Innovation key to strong manufacturing sector

News Article - 14 July 2010
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Recent research by Cambridge University's Institute of Manufacturing has revealed innovation to be an essential ingredient for strong industry performance. The study shows how the UK food and drink industry's commitment to innovation and high-value production allowed it to emerge from recession more strongly than other manufacturing sectors.

Between May 2008 and May 2009, the production index for food and drink fell by only 1.9, significantly below the 13.1 point drop experienced by the manufacturing sector as a whole. This long-term resilience has been put down to prioritisation of innovation in the food and drink industry.

Food and drink was also one of few sectors to increase business expenditure during the recession. Between Q1 2009 and Q1 2010, whilst total manufacturing expenditure fell by 25%, the food and drink sector experienced a 7.2% increase. Currently, the index of production for all manufacturing stands at 90 basic points, compared with 99 points for the food sector. Overall, the food and drink sector has the same annual budget as the automotive sector for R&D.

Experts consider the new research a warning to companies failing to invest sufficiently in innovation and R&D. With competition for market share increasing as the economy stabilises, companies lacking the resources or motivation to think creatively around products and processes may find themselves lagging behind other companies operating in the same sector.

Access supports investment in innovation within UK manufacturing sectors and considers it important if Britain is to achieve a globally-recognised position in manufacturing. Companies using Access business software benefit from key efficiencies related to both finance and project management, freeing up resources that can then be directed towards innovation.

Within the project and job costing module, actual costs can be automatically linked to budgets, helping to avoid overspend. With tighter control of project costings, firms have more opportunity to find the resources necessary to ramp up investment in innovation and R&D without negatively affecting the bottom line.

For more information, please call Access on 0845 345 3300.

Article keywords: industry news, manufacturing, manufacturing software, business software, enterprise software, manufacturing news,

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