We talk a lot about manufacturing consolidation these days.
Recently, we’ve been in close conversation with a longstanding UK print manufacturer that, for decades, has printed some of the country’s best-known newspapers from multiple sites across the UK.
Earlier this year, the decision was taken to close its Scottish operation and its large southern facility on the outskirts of London – a site that has been a very visible part of the local landscape for many years.
Production at the southern site finally stopped on 20 July.
Manufacturing is now being consolidated into one central Midlands hub.
And that one decision creates change at every level.
There are redundancies. There is machinery and equipment that is no longer required. Sites need to be wound down and exited.
But at the same time, the remaining manufacturing operation needs to become more efficient, more productive and capable of absorbing production previously spread across multiple locations.
That creates a completely different investment requirement.
We’ve been in conversation with the manufacturer about what happens next and are working towards supporting them as they make changes and invest in the central operation.
For me, this one is particularly interesting because my first business, around 15 years ago, was publishing a series of local magazines.
I sold that business to a competitor because I believed social media would eventually transform the advertising market we were operating in.
I was right about the direction – but very wrong about how long the physical consequences of that change would take to work their way through the industry.
More than a decade later, we are still seeing that transformation reshape the manufacturing infrastructure behind print.
And it isn't unique to printing.
Across UK manufacturing, we're seeing businesses of all sizes asking similar questions:
Do we still need multiple sites? Can production be consolidated? What equipment do we keep, move or dispose of? And what do we need to invest in to make the remaining operation more efficient?
A factory closure can look like the end of an opportunity.
Often, it’s actually the beginning of a completely different one.
That’s why at MFG Insight Group we don't just track manufacturers that are building new factories.
We track change – because consolidation, relocation, closure and restructuring can create just as much requirement for suppliers as expansion.
Comments