As a committed reader of The Engineer, I often find myself confused that there seems to be a lot of people like your correspondent S. Charlton ('We're fighting for our economic lives' - The Engineer May 31) who believe the government should assist manufacturing.
It is the responsibility of all staff employed by any company to ensure that the business is efficient. This can be done by effective training, in both attitude and skill, investing in the latest technology, and ensuring that you can measure the output of all staff.
Labour has to be controlled. A £300,000 machine does not need controlling. It does as it is told by the programmer. But the machinist also needs to be controlled. If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it.
No venture capitalist would invest in a business that needs tax incentives, so why should the government?
We have invested over £3m in the past three years and we are currently increasing the size of our premises. This summer we intend to employ more apprentices.
Can people please stand up and be held accountable. If a firm can’t perform effectively, it deserves to fail. It is management’s responsibility to ensure that all staff are pulling in the same direction at the same time. This can be achieved by total control of all staff in all areas — it’s as simple as that. We invest in our people and enjoy the benefits of having a committed and educated staff.
Andy Glachan
Merseyside
Project to investigate hybrid approach to titanium manufacturing
What is this a hybrid of? Superplastic forming tends to be performed slowly as otherwise the behaviour is the hot creep that typifies hot...