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Nigel Griffiths MPInstitution of Mechanical Engineers Manufacturing Excellence Awards 2002 |
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| I am delighted to be here today to celebrate the very best of UK manufacturing at the Manufacturing Excellence Awards 2002. To celebrate companies that have shown how through excellence in design, excellence in product development, excellence in management practice, we can take on our global competitors and succeed. To celebrate the people whose achievements are putting a buzz into UK manufacturing business.
We need these companies and companies like them. And we need them to succeed. Manufacturing matters. It creates a fifth of our national output. It employs four million people. It produces the majority of our exports. It is a key driver of innovation in the rest of our economy through advances in technology, new goods and processes. The success of UK manufacturing is crucial to our country's prosperity, both now and in the future. That is why we take so seriously the challenges our manufacturers have had to face in recent years. As a DTI Minister, as I get out and about to meet businesses across the UK, I see at first hand just how hard our manufacturers have had to fight to stay ahead of the field as global competition has intensified. I know how tough it has been for many of the people in this room. But you have shown that with drive, with determination and with passion, manufacturers can and will win through. And even the doom-mongers, the doubting-Thomases who predicted no future for British manufacturing are beginning to take note. Even they can see that the forecasts are positive. Business confidence is improving. Manufacturing output has begun to turn the corner. The clouds over our long-term outlook are lifting. Importance of the Entrants Events like this help to remind us that there are great successes in manufacturing in the UK. We know that the best British manufacturers match or better the best in the world in new product development, innovative production processes, marketing and services - all the elements of the increasingly complex chain of modern manufacturing. The entrants for this year's awards demonstrate those qualities in abundance. They represent an impressive array of sectors - from newsprint to textiles to the automotive sector. And as Minister for Small Firms, I take a particular pleasure in seeing the large number of smaller businesses represented here today. All of you demonstrate that success in manufacturing – like success in any other sector – doesn't come from standing still. It comes from constantly innovating, investing in new products, new designs, new materials – whether they're metal or textiles – and new production technologies. Harnessing changing technologies and management practices to revolutionise the way you do business. Staying sharp to keep ahead of the competition and drive up your productivity. Government's support and strategy for manufacturing And my Department is determined to help you do that. To help you move your business up the value chain and to reap the benefits of high-skilled, knowledge intensive manufacturing operations. We are quite clear that UK prosperity now depends on a successful and dynamic manufacturing sector. We are committed to making sure that it continues to be at the heart of the British economy in the future. That is why, last month, we published our strategy for helping manufacturing companies to achieve their potential. A strategy which targets seven pillars of activity which government and industry must jointly pursue to build up our strengths and remedy our weaknesses:
If we get it right together we will create a virtuous circle in which innovative products and processes, coupled with a high skill workforce and a high degree of employee involvement, will raise levels of productive investment. It will build a high value added, high technology manufacturing sector in the UK. And that will deliver a huge boost to the prosperity of all involved: the companies, their shareholders, their employees, their suppliers. The companies we are celebrating this evening have already found their way into that cycle. They are to be congratulated. But we need more manufacturing companies to match the success of the best. Importance of the Manufacturing Excellence Awards IMechE and its sponsor partners make a critical contribution to fulfilling this aspiration. Organised, judged and staged by the IMechE, the Manufacturing Excellence Awards recognise the best in innovative ideas and business achievements by UK manufacturers. The promotion of Award case studies in magazines, on the internet and in the press give manufacturing managers the latest thinking on how to achieve top performance. It spreads the take up of best practice across the sector. No company is too big or too experienced to learn. Even the world's most successful companies look outside of their own organisations for ideas on how to improve their competitiveness. The CBI's National Manufacturing Council estimates that if UK firms adopted the best practice levels achieved by their international competitors, the UK could increase GDP by about £60 billion. This is why my Department has been working closely with the CBI,TUC and other stakeholders in promoting the adoption of best practice through the Fit for the Future Campaign. The campaign acts as a focal point for all best practice activities and encourages an open exchange of ideas and expertise. It operates in tandem with other DTI-supported activities including the Industry Forum Adaptation programme and the Partnership Fund to help organisations of all sizes and sectors improve the way they work. Improving manufacturing competitiveness is a long-haul job. The special value of the Manufacturing Excellence Awards is that year on year they help us to build our manufacturing strength. They make a key contribution to our future success. I am sure you are eager to get on to the main part of the evening – the prize giving. But before I pass you back to Katie Ledger, I'd like to finish by saying again how genuinely pleased I am to be here this evening so that I can add my congratulations and support - not only to those companies that win awards tonight, but also to all those who have entered. You are the best of British. I hope all of you enjoy the rest of the evening and wish you all best of luck for the future. |
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Other speeches by Nigel Griffiths MP
(the following are available from the archive) |
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