The number of factories turning out products in the UK
is falling as jobs move east. However, demand for manufacturing IT
specialists is increasing.
Nikki Brain, associate director at recruitment consultancy
Hudson, explained, "There are some obvious trends. Some
manufacturers are moving towards distribution. And some are taking
away the hardware part and moving into intellectual property and
high-spec consultancy work."
Satnam Brar, managing director of enterprise resource planning
recruitment specialist Maximus, said, "There seems to be an
assumption, because of the high profile of such sectors as
financial services that the market for IT specialists in
manufacturing is dying off, but nothing could be further from the
truth."
Brain has seen others capitalise on manufacturing's move abroad.
"What we are seeing is other sectors dipping into manufacturing
skills. The retail sector, for example, is taking production and
engineering people because of their experience with quality
programmes such as Six Sigma."
Like retailers, manufacturers are recruiting to improve their
supply chain. Ready control over where supplies are going has
become more crucial owing to the global nature of the industry.
Manufacturers are therefore doing a lot of work with ERP software,
and most often the software is provided by German supplier SAP.
"SAP is dominating every market at the moment," said Adam
Stokes, operations manager of recruitment website The IT Job
Board.
Mark Verghese, director at IT recruiter Greythorn, pointed to a
problem. "The talent pool for these types of skills is very
definitely finite. Consequently, although the market for people
within the manufacturing sector is buoyant, demand far exceeds
supply."
Brain said that, thanks to competition, average salaries are
creeping up. However, Stokes pointed out that not all employers are
aware of the situation, particularly for SAP specialists.
"People say they are looking for SAP people, but they seem
surprised that there is a lot of competition out there. Recruiters
are catching up, but the clients have not noticed as quickly how
competitive the market is," Stokes said.
Rates have also improved with the change in role for senior IT
professionals in manufacturing. "The profile of people we are
putting back into manufacturing is increasing. The expectation is
that the people have very good commercial skills. They are not just
plant managers, they have a lot more responsibility," said
Brain.
Brar agreed that salaries for people with manufacturing IT
skills were moving up, but said, "They are never going to compare
with those on offer in organisations such as investment banks."
Manufacturers can also offer good training, and its value is
well understood by companies looking for people with
quality-oriented skills.
Keith Harding, manufacturing manager at RM, which supplies
computers to educational institutions, said that an image of
manufacturing as old-fashioned and grimy can put potential recruits
off, although the reality is different at many of the
high-technology manufacturers.
Martin O'Dowd, director of ERP at engine manufacturer
Rolls-Royce, said diversity of work was a draw. "Within the
company, the opportunity to work on a broad range of process
improvement projects is quite attractive. But it is hard to get
good-quality IT people in the UK," he added.
Brar said a move overseas could prove lucrative for those with
supply chain experience. "For the foreseeable future it seems that
there will continue to be a healthy market for Oracle and SAP
consultants, but much of it will be based on the European
continent, rather than here in the UK," he added.
For those who know how the sausage is made, there are IT jobs to
be had, although they may not have to deal with the production
process itself.
Rolls-Royce: it's all about the process
Jonathan Mitchell, CIO and director of business process
improvement at Rolls-Royce, came to the company four years ago from
pharmaceuticals firm GlaxoSmithKline, as Rolls-Royce began to
rethink how it did business.
"It happened in the 1990s with the ramp-up in manufacturing for
the Trent engine programmes. It became clear that the processes
needed to change in the company," said Mitchell.
The changes mean that Rolls-Royce is different to other
companies, he said. "We probably have quite a different take. We
see IT as an underpinning of a change programme strategy. We have
found that is the best way to get results."
A manufacturing background is important in being able to deliver
the systems at Rolls-Royce, said James Hamilton, director of
manufacturing systems. "Although IT is vital to making a better
decision," he added.
Hamilton moved to his current role from the car industry six
years ago, having built up experience in lean production and the
kaizen manufacturing techniques used there.
"Bringing IT people into manufacturing and calling them
manufacturing people does not tend to work. Having people with the
manufacturing literacy behind them is a better way of delivering a
positive outcome," he said.
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