The 23rd of June was ‘International Women in Engineering Day’ and it was great to see social media light up with inspiring stories from female engineers that have such passion for the industry. According to Engineering UK, just 14.5% of UK engineers are women – a figure that has increased from 12% in 2018. In numerical terms, women employed in UK manufacturing had risen from 721,000 in 2016 to 906,000 by Q2 of 2020. To celebrate the achievements of the ladies in our industry, take a look at our special feature with Mandy Ridyard, Finance Director at Produmax. What an inspirational leader! Can we all be doing more to attract women into a fulfilling manufacturing career?
With the Farnborough Air Show from 18th to 22nd July, it’s also timely that we are publishing our aerospace industry report. The commercial sector is currently being dogged by potential summer strike action and staff shortages that meant airlines couldn’t fulfil their surge in bookings during the most recent school half term.
Beyond these short-term challenges, the future looks bright. 2021 was a year of recovery where Airbus and Boeing delivered 611 and 340 planes respectively, an increase from 566 and 157 in 2020. Currently, at around ‘rate 45’ Airbus is targeting a monthly production rate of 65 by next summer and 70 by Q1 2024, so things are on the up. Like commercial airlines, the manufacturing supply chain is facing difficulties. These currently range from equipment and material availability, skills shortages, inflation, energy costs and more. As always, for those bold enough to invest and face the ‘headwinds’ the rewards will soon follow. There are several ways to overcome the hurdles ahead, and in this issue, we address a few of these challenges. Will Stirling talks about ‘lean’ and ‘kaizen’ with GE Aviation and we have some fascinating insights into how automation can deliver a complete transformation for your business – our cover story on the F35 fighter is just one example in this issue.
