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Learning from others

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THE working group for the Festival of Manufacturing and Engineering has confirmed the dates for next year's festival – week beginning Monday November 11, 2013.

The programme will be developed over the coming months so watch out for details of events and opportunities to participate.

To underpin my work in promoting manufacturing and engineering, I recently visited Germany, an economy continuing to export successfully on the strength of a strong real economy based in the manufacturing sector.

German businesses are often family-owned and medium-sized with focuses on investment for the future, and innovation in technology, materials and training.

I visited a car manufacturer in Leipzig, Saxony.

It was striking just how much the area had changed since I last visited this part of East Germany immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union and after the subsequent unification of Germany.

Then, huge old fashioned factories, producing clumsy looking products such as giant water pumps for transfer to Russia, dominated the scene.

Today, modern, ergonomic, efficient and stylish factories are the norm.

Another impressive characteristic of the new industrial shape of this region is the supply chain for parts and services to the larger factories. It has been developed swiftly, is relatively intimate and allows for incredibly tightly managed logistics.

A key reason for this success was and remains the transport and communications systems linking the key centres of populations.

The highly trained and adaptable workforce is, of course, the most important factor in this success story.

Thankfully, action is now being taken in Britain to replicate these conditions for success in manufacturing, notably investment in infrastructure, and reform of education and training.

The next festival will put the spotlight on these policy areas.

If you are interested in the issues raised above, contact me on 01453 751572 or visit my website www.neilcarmichael.co.uk. Now, you can also follow me on twitter @neil_mp.


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