Transcript Manufacturing in Scotland

Manufacturing in Scotland
Stephen Boyd, Assistant Secretary, STUC,
National Economic Forum 15 December 2010
Content
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What is manufacturing?
Manufacturing and the Scottish economy
Why is manufacturing important?
The changing policy context
A manufacturing strategy for Scotland?
What is manufacturing?
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National Statistics classifies a business under ‘manufacturing’ if more than
half its revenue comes from ‘making things’
But the boundary between making things and selling services has
undoubtedly become blurred
NS definition does not capture jobs and activities which depend on, or are
closely allied to, manufacturing – for example, design work undertaken by
a specialist non-manufacturing firm.
It is possible for a company to have more than half its revenues generated
by manufacturing but a minority of employees directly engaged in making
the product
Current statistics significantly underestimate the economic importance of
manufacturing?
Manufacturing employment in Scotland
300000
Employment
250000
200000
150000
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
20
06
20
08
20
10
Employment
350000
Year
Scottish exports by sector & trade area (£million), 2008
EU27
Non-EU
95
40
160
Production and
Construction
7,440
7,330
14,765
Of which manufacturing
7,240
6,770
14,010
Services
1,995
3,415
5,730
Total
9,525
10,780
20,660
Agriculture, Forestry and
Fishing
Total
exports
Expenditure on R&D performed within
businesses in Scotland 2008
2008 (£1000s)
Manufacturing: total
407,018
Chemicals
159,898
Electrical machinery
109,108
Other manufacturing
113,237
Services
91,703
Other: Total
48,165
Grand total
546,886
Economic significance
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Jobs, R&D, exports
Creates genuine wealth
Drives innovation and productivity growth
Enlarges the pool of skills and good jobs
Sustains local supply chain industries and
services
Supports the ‘export’ of business services
Social significance?
“With 3m jobs spread around the country – a
good number in the middle income category –
manufacturing is a force for social cohesion
in a way that financial services are not”.
Richard Lambert, Director, CBI
High value/low value
“Manufacturing has a strong future. That future is based on
generating high value – to the company, to shareholders and
to the country. High value manufacturers have strong
financial performance, are strategically important and have
positive social impact” (IfM, University of Cambridge)
“The UK along with other OECD countries has successfully
retained large ‘low tech’ manufacturing sectors and we
should build on the comparative advantage that implies…in
knowledge based manufacturing we also need a ‘low tech
strategy to complement the traditional ‘high tech’ one” (Work
Foundation, Manufacturing and the Knowledge Economy)
Europe: jobs, labour costs and value-added 2009
Pop
(mil
lion
s)
Persons employed
(1000s)
Labour costs (euro
1000 per
employee)
Value added (euro
million)
UK
62
3,246
39.5
210,720
Germany
82
7,171
55.0
429,471
France
65
3,737
42.8
214,014
Italy
60
4,610
33.1
208,907
Sweden
9
797
46.2
49,948
Finland
5
407
43.0
30,078
Czech Rep
10
1,354
11.1
26,490
Poland
38
2,473
7.6
48,298
Changing policy context
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Previous UK Government policy: New Industry,
New Jobs; Advanced Manufacturing etc
UK election manifestos
EU policy: Industry for Europe – Europe for
Industry (20-20)
Current UK Government: ‘The path to strong,
sustainable and balanced growth’ &
‘A Long-term Focus for Corporate Britain’
Levers (1)
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Fixing finance – Scottish Investment Bank is a
positive start but new relationship between finance
and industry is required
Skills and skills utilisation – sustainable
productivity enhancement is vital to Scotland’s
manufacturing future; investment in STEM subjects
is essential as is utilising the talents of all Scotland’s
people
Image – quality employment is fundamental; so is
visible and unrelenting Ministerial support
Levers (2)
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Ownership and control – create a level playing field through
implementation of a public interest test for takeovers and
buyouts
Public procurement – extend the Defence Industrial Strategy
approach to other key sectors? Link procurement to
innovation?
State aid – increase to EU15 average and use strategically to
support industrial strategy
Build on current momentum to design and implement a
modern industrial strategy for Scotland? Built on
comparative advantage with flexibility to address industry
renewal and replacement
Industrial strategy…picking winners?
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‘In the same way that the success stories do not allow us to
support governments picking winners under all
circumstances, the failures, however many there are, do not
invalidate all government attempts to pick winners…reality is
that winners are being picked all the time both by the
Government and by the private sector…but the most
successful ones tend to be done in joint efforts between the
two’ Ha-Joon Chang
‘Freed from the threat of free-riders and the imperatives
of short-term profit maximisation, scientists and companies
working for the US military have created many of the
technologies on which the country’s prosperity is now based’
John Cassidy, ‘How Markets Fail – the logic of economic
calamities’
Conclusion
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The continuing decline of manufacturing jobs is neither
inevitable nor desirable
Manufacturing can thrive in ‘high cost’ jurisdictions
Increasing manufacturing’s share of GDP will contribute
disproportionately towards meeting economic and social
targets
Fixing finance is fundamental to elicit the levels of patient
investment required to sustain and grow manufacturing
Scottish Government should revisit Economic Strategy to
examine whether it provides sufficient support for
manufacturing in Scotland