It’s official; Britain’s car makers are some of the country’s productive employees, each generating £100,000 a year in added value. This once again adds to the positivity which is currently engulfing the UK manufacturing sector.
Productivity in the UK car industry has risen by 35pc since 2010 and is now twice the national average of £46,000, and better than the wider manufacturing sector’s figure of £62,000. This, combined with advanced production techniques, mean that three cars roll off the UK’s production lines every minute, according to new data from industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
As we stated in our very own letter featured in the Daily Telegraph’s letters pages, this news, whilst welcome and extremely positive, doesn’t come as much surprise to us at all.
There is now clear evidence that UK manufacturers are adopting standard manufacturing principles which have been used in German manufacturing for many years, and this has resulted in a transition which has seen the performance of the manufacturing sector in the UK change rapidly, and all for the better. UK factories continue to make products that are more competitive now than at any time in the modern era. This is exactly why UK manufacturing must be at the centre of a better-balanced economy.
There are several reasons why this is the case. Across the automotive industry there is increasing demand for automation and control, in our case our multi-camera inspection systems are critical to the modern factory, particularly for the automotive market. This in turn increases productivity for manufacturers. And of course there is a better quality and more skilled workforce; a shift from the production of low to high productivity goods; an improvement in the information technology base; and more investment in research and development.
