people & productivity survey - festo€¦ · wm discusses the findings of the people &...
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1 | P a g e
In association with
People &
Productivity
Survey June 2013
A survey of 117 respondents
www.worksmanagement.co.uk July/August 2013 29
Why are you particularly interested in the
area of people and productivity?
As both a manufacturer and a company that
trains other organisations, we are very aware of the skills
shortage in manufacturing and engineering.
I passionately believe in helping to create a sustainable
manufacturing industry in the UK and that means having a
genuine understanding of the challenges organisations face
in terms of people and productivity and what we can do, as
an industry, to address them.
What do you believe are the main reasons for a
skills shortage?
It’s an accumulation of a number of different factors. There
is a clear lack of younger talent coming into the industry.
The research has shown that there is a high group of
employees in the 40-55 age category, where a lot of
knowledge and experience is held. This can be difficult to
transfer to the younger generation. The challenge is to bring
in young and enthusiastic employees, and then quickly
transfer knowledge so that the 10-15 year experience gap
can be minimised.
The survey has identified that talent development
and training is the most important management
issue. What can companies do to address this?
It’s a tough climate at the moment, and definitely a difficult
one in which to ask for investment, but this is exactly what’s
needed. We do have a conundrum. To meet the skills
shortages, employers often look for multi-skilled people – or
recruiting one person to fill the roles of two employees. This
makes recruitment a really difficult task.
Equally, when things get difficult and costs need to be
cut, reducing investment in training and development is
seen as an easy win. However, this is one of the reasons
that we’re in this position already. Manufacturers need to
understand that they have to upskill their own people and
take responsibility for investing in skills development. This is
especially important in the areas where there’s most
competition for people – skilled engineers and skilled
shopfloor positions.
Our automation division in Festo sees this as highly
important and invests heavily in training and development.
Yes, it does mean that we lose some good people to
competitors, but also we know that people really value the
investment, which helps retain them in the long term. We
recently wrote a white paper called ‘Manufacturing – It’s a
people business’ because people should be at the heart of
any business and long-term success.
Are apprentices the answer to skills shortages?
I am delighted to see apprenticeships back on the agenda
and believe that they’re important to raise the perception of
the industry and provide a viable career option. I’m pleased
to see that 62% of organisations are planning on taking on
an apprentice this year.
The survey has shown that enthusiasm and commitment
are key attributes when recruiting apprentices, yet there is
disappointment in the level of literacy, numeracy and
technical skills. Interestingly, through our own conversations
in the industry, it seems that the new apprentice schemes
are attracting a good quality of applicants. Perhaps it is
because individuals are considering apprenticeships as a
viable alternative to university and therefore this is raising
the calibre.
For our part, we’ve been spoilt for choice in the selection
of potential apprentices. This could also be because we
invest a lot of time in working closely with education
establishments providing an insight into the career
possibilities within Festo. This is important. To get the quality
of applicants, you need to put the effort into making your
organisation an attractive proposition for them.
Is the lack of qualified people putting pressure on
profitability?
There is a tendency to put our head in the sand over this
issue, as the industry is so busy coping with the pressure of
problems today. If this continues, the risk of not being able
to cope in the future grows. As the capable workforce
narrows, whether through people moving to new jobs,
retirement, or the presence of new technology, there will be
increasing pressure on maintaining service levels.
The research has shown that while the lack of skilled
people is not currently reducing profitability for many, some
of the industry comments have highlighted that many
shopfloor staff are working overtime. Managers are also
working long hours to fill in, which takes them away from
more strategic issues. This is unsustainable in the long term.
What do you think the future holds for
manufacturing?
We have been addressing skills shortages since 1867
when the first report was conducted into the industrial
skills base. However, I am optimistic as I see the industry,
further education and the government really working
together to reinstate manufacturing as one of the jewels in
the UK’s crown. ■
Skills for successWM discusses the findings of the People & Productivity research with Festo Training and
Consulting’s managing director Gary Wyles
People & Productivity 2013Festo Training and Consulting
www.festo-didactic.co.uk
Gary Wyles: “The
challenge is to bring in
young and enthusiastic
employees, and then
quickly transfer
knowledge”
2 | P a g e
Q1. Does your business suffer from a skills shortage?
Response Count Percentage
Yes 88 75%
No 29 25%
Total 117 100%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Yes No
75%
25%
3 | P a g e
Q2. Has the situation got better or worse in the past 12 months?
Response Count Percentage
Better 10 11%
Worse 38 43%
No change 40 45%
Total 88 100%
NOTE- Only asked of the 88 “Yes” respondents in Q1
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Better Worse No change
11%
43% 45%
4 | P a g e
Q3. In which of the following job roles are you most prone to suffer from
skills shortages?
Response Count Percentage
Experienced engineers 32 36%
Unskilled/junior shopfloor
positions 5 6%
Skilled shopfloor positions 35 40%
Middle/senior management 11 13%
Other 5 6%
Total 88 100%
NOTE- Only asked of the 88 “Yes” respondents in Q1
Others
Supply Chain specialists
Logistic skills
Leadership responsible positions
SAP IT
Multi skilled maintenance engineers
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Other
Middle/ senior management
Skilled shopfloor positions
Unskilled/ junior shopfloor positions
Experienced engineers
6%
13%
40%
6%
36%
5 | P a g e
Q4. Have you recruited skilled engineers from outside the UK to cover
shortages?
Response Count Percentage
Yes 23 26%
No 65 74%
Total 88 100%
NOTE- Only asked of the 88 “Yes” respondents in Q1
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Yes No
26%
74%
6 | P a g e
Q5. What’s the average age of your employees?
Response Count Percentage
Under 35 7 6%
35-39 23 20%
40-44 44 38%
45-49 30 25%
50-54 10 8%
Over 55 1 1%
No answer 2 2%
Total 117 100%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Under 35 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55+ No answer
6%
20%
38%
25%
8%
1% 2%
7 | P a g e
Q6. Please rate the following management issues in terms of concern to
your business:
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Succession planning
Employee engagement
Talent development and …
Employee churn
Maintaining morale and …
High number of staff due …
Difficulty in recruitment
Lack of management skills
56%
56%
62%
11%
59%
16%
44%
38%
39%
38%
34%
42%
34%
40%
45%
50%
4%
5%
4%
47%
7%
44%
11%
12%
Not important
Quite important
Very important
Response Count % Count % Count %
Very important Quite
important Not important
Lack of management skills
44 38% 59 50% 14 12%
Difficulty in recruitment
51 44% 53 45% 13 11%
High number of staff due to retire
19 16% 47 40% 51 44%
Maintaining morale and motivation
69 59% 40 34% 8 7%
Employee churn 13 11% 49 42% 55 47%
Talent development and training
72 62% 40 34% 5 4%
Employee engagement
66 56% 45 38% 6 5%
Succession planning 66 56% 46 39% 5 4%
8 | P a g e
By assigning scores of 2 to “Very important”, 1 to “Quite important” and
0 to “Not important”, we can create a ranking by issue, where a high
score represents the most important issues.
0 50 100 150 200
Employee churn
High number of staff due to retire
Lack of management skills
Difficulty in recruitment
Employee engagement
Maintaining morale and motivation
Succession planning
Talent development and training
75
85
147
155
177
178
178
184
9 | P a g e
Q7. Will you take on an apprentice this year?
Response Count Percentage
Yes 72 62%
No 45 38%
Total 117 100%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Yes No
62%
38%
10 | P a g e
Q8. Which of the following attributes are you most looking for when
taking on an apprentice (rate in order of importance):
By assigning scores of 6 to “1 most important”, down to 1 for “6 least
important”, we can create a ranking by issue, where a high score
represents the most important issues.
NOTE- Only asked of the 72 “Yes” respondents in Q7
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Design skills
Technical skills
Literacy
Self confidence/ interpersonal skills
Numeracy
Enthusiasm/ commitment
123
237
238
242
274
398
11 | P a g e
Response 1 2 3 4 5 6
Enthusiasm/commitment 55 8 4 3 1 1
Literacy 3 11 20 17 13 8
Numeracy 5 15 28 11 11 2
Design skills 0 2 4 10 11 45
Technical skills 6 14 9 15 22 6
Self confidence/ interpersonal skills
3 22 7 16 14 10
Response 1 2 3 4 5 6
Enthusiasm/commitment 76% 11% 6% 4% 1% 1%
Literacy 4% 15% 28% 24% 18% 11%
Numeracy 7% 21% 39% 15% 15% 3%
Design skills 0% 3% 6% 14% 15% 63%
Technical skills 8% 19% 13% 21% 31% 8%
Self confidence/ interpersonal skills
4% 31% 10% 22% 19% 14%
Q9. How do the candidates you interview rate in these areas?
By assigning scores of 5 to “1 Excellent”, down to 1 for “5 Poor”, we can
create a ranking by issue, where a high score represents the most
important issues.
NOTE- Only asked of the 72 “Yes” respondents in Q7
12 | P a g e
Response 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
Enthusiasm/commitment 15 26 22 5 2 2
Literacy 1 23 25 16 2 5
Numeracy 3 24 31 12 1 1
Design skills 0 4 22 21 17 8
Technical skills 5 11 27 18 8 3
Self confidence/ interpersonal skills
6 21 31 12 1 1
Response 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
Enthusiasm/commitment 21% 36% 31% 7% 3% 3%
Literacy 1% 32% 35% 22% 3% 7%
Numeracy 4% 33% 43% 17% 1% 1%
Design skills 0% 6% 31% 29% 24% 11%
Technical skills 7% 15% 38% 25% 11% 4%
Self confidence/ interpersonal skills
8% 29% 43% 17% 1% 1%
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Design skills
Technical skills
Literacy
Numeracy
Self confidence/interpersonal skills
Enthusiasm/commitment
141
194
206
229
232
257
13 | P a g e
Q10. What are the barriers to investment in apprenticeships? Tick all that
apply.
Response Count Percentage
Lack of confidence in future
business growth 37 32%
Bureaucracy 26 22%
Lack of quality in local
college/training provider 27 23%
Quality of applicants 42 36%
Cost 30 26%
Other 26 22%
Others
Ability to manage / develop apprentices (quantity).
Apprentices leaving the company after receiving their training.
Business needs.
Company issues.
Employed three last year. No resource to train additional apprentices.
Inability to guarantee employment at end of apprenticeship.
Inability to plan following abolition of compulsory retirement.
No barriers.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Other
Cost
Quality of applicants
Lack of quality in local college/ training provider
Bureaucracy
Lack of confidence in future business growth
22%
26%
36%
23%
22%
32%
14 | P a g e
No vacancies at the moment.
Not required at present. We have one already..
Not required in current climate.
Opportunity to recruit.
There is no development plan or consideration for an apprentice.
Time.
Time & internal commitment.
Time commitment required from us.
Took two on last year.
Two in training already.
We are currently fully staffed.
We do not perceive a barrier.
We have already taken one on last year.
We have enough for what we are trying to achieve.
We recruit graduates as part of the Companies training scheme.
We take on apprentices in line with forecasted retirements.
We take on Graduates instead.
Workload in the business is a variable unknown.
15 | P a g e
Q11. Has a shortage of skilled employees been a direct cause of
downtime/reduced profitability at your site in the past year?
Response Count Percentage
Yes, frequently 19 16%
Yes, rarely 33 28%
No 65 56%
Total 117 100%
If yes, can you give us an example?
SEE APPENDIX 1
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Yes, frequently Yes, rarely No
16%
28%
56%
16 | P a g e
Q12. Have you had to sack any employees in the past year?
Response Count Percentage
Yes 57 49%
No 60 51%
Total 117 100%
47%
48%
48%
49%
49%
50%
50%
51%
51%
52%
Yes No
49%
51%
17 | P a g e
Q13. What triggered the most recent dismissal?
Response Count Percentage
Critical errors in job task 17 30%
Verbal insubordination towards
senior manager 4 7%
Verbal abuse towards a colleague 5 9%
Physical assault/violence 1 2%
Drug/alcohol abuse 6 11%
Punctuality 9 16%
Fraud of company expenses/
privileges 3 5%
Theft 3 5%
Other 9 16%
NOTE- Only asked of the 57 “Yes” respondents in Q12
Others
Absence triggers.
AWOL.
Disregard of Safety Rules.
Failure to comply with health and safety rules.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Other
Theft
Fraud of company expenses/ privileges
Punctuality
Drug/alcohol abuse
Physical assault/violence
Verbal abuse towards a colleague
Verbal insubordination towards …
Critical errors in job task
16%
5%
5%
16%
11%
2%
9%
7%
30%
18 | P a g e
Falsification of records.
Fraudulent performance sheets.
Internet misuse.
Lack of commitment, younger workers lack work ethic.
Poor attendance.
Q14. What's your view on the UK's employment law framework?
Response Count Percentage
Highly effective: strikes an
excellent balance between
allowing employers to act in the
best interests of business while
ensuring individuals are treated
fairly
1 1%
Fit for purpose: not perfect but
on the whole ensures a fair deal
for employers and employees
71 61%
Ineffective: employees have too
much power - but it doesn't
stop us getting on with the job
37 32%
A major hindrance: creates a
minefield for us that is a major
barrier to business growth
8 7%
Total 117 100%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Highly effective Fit for purpose Ineffective A major hindrance
1%
61%
32%
7%
19 | P a g e
Q15. How do you monitor the working patterns of your employees?
Response Count Percentage
Time and attendance software 74 63%
Paper based record keeping 14 12%
Excel spreadsheet 10 9%
Workforce management software 3 3%
No formal system 5 4%
ERP system 8 7%
Other 3 3%
Total 117 100%
Others
Cell/Tier review discipline.
Mix of time & attendance s/ware, paper-based, spreadsheet.
PDR system.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Other
ERP system
No formal system
Workforce management software
Excel spreadsheet
Paper based record keeping
Time and attendance software
3%
7%
4%
3%
9%
12%
63%
20 | P a g e
Q16. Please rate the following statements in terms of how strongly you
agree or disagree with them.
Response Strongly
agree Agree
Neither
agree
nor
disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree N/A
We are skilled at measuring and interpreting data on workforce behaviour and using it to make business decisions on site
8 47 33 22 5 2
We gather too much data and no-one is really clear on how to use it most effectively
1 34 38 38 6 0
Response 1 2 3 4 5 N/A
We are skilled at measuring and interpreting data on workforce behaviour and using it to make business decisions on site
21% 36% 31% 7% 3% 3%
We gather too much data and no-one is really clear on how to use it most effectively
1% 32% 35% 22% 3% 7%
0% 5%
10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
We are skilled at measuring and
interpreting data on workforce behaviour and using it to make
business decisions on site
We gather too much data and no-one is
really clear on how to use it most effectively
7%
1%
40%
29% 28% 32%
19%
32%
4% 5% 2% 0%
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
N/A
21 | P a g e
Q17. How would you rate the morale of employees in your organisation?
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Extremely high
High Better than
average
Average Low Extremely low
1%
21%
34% 32%
9%
2%
Response Count Percentage
Extremely high 1 1%
High 25 21%
Better than average 40 34%
Average 38 32%
Low 11 9%
Extremely low 2 2%
Total 117 100%
22 | P a g e
Q18. What's the typical annual salary for the following positions at your
company?
Apprentices
Average salary is £13,100
Shopfloor
Average salary is £19,300
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
£20,000-£24,999
£15,000-£19,999
£14,000-£14,999
£12,000-£13,999
£10,000-£11,999
< £10K
5%
29%
12%
23%
15%
16%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
£35,000 to £39,999
£30,000 to £34,999
£25,000 to £29,999
£20,000 to £24,999
£15,000 to £19,999
£14,000 to £14,999
£12,000 to £13,999
2%
4%
6%
26%
51%
4%
7%
23 | P a g e
Engineering
Average salary is £31,800
Management
Average salary is £42,200
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
£50,000 to £59,999
£40,000 to £49,999
£35,000 to £39,999
£30,000 to £34,999
£25,000 to £29,999
£20,000 to £24,999
1%
14%
20%
31%
26%
8%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
£70,000 to £79,999
£60,000 to £69,999
£50,000 to £59,999
£40,000 to £49,999
£35,000 to £39,999
£30,000 to £34,999
£25,000 to £29,999
£20,000 to £24,999
1%
7%
15%
38%
23%
15%
0%
1%
24 | P a g e
Response Count % Count % Count % Count %
Apprentice/junior Shopfloor Engineering Management
<10K 12 16% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
£10,000 to £11,999 11 15% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
£12,000 to £13,999 17 23% 6 7% 0 0% 0 0%
£14,000 to £14,999 9 12% 3 4% 0 0% 0 0%
£15,000 to £19,999 22 29% 43 51% 0 0% 0 0%
£20,000 to £24,999 4 5% 22 26% 7 8% 1 1%
£25,000 to £29,999 0 0% 5 6% 22 26% 0 0%
£30,000 to £34,999 0 0% 3 4% 26 31% 13 15%
£35,000 to £39,999 0 0% 2 2% 17 20% 19 23%
£40,000 to £49,999 0 0% 0 0% 12 14% 32 38%
£50,000 to £59,999 0 0% 0 0% 1 1% 13 15%
£60,000 to £69,999 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 6 7%
£70,000 to £79,999 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 1 1%
£80,000 to £100,000 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Total 75 100% 84 100% 85 100% 85 100%
25 | P a g e
Q19. Which area of your site do you think has the biggest potential for
improvements in productivity?
Others
ALL areas can improve.
Business strategy and value engineering (total cost of ownership).
Engineering.
Everywhere!
Quality.
Supply chain.
Supply chain.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Other
Shopfloor
Senior management/ leadership
Sales
Distribution
Admin/ HR support/ back office
7%
39%
22%
19%
1%
12%
Response Count Percentage
Admin/HR support/back office 14 12%
Distribution 1 1%
Sales 22 19%
Senior management/leadership 26 22%
Shopfloor 46 39%
Other/No answer 8 7%
Total 117 100%
26 | P a g e
Q20. What's your current level of absenteeism?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
0-1% Between 1-7% Over 7% Don't know
19%
73%
2% 7%
Response Count Percentage
0-1% 22 19%
Between 1-7% 85 73%
Over 7% 2 2%
Don't know 8 7%
Total 117 100%
27 | P a g e
Q21. What percentage of absences do you estimate go unauthorised?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
None Up to 10% 10-29% 30-49% 50% or more
36%
50%
8% 4%
2%
Response Count Percentage
None 42 36%
Up to 10% 59 50%
10-29% 9 8%
30-49% 5 4%
50% or more 2 2%
Total 117 100%
28 | P a g e
Q22. What percentage of your workforce do you believe have taken
unauthorised sick leave (pulled a sickie) in the past year?
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Nobody 1-4% 5-24% 25-49% 50-74% 75-99%
5%
45%
37%
11%
1% 1%
Response Count Percentage
Nobody 6 5%
1-4% 53 45%
5-24% 43 37%
25-49% 13 11%
50-74% 1 1%
75-99% 1 1%
Total 117 100%
29 | P a g e
Classification:
Which of the following best describes your primary job function?
How many staff are employed at this particular site?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Other
Handling/ distribution/ supply chain
Maintenance / Operations
HR / Training
HSE/Continuous Improvement
Head of Maintenance
Head of Factory Services/ Maintenance
Head of Production Operations
MD / CEO / General Manager
5%
4%
9%
4%
6%
8%
5%
43%
16%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
1-99 100-199 200-499 500+
32% 31%
23%
15%
30 | P a g e
Which of the following best describes the industry you are in?
Thank you for sharing your views. We'll be discussing the findings of this
survey at the Great Productivity Debate on 25 June at a roundtable event
in London. The event will be held from 10.30 am - 3.00 pm and include
advice from productivity expert and author Gregg Gordon. You'll also get
to exchange best practice with manufacturing colleagues from a range of
OEM and SME companies.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Textiles & Clothing
Plastics & Rubber
Paper & Board
Other
Metal Foundries & Processing
Instrumentation
General Mechanical Engineering
Food, Drink or Tobacco Production
Energy
Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Chemicals/Pharmaceuticals
Bricks, Pottery, Glass, Cement etc
Automotive industry
Aerospace/Defence industry
1%
3%
5%
5%
3%
7%
28%
8%
6%
15%
7%
2%
7%
4%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
No thanks Yes, I would be interested in attending
91%
9%
31 | P a g e
APPENDIX 1 Because of relatively low level of skill, training takes too
long so we struggle to train people to cover other jobs in
the event of sickness etc. I must add that our rates of pay
are not great so we only seem to attract the unemployed.
Being contract manufacturers of safety critical precision
machined components it is imperative that we have highly
skilled employees. We have had occasions recently where
people who came to us as supposedly skilled cnc
operators but they struggle when faced with something
different or challenging and either find an excuse not to
carry on or make simple errors due to lack of knowledge
(which we can train them in) or lack of actually caring
about the quality of the product they produce (which is a
bigger problem).
CNC machine down due to absenteeism.
Coded welders.
Damage caused by lack of appreciation of process and
assumed competence rather than explicit competence.
Difficulty in meeting deadlines, product not correct when
sent.
Difficulty to meet delivery dates without working overtime
on shopfloor.
Downtime due to the only employee on holiday with the
skills required.
Due to moving people from one area to another to
mitigate redundancy. Aircraft electricians have a different
set of skills to Maintenance electricians but HR resource
tags highlight both as 'Electrician'.
Having issues on bespoke plant. Site is unable to repair
and rely on manufacturer to come to site and repair,
caused 24 hrs downtime which was unnecessary. The fault
was found to be quite a basic electrical fault and should
have been sorted by site without the need to involve
costly contract labour.
Inability of skilled shop floor personnel to find solutions to
basic engineering problems.
Increase processing time. Due date delayed. Poor quality
32 | P a g e
Insufficient number of skilled door builders to meet
customer orders.
Lack of basic skills on production equipment.
Lack of leadership and direction causes delays or wrong
prioritisation.
Lack of resource to keep on top of important projects and
therefore have to prioritise leading to some important
projects being neglected resulting in equipment
downtime!
Lack of skilled employees has meant engineers doing
craftsman’s work.
Lack of technical skill to understand the root cause of an
issue and then to fix the issue in the longer term.
Lack of shift cover and maintenance work not being
completed.
Lines stopped awaiting skilled Technicians
Lower skilled operators unable to perform tasks efficiently
and effectively.
Machines stood idle waiting for the next shift when
specific skills become available.
Mobilising equipment off site where need to problem
solve.
New customers wanted us to develop products for
manufacture with no formal specifications. This was time
consuming as this is not a part of our core business and
we lacked the dedicated skills to develop products and
methods in a timely manner preventing revenue earlier.
Possible loss of business due to the time taken to recruit a
new engineer within the business.
Qualified / suitable day shift electrical engineers very
difficult to replace / recruit - running teams without in
some cases
Rapid product implementation requiring good industrial
engineering
Recruiting experienced skilled engineers is a challenge
with very limited availability. It took me 6 months to
recruit a manufacturing and quality manager, holding the
business back.
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Redesign of new products immediately after launch
Remake of products
Several occasions where engineers and middle managers
are covering multiple roles and as a result preparations for
planned maintenance activities (e.g. planned Outages)
have suffered resulting in waste, short notice loss of
availability to fit monitoring equipment, lack of sufficient
scrutiny of contracts etc.
Skilled Staff taking holidays during busy periods and long
term sick where we have insufficient skill cover
There are many people out in the engineering world
claiming to be tradesmen but unfortunately that is not the
case and quality is the area that is lacking most. Contract
personnel are a problem again in skills and quality area as
well as the cost to the employer increasing due to agency
costs also you find many contractors have no allegiance to
the company and are constantly looking for the next job
with longevity thus reducing productivity.
Time and cost of training on our equipment and cross
skills
Turned work away due to lack of workforce experience
Unable to resolve motion control issues. Inability to
design effective control system.
We are primarily a weaving factory so there is a shortage
of weaving experience when people retire or leave. It
usually takes at least six months in order to train a
competent person in weaving. Also on the maintenance
side we have the same issues, no experience of weaving
which is critical if you want to repair and maintain the
looms.
We have use contractors to carry out maintenance on
some items that in past years we may have considered
using internal labour. This can increase response time to
downtime as you have to wait on travel time etc. This is
balanced out by the increased flexibility you get in
resource
WE only have limited cover for certain skills on individual
machines, i.e.; thread rolling, forging, manual machinery Author: Paul Creber
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Published by: Benchmark Research
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