Principles of Management DB- 300 Words

PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING AUGUST 2015

Editor’s comment Lee Hibbert

Innovation and skilled management made these two British engineering companies world leaders

O n e o f th e b e n e f its o f e d it in g a n engineering m agazine is th e opportunity to travel th e country to m eet in teresting com panies and people. This p a s t m onth rem inded m e of th a t fact, offering up th e chance to visit tw o g rand old nam es of our sector w ho have em erged as global leaders in their respective fields.

First up it w as Renishaw, th e G loucestershire-based m etrology firm th a t has becom e th e rising s ta r of th e South W est. E stab lished in th e la te 1970s by tw o am bitious engineers, R enishaw has expanded a t a sensible, sustainab le pace, now em ploying a to ta l of 4,000 people, m ainly b a sed in th e UK. But R enishaw is no inw ard-looking organisation, exporting 95 % of th e m easurem ent m achines th a t it m akes to all four corners of th e globe.

Still majority ow ned by its founders Sir David M cM urtry and John Deer, th e com pany is a m odel of financial probity, investing w isely and tak ing on no deb t. It spends be tw een 14% and 18% of its sales incom e on research and developm ent, enabling it to spo t em erging technologies such as additive m anufacturing and to ad ap t its skills and know ledge to create p roducts to m eet dem and.

R enishaw has, to its credit, eschew ed th e w ell-trod p a th of establish ing

m anufacturing facilities in low-cost countries. It has stayed loyal to th e region w here it w as born, em erging as one of th e b iggest em ployers in th e South W est. A new ly opened £20 million, 153,000ft2 innovation cen tre a t its W otton-under-Edge headquarters show s th a t its com m itm ent rem ains strong. R enishaw has to fight hard to com pete for g raduate engineers against a c luster of nearby com panies including th e likes of Dyson, Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Babcock, and it does so by offering

‘We have a tendency in this country to undersell the ingenuity and commercial success of our leading companies, and to underplay the respect in which they are held around the world’ well-paid, highly-skilled job opportunities a t modern, spacious facilities.

There are m any similarities be tw een R enishaw and th e second of the world- class engineering firms I w as fortunate enough to visit las t m onth. Ricardo is one of th e best-know n nam es in British engineering, having had a long and

distinguished history th a t da tes back 100 years. Originally founded as Engine P aten ts, th e com pany th a t is know n today w as th e creation of Sir Harry Ricardo, one of th e m ost creative and gifted engineers th a t th is country has ever produced.

Innovation has alw ays b een a t its core, being focused from th e o u tse t on the creation of new technologies, as opposed to engaging directly in th e m ass m anufacture of engines or vehicles. T hat legacy lives on, w ith Ricardo being th e first port of call for global OEMs th a t look to tap into its unique concentration of consultancy expertise in its core product of engine, transm ission, hybrid and electrical system s, and environm ental forecasting. Its centenary year w as capped last m onth by the opening of an im pressive £10 million vehicle em issions research centre a t its Shoreham- by-Sea h eadquarters w hich will help bring about th e developm ent of th e nex t generation of clean, low -carbon vehicles.

We have a tendency in this country to undersell th e ingenuity and commercial success of our leading com panies, and to underplay th e respect in w hich they are held in major nations around the world. The stellar perform ance of R enishaw and Ricardo serves as a timely rem inder th a t th a t shouldn 't be th e case.

Contact Lee Hibbert, Pi?Editor, at Unit G4, Harbour Yard, London SW10 0XD. [email protected]

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