in association with

ManufacturingTrends Survey

October 2012

three quarters put the maintenance of customersatisfaction at the top of their list. Ensuring productquality (58%), keeping an eye on cashflow (55%) andengaging with staff (49%) scored well too.

Meanwhile, rising energy prices (cited by 25%) and thedouble dip recession (21%) were most likely to be givingmanufacturers sleepless nights. Much talked aboutcompetition from low cost countries (15%) and skillsshortages at home (11%) are causing less angst.

Manufacturing Trends October 2012 2

Manufacturing folk are a hardy lot. They refuse to bepessimistic despite the difficult economic times.

Choosing instead to put customer care and quality at thetop of the business agenda and determinedly pursuingtheir home market.

Manufacturers continue to invest in operationalefficiency – regardless a standoff with the banks overlending them the cash – loyally hang on to staff anddeploy technology. None of which is to say that ourmanufacturing community is suffering fromcomplacency.

The Trends in Manufacturing Survey, conducted by WMin association with the software solutions specialistAccess, has its underbelly too. Rising input prices,elongated recession and Chinese competition are allrecognised threats while the cost of moving inbound andoutbound goods and materials as well as their receipt, on-time, in-full, exercises our manufacturing managers’ minds.

Positive and putting customers firstAsked whether they felt optimistic or otherwise about theforthcoming 12 months, the strongest response by far camefrom the 59% of respondents who felt broadly positive,easily outnumbering the fence sitters (16%) and thepessimists (26%). Reinforcing this bright outlook, almost half(48%) saw an improvement in business performance on thehorizon while just 18% predicted a downturn.

Asked to indicate their top priorities, an encouraging

Despite some downbeat official data and what the doom merchants say, UK manufacturers have a

spring in their step heading into 2013 says research from IT specialist, Access and WM magazine

How do you feel about the business outlook formanufacturing over the next 12 months?

Quite optimistic51%

Very pessimistic2%

Very optimistic8%

Neither optimisticnor pessimistic

16%Quite pessimistic

24%

Fortune favoursthe brave

STRATEGY 2013

Looking up: broad optimisim about things to come in 2013