UK
automotive industry by UK
Trade & Investment and
other inward investment
organisations, the Automotive
Council has responded with
activity to answer the specific
challenges we are facing.
Industry Forum has
spent 25 years developing
its approach to helping
manufacturers understand
their current capabilities
and competitiveness, and
quickly work out where and
how to invest to make big
improvements – providing
competitiveness improvement
training and consultancy,
working with leading UK
organisations, national
programmes and trade
associations in order to
develop workforces to
maximum efficiency.
Despite recent
struggles, the
automotive
sector still
out-performs
all others
Ivan Traimak /stock.adobe.com
/www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
/stock.adobe.com