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Successful just in time (JIT) manufacturing needs communication
I wonder how manufacturing organisations managed to operate effectively, and most importantly profitably, before Toyota’s Taiichi Ohno, sometimes referred to as the father of JIT, developed Kanban, a...
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Digital manufacturing could shift manufacturing balance
Earlier this week I caught an episode of the BBC World Service’s Business Daily called ‘A Pacific Partnership – China and the US’. It was fascinating reporting with Simon Jack in Beijing looking at...
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UK Manufacturing – reports of its death are premature
During an economic recession it’s all too easy to focus on those worst-case scenarios, clocking up those companies going under, jobs axed, growth weaker than forecast, nil investment, poor returns....
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Lack of investment in R&D inhibits manufacturing
News that the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] has cited lack of R&D as being a factor in UK plc’s slow recovery will come as no surprise to many working in the...
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Triumph over?
Here’s a pub quiz question for you: name the only, wholly British-owned major transport manufacturer. Turns out it’s Triumph Motorcycles Ltd, the UK’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, not only still...
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Bringing up the bodies
Work at Crossrail, Europe’s biggest construction project and one of the largest single infrastructure investments undertaken in the UK, continues apace as it moves towards its 2018 opening. The...
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Why ‘Elf & Safety’ really matters
While many ‘elf & safety’ rules come up for ridicule, in the same week that we hear of a freak, but wholly preventable 2009 accident that resulted in the loss of a construction worker’s leg, comes...
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Constructing a stable future
We’re always on the lookout for a good news story – who isn’t? – so we were happy to see that the latest Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply [CIPS] purchasing managers’ index suggests...
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Future necessities
News that the UK’s third-largest steel specialist, Rowecord, has gone into receivership is bad news not only for the firm’s 500 employees, but also for the construction industry itself. However, it...
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Construction News Awards
What could be scarier than an economic downturn in the construction industry? Maybe being shortlisted for this year’s Construction News Awards and having to face a Dragons’ Den style interview! That...
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Bang the drum for BIM
In May 2011, the government’s Chief Construction Adviser Paul Morrell called for BIM [Building Information Modelling] adoption on UK government construction projects of £5million and over, but the...
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Ever wondered what happened to all that rubble and waste after big demolitions?
In the past, this rubble was disposed of in landfills, but with more attention being paid to environmental concerns, concrete recycling allows reuse of the rubble while also keeping construction costs...
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Construction Products Regulation D-day July 1st 2013
It’s the smaller construction companies, already under pressure, that might be caught out when the new regulations incorporate EU requirements into UK law, warns construction law expert Chris Hallam...
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Construction industry’s payment schedules continue to cause friction
The argument about poor payment terms in the construction industry continues to rumble on and, like most industries, it can often be the smaller, sub-contractors that are effectively subsidising the...
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Continuing to cut costs in construction
Publication of the Government’s Construction 2025 report this month is the result of both industry and government working together to produce something they are describing as a route map towards more...
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Increase in construction produces temporary brick shortage
The newly published Federation of Master Builders’ State of Trade survey shows that in the second quarter of this year, SME workloads experienced rising activity for the first time since the final...
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Building big or small – tick the boxes
What does it take to clinch a £500m construction project in the City of London? What do you have to bring to the table to join the ranks of the Gherkin, the Cheese Grater or the Shard? It looks as if...
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Cutting costs – but positively
While any news of improvement in the construction industry is good news and to be welcomed, if the mini-building boom is based on cut-price costing we could be creating trouble in the long run, says...
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The world’s biggest ship, commissioned in Denmark and made in Korea
We’ve seen those three little words “Made in Korea” stamped on products from plastic ducks to mobile phones possibly before we even knew where Korea was. But it may come as some surprise to discover...
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Green Deals need greater initiative
News in September that the number of Green Deals being installed more than doubled is encouraging for the environment and construction industry alike, but a closer look reveals that, generally,...
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