KEEP UP TO DATE
Have you a 'culture of compliance'?
It is said that the UK culture of compliance can end up making, as an example, television programmes rather dull, as writers and producers stick to the letter of the law concerning taste and decency in their attempt to avoid disruptive or potentially controversial ideas...
So what has this to do with manufacturing?
Well, manufacturers have a duty to be compliant within their own respective areas of prime responsibility.
To give you an example of how a disaster can, without full reference to the facts, effectively ruin a company's reputation and reduce or even negate bottom-line profits.
Cast your minds back to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which is also referred to as the BP oil spill or the BP oil disaster.
And that's my point.
Yes, it was a BP oil well. Yes, the well was being drilled on behalf of BP oil. But that it is called the BP oil disaster could be thought of as being a little unfair.
Did you know that BP was only responsible in as much as it was the fault of contractors who were working on behalf of the company? Contractors who should have been (and probably were) working to their own, third-party, officially- approved ISO 9000 and/or ISO 14001 etc standards.
The root cause of the problem was the Deepwater Horizon rig and the production casing being installed and cemented by Halliburton Energy Services. This meant that if the media were a little more picky, they should have labelled it the Deepwater-Halliburton disaster, rather than the BP oil disaster.
Now I appreciate I have perhaps over-simplified the situation, but think for a minute if this was transposed into a situation involving your products and manufacturing operation.
Your name up in lights as the chief protagonists in a plot caused by a supplier that might not be up to the mark you thought they were up to!
Makes you think, doesn't it?
Knowsley Authors
Lesley Martin-Wright
Chief Executive, Knowsley Chamber of Commerce.
Lesley Martin-Wright is the newly-appointed chief executive of Knowsley Chamber of Commerce.
Gaynor McGrail
Director at Knowley payroll services firm i_Paye.
Gaynor McGrail is co-founder of i-Paye, which offers payroll and financial services help for contractors, freelancers and self-employed professionals. She founded the company in 2005 with her husband Shaun and last year it topped the LDP Business Hot 100 list of the region's fastest-growing businesses.
Manufacturing Authors
Tony Caldeira
Managing Director, Caldeira Cushions.
Tony Caldeira is managing director of Caldeira Cushions. The company operates manufacturing sites both in Merseyside and in China.
Edward Moss
Public Relations and Communications, Manufacturing Advisory Service.
Edward Moss, Public Relations and Communications, Manufacturing Advisory Service.
The Manufacturing Advisory Service (www.mas-nw.co.uk)offers manufacturing companies practical, hands-on support in all aspects of manufacturing to help achieve improvements in productivity and competitiveness. Since 2002, MAS North West, which is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and delivered in the region by The Manufacturing Institute, has helped manufacturers to generate financial returns totalling ã739 million and to safeguard 8790 jobs. The Manufacturing Institute (www.manufacturinginstitute.co.uk) is an independent charity - driven by manufacturers for manufacturers. For 15 years, The Manufacturing Institute has helped transform manufacturing performance, working with over 4000 companies to gain competitive advantage from high impact skills building and productivity improvement programmes.
David Ost
North West regional director for EEF
David Ost, North West regional director for EEF.
David Ost is the North West regional director for EEF, the organisation for manufacturing, engineering and technology-based businesses, which operates a regional office in Warrington.
Property Authors
Chris Johnson
Managing Partner, Smith & Sons in Birkenhead
Chris Johnson is managing partner of Smith & Sons in Birkenhead. The firm is one of Merseyside's most prominent commercial property agencies and property auctioneers.
Andrew Owen
Head of business space, Mason Owen
Andrew Owen is head of business space at Liverpool commercial property agency, Mason Owen. The firm operates across the UK with a number of high profile clients.
Maritime Authors
Stuart Wood
Former Liverpool senior pilot interested in the maritime world
Stuart Wood, former Liverpool senior pilot, retired last June after 41 years holding his pilotâÂÂs licence. He interested in all aspects of the maritime world, principal of which is his perpetual love affair with the River Mersey.
Jim Teasdale
Chief Executive of Mersey Maritime
Jim Teasdale is chief executive of Mersey Maritime, overseeing all activities including marketing, lobbying, business development, and training and education. He was formerly chief executive of Birkenhead-based Laird Foundation, a centre of Vocational Excellence in Marine Engineering, and also represented Sea Vision UK in the North West region. Mersey Maritime lobbies for the Merseyside's maritime cluster.