Nuaire MD highlights 3 challenges for manufacturers, at Future of Manufacturing Wales event
We were delighted to participate in Insider Media’s breakfast panel discussion on the Future of Manufacturing Wales on 8th October, held at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Nuaire Managing Director, Meirion Richards, was one of six panellists discussing the challenges ahead in manufacturing, but also celebrating the innovation to be found here in Wales.
Manufacturing is at the very heart of Wales, from the heavy industries of the past through to the increasingly specialised and diverse manufacturers of today which operate across a wide range of sectors. It contributes over 16% to Wales’ national economic output, which is significantly higher than the UK average of around 9%, and provides employment to around 150,000 people, with many thousands more employed in the extended supply chain.
Panellists at the Future of Manufacturing Wales were asked to identify the key changes that businesses in all industrial sectors will need to know about to stay competitive through the next decade and beyond. With over 20 years’ experience in senior leadership positions within manufacturing, but his eyes firmly on the future, Meirion highlighted three important aspects that all companies should be focussing on.
1. Connectivity
The world is becoming more and more connected. When it comes to product, connectivity through digital technology is pivotal not only to the ventilation industry, but all sectors. Integrating Nuaire’s product portfolio by bringing sensors and fans together in to one harmonious, efficient system is a driving force in product development. How we achieve this – whether it be by integrating our products into building management systems (BMS) or through smart apps – will have a considerable impact on product development and production. Times have changed and the best product is not the one that is necessarily going to be the most successful; it’s going to be the one that is most usable. The gravitation of our skills set towards digital technology is therefore paramount.
2. Skills Gap
When it comes to manufacturing, the skills gap is not just in one area, but is everywhere. The lack of vocational training is partly to blame and in South Wales colleges providing this have all but disappeared. But manufacturers also need to share some of the responsibility for the skills gap as the working conditions provided, and the opportunities for young people, haven’t always been good and in some cases remain poor. Parents – many of whom have direct experience of working in factories – aren’t encouraging their children to go into manufacturing as they want better for their kids. So, as manufacturers, we all have to offer better! We need to make the workplace an attractive environment with good facilities, and we need to have a strategy in place that defines potential career paths.
The nature of people entering the workforce has changed. 20 to 30 years ago, it was usual for young people entering into manufacturing to do so just because they needed a job and there was little thought of a career plan. Today, young people have a very different mindset and want to know what a potential employer can offer them both immediately and over a longer term. Manufacturers need to show younger people the career paths open to them. We need to attract talent and we need to nurture it; we need to change with the times!
And we need to be proactive. We should be reaching out to our local communities, going into our schools, to encourage children at an early age that manufacturing in Wales has a future, and it’s an exciting one. We also need to commit resources to providing good apprenticeships at all levels, including degree level. If parents and young people can see that an apprenticeship will result in quality training, a degree, and they are being paid along the way, it becomes a far more attractive proposition.
Lastly, on this subject, manufacturers should weigh up the pros and cons of remote working and how it impacts on learning. Remote working certainly has its benefits for employer and employee, but there is a downside in that when it comes to manufacturing and engineering you cannot beat hands on learning, and to do that you need to be in the same building. Young people starting out a career in this field can learn so much from the more experienced engineers, whose knowledge is invaluable.
3. Decarbonisation
No surprise here, that the other big challenge facing manufacturers is decarbonisation. The challenge doesn’t just come in reducing carbon emissions from the product and the manufacturing process (which is a considerable challenge in itself) though, but in presenting a product to the market that, for all intents and purposes, appears the same as before. Redesigning a good product so that it is a lower or low carbon product adds expense, but doesn’t add value in the eyes of the customer as, from a technological point of view, they see the same product.
Having said that, within larger organisations that have procurement teams who have targets to reduce Scope 3 emissions (indirect emissions, including those that come from purchased goods and services), they see the value of what we are doing and we are trying our best to support them. In 2024 alone, we have taken 2,000 tons of carbon from our product portfolio and next year we have even bigger plans.
Conclusion
The companies that can adapt to these three challenges are the ones that can succeed. In Wales we have seen a shift away from heavy industry to smaller, innovative, dynamic manufacturers that understand these challenges and have the flexibility and drive to face these and future challenges head on. Manufacturing in Wales is alive and well, but we must continually look to the future – be it in creating intelligent products that meet customer needs, nurturing talent, and decarbonisation – to ensure its health.
If you would like to watch a recording of the Future of Manufacturing Wales panel discussion, please click here.
Our thanks to Insider Media and to Douglas Friedli, Editor for Wales Business Insider, who hosted the event.
