The Benefits of British Manufacturing

The best tooling for the window and door industry near me

Now more than ever, we need to be championing British manufacturing, claims Jade Engineering’s founders, Adam Jones and Sean Mackey. Proud of its commitment to quality, brilliance, and individual service, the company is poised to enter its next stage of growth and believes that there is a real hunger to feel a solid reliance beneath the industry’s feet.

While the summer’s general election should have heralded a more stable period of time when we can all finally knuckle down and really focus on building our economy, the reality is that we seem to have gone from crisis to crisis. The nefarious antics of our own government notwithstanding, events in the Middle East and the (at time of writing) hysteria of the American elections continue to add the element of unpredictability to a global economy.

Problem? Solved.

The impact of the Tiger economy

25 years ago, everything was about the Tiger economy – the hunger for sourcing cheaper products manufactured in regions such as China and Southeast Asia fed into a burgeoning home improvement economy and helped to keep prices suppressed for a while. However, the initial ‘fiesta’ of like-for-like products hitting the market at bargain basement prices is still reeling from the impact of global events affecting the price of a 6″ screw.

Over that time, Jade has been quietly getting on with focusing on giving real, tangible support to manufacturers; the sort of support that has a solidity to it, that comes within normal working hours, that speaks a common language and leaves little room for confusion or misunderstanding. In short, Jade has always been laser-focused on being a brilliant engineer, and the fact that we are British is the icing on the cake.

The downfall of the Tiger economy

Over the years, we have seen and heard the problems that have come with sourcing products from overseas. Despite the heady honeymoon of cheaper prices and increased profit margins, the reality of the commitment soon sets in. Problems relating to consistency of quality, intellectual property, and currency fluctuations will all make themselves known. Not to mention the environmental impact of transporting goods halfway across the globe, and the ethical concerns around labour practices.

Of course, should another container ship ever get stuck in the Suez Canal or diversions be needed to avoid the Yemeni coastline, there’s always potential for waiting time and money to be added onto the bill.

So, here’s a reminder of why backing British manufacturing is a policy we should all follow:

Quality and reputation

The one reason why Jade has succeeded over the years is that we have built a solid reputation for high standards and excellent craftsmanship. We probably know your business better than you do. Often, our customers have manufacturing problems that they don’t even know how to articulate yet. We help to put that problem into words, and then find a solution for it.

Supporting the local economy

Drive along Bayton Road Industrial Estate here in Coventry and it’s like a slalom course made up of cars, vans, and lorries going about their business. To see it is good for the soul, and we are very happy to be adding to the general busyness and congestion knowing that we are contributing to the local economy. Like everyone in the industry, we struggle to find good engineers and are actively working with local educational establishments to ensure that we can help develop the local job market. Moving any manufacturing away from the UK will mean that we lose that impetus to educate and train the next generation in the industry, and we fully support every endeavour to bring more skills into the sector.

Sustainability and self-sufficiency

Risk mitigation in your supply chain will, overall, strengthen your own product offering to your client base. It stands to reason that if your products have a journey of several thousand miles, your exposure to risk increases. If they are being shipped out from that place just off the M6, then that exposure lessens considerably. Not to mention the reduction in carbon emissions, which is something this government should be happy about at least! Maybe they should be giving us British manufacturers some healthy tax breaks!

Innovating window and door manufacturing tooling

While we will never deny the importance of following global developments in innovation and technology, we always keep a good eye on what other countries are doing across our particular sector. We believe that maintaining tight control over our own particular output will always provide the greatest benefits to the UK manufacturing base. What might seem more expensive will, in a short time, always prove to be more cost-efficient. This is why you will shortly read about the opening of our new 30,000 sq. ft facilities, but you will never hear about us setting up a division on the other side of the world.

We’re dedicated for solving both existing and potentially looming problems for our customers. So, if you’re interested in innovating your practices, we invite you to learn more with Jade Engineering.

Problem? Solved.