It’s fair to say that across the UK precision engineering sector, things are quite healthy at the moment. That’s not to say everything in the garden is rosy; issues with the wider economy and of course international conflicts mean we do have to deal with significant headwinds. But overall, the situation does feel pretty good. This is in stark contrast to the last years of the 20th Century. Back then, sourcing components had a huge bias towards cost, which favoured manufacturers who could focussed on delivering at the lowest price point. This had a major impact on UK manufacturing as a whole. Many industries moved towards offshoring to places such as China for their supply chain.
However, this trend has somewhat reversed. Cost remains an important factor of course, but other factors have displaced this as the dominant reason for sourcing components and kits from the UK. This has in turn seen the number of businesses offering precision engineering services grow. Competition is always excellent for driving up standards and performance. But it can also make sourcing the best partner more difficult.
The Importance Of Experience In Partnerships
It can’t be overstated how vital it is to find the very best partner for your precision engineering needs. Achieving goals around quality and supply will be essential to the success of your project. It is genuinely a source of pride that there are so many UK businesses who can outperform overseas rivals. We are lucky to have such a wealth of talented engineers and a culture that lends so well to the challenges of precision engineering. But there is one additional factor that can be difficult to measure, but which in turn provides immeasurable value in your supply chain. And that is experience.
This at times almost intangible element can really make the difference between success and failure. Each project you undertake is unique, and as such an experienced engineering partner will be vital. They are able to analyse your requirements and give detailed feedback to help you remove issues and improve other areas. Sometimes you may not be completely confident of knowing every single aspect of your project. With an experienced partner, you have access to in-depth knowledge to review, spot issues and recommend solutions. That alone can save you far more than a few pennies. In fact, it can save you more money overall.
Reputations Are built on Experience
Experience goes hand-in-hand with reputation. A business that has traded for years, accrued knowledge and developed working processes that deliver quality precision engineering services is going to give you a lot more confidence in making your project a successful one. And that confidence, or trust, is critical when you need components that you can rely on to perform as intended. So when you find a partner who you know you can trust to deliver components to required standards within lead times, it becomes so much easier to meet the challenge within a project – and a lot less stressful too.
An important point to note about an experience supplier is the certifications and standards they will have attained. Certification, whether it’s an independent body such as BSI / Nadcap or manufacturer accreditation from the likes of BAE is highly important. It is far more than a badge you just print off and stick on the wall. They take a lot of time, effort and no small amount of budget to attain. And they exist for a reason; to show that this business is serious about how they work to provide you with the very best product and service.
And lastly, it’s all about the service you receive. An experienced precision engineering business will know how to meet your needs and the bet way to approach this. They will understand and know what is important to you, and how to make sure they can make you project a success.
A new business will of course be very keen to work with you. And they may well do a good job in the process. But the benefits that working with a precision engineering company such as us will make you more confident of a successful project.
Related Articles
