March 2019

46 n EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINT March 2019 www.drivesncontrols.com Is increased capital investment the answer to our productivity issues? Component suppliers are evolving “The UK has a robot density of 71, putting it below the world average and in 22nd place in the world.” In these uncertain economic and political times for the UK, it is more important than ever that UK industry does not lose sight of how critical long-term capital investment is to improving our manufacturing productivity levels and the UK economy as a whole – not just in terms of investing in capital equipment and machinery, but also in new technologies (such as automation, robots and software) and people (skills, training and education). With a German parent company, KEB UK has an insight into how the Germans operate, which differs considerably from most UK companies. Capital investment levels in Germany are not only significantly higher (our parent company, for example, invests around 10% of its annual turnover in new capital equipment and machinery!), but the country has a much longer-term mentality when it comes to any type of investment. One result of this is a much Managing Director, KEB (UK) Tom Skelton Managing Director, Weidmüller Simon Goodwin Sixty years ago, in 1959, Weidmüller set up its first subsidiary outside Germany – and it was in the UK. This anniversary has set me thinking about how the automation sector has changed in the intervening decades. My personal experience doesn’t go back quite as far as 1959 (thankfully!), but I can claim relevant experience back into the 1990s. What has changed since then? You might expect me to focus on products, and there have, of course, been many important product advances in these years. To my mind, however, the most significant change has taken place – and is still taking place – in the interface between component suppliers and their customers. In the 1990s, there was a clear division in know-how between suppliers and customers. The supplier knew all about the components and little about the customer’s requirements and applications. The customers knew all about their applications, but all they knew about the components was the information in the supplier’s catalogue. Actually, if you substitute “supplier’s Web site” for “supplier’s catalogue” in the last sentence, not much has changed for those who choose to buy generic components from the cheapest possible source – but they should be wary, as they’re missing out on the potentially enormous business benefits provided by the supplier- customer interface of the 21st century!

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