The growing business handbook : inspiration and advice ... - Sparkler

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The growth
opportunity
1.5
Manufacturing enterprises have long experience of turning adversity to their
advantage. David Baggaley at Locate in Leeds picks up some lessons on how to
seize the moment and overcome the risks
Manufacturers know all about survival. Despite a steady decline in numbers
employed over the last 30 years, the UK remains the world’s sixth largest
manufacturer by value. How have enterprises kept themselves in the game when
conventional wisdom suggests that they will continue to struggle against low-cost
competitors? By being innovative, nimble-footed and entrepreneurial.
As the UK struggles to emerge from one of the deepest recessions for decades, there
are lessons that enterprises in other sectors could learn from manufacturers who have
found ways to seize opportunities, whether they happen by accident or by design.
Create an opportunities network
Soeren Vonsild, head of engineering at dairy products manufacturer Arla, describes
entrepreneurs as people who are quick to spot an opportunity, quick to commit and
determined to see an idea through.
The danger in larger organizations, he feels, is that structures and processes can
become opposed to innovation and entrepreneurship. Incentives become too tied to
where someone sits in the hierarchy. Too little weight is given to taking risks or
challenging the way things are done. It is often easier to make an acquisition than to
create a business from scratch like an entrepreneur.
So how do you encourage a spirit of innovation, which Vonsild describes as ‘the
pursuit of opportunity beyond the resources you currently control’? His answer is to
create an ‘opportunities network’ within the organization, thereby giving everyone
ownership and responsibility for implementing new ideas.
Put effort into developing new products, of course, he says. But remember that
often more value can be created by innovation in processes and delivery.
Wetherby-based supplier to the automotive industry GSM Group has also focused
on innovation as the key to growing a manufacturing business. Serial entrepreneur
and CEO Barry Dodd emphasizes the importance of looking up and down the value
and supply chains to identify opportunities for innovation and growth. Combined