blogTHE UK has a labour shortage – and OK, for those of you currently going “but the whole world has a labour shortage”, I grant you, there are issues beyond the UK – but there is no doubt in my mind that the UK’s problems are being exacerbated, if not caused, by Brexit.
newsFrontrunner in automated solutions for composites manufacturing, Airborne has developed a fully automated and flexible manufacturing process for creating composite preforms in dry fibre and thermoplastic composite: the Automated Preforming system.
productAS DEMAND for cleaner, low-cost air travel increases and drives innovation in aircraft design and manufacture, it is vital the UK maintains and extends its world-leading capability in sustainable aviation propulsion technologies
blogTHE LATEST UK Manufacturing PMI shows that, while rates of expansion in output and new orders have slowed from June, July has seen the upturn continue with robust sales to both domestic and export clients.
blogEARLIER THIS year, research from UK think Tank, the Learning & Work Institute revealed that the number of students taking IT subjects at GCSE has dropped by a 40% since 2015. Against a background where the industrial sector skills-shortage has been long acknowledged, this is particularly vexing. Within industry, there are many organisations, companies and individuals making a huge effort to encourage young people into STEM careers – but the message just doesn’t seem to be filtering down to secondary school level.
blogFor those of you old enough to remember the 1980s sitcom ‘Yes Minister’, I’m sure that much of the satire still rings true today. One particular scene sees two civil servants outline how to approach political problems thus: Stage one, we say nothing is going to happen; Stage two, we say something may be about to happen, but we should do nothing about it; Stage three, we say that maybe we should do something about it, but there’s nothing we can do; Stage four, we say maybe there was something we could have done, but it’s too late now.
blogAS I write, the UK is in its third period of full lockdown due to COVID-19, new variants of the virus are emerging and many businesses are of course feeling the pressure. Many, including myself and my colleagues on the IPE team, are able to work very effectively from home, however, this is not the case for everyone. In addition to the most obvious front-line workers, staff whose roles cannot be carried out from home continue to work across the manufacturing, industrial and distribution sectors. Workplaces have been adapted to accommodate social distancing and PPE has become a part of daily life.
newsIf the UK is indeed on the cusp of a second wave of COVID-19, it’s pretty obvious that for large sectors of the economy another lockdown is simply not an option. And really, if the correct measures are taken in terms of social distancing in the workplace and the correct use of good quality PPE, many businesses in the industrial sector should be able to stay open. In fact, many did successfully operate throughout the first lockdown, even if output was reduced.
newsThere is no doubt that cyber crime is rapidly evolving with new innovation and increasingly automated attacks – a fact borne out by 2020 Global Threat Intelligence Report from (GTIR) launched by NTT. And the report also shows that in the UK and Ireland, for the first time Manufacturing became the most attacked sector representing almost a third of all attacks, while Technology was the most attacked sector globally.
blogAs a write this while working from home, I still can’t quite get my head around these unprecedented times we find ourselves in.
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