Scotland’s manufacturers sharpen competitiveness with £20 million efficiency savings

New figures released by Scottish Enterprise today (22 June) confirm that it has supported 165 Scottish manufacturers undertake 207 business efficiency projects over the past twelve months, generating £20 million productivity benefits for Scotland’s economy.

These savings contribute to further growth opportunities for companies such as The Boxshop Ltd, which has accepted an offer of £300,000 Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant from Scottish Enterprise towards a £2.2 million expansion project at its manufacturing facility in East Kilbride, creating 18 new jobs and safeguarding a further 18 jobs.

Scottish Enterprise works intensively with The Boxshop Ltd through its account management portfolio, an approach which enables the account manager to build a specialist account team representing specific areas of specialist business support. This approach has delivered organisational and strategy development activities for the company to date, as well as advice and funding from RSA and the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS).

The company was one of the first to work with SMAS when it was set up in 2005 and has undertaken a project every year since. During this time, The Boxshop has generated £1.4 million efficiency savings and increased its turnover from £5.7 million to £11.3 million. The company now employs around 80 staff and attributes part of its competitive advantage to its continuous improvement and business efficiency projects.

The Boxshop Ltd managing director, Douglas Lamb, said: “We pride ourselves in being the largest independent manufacturer of corrugated boxes in Scotland but to keep growing, we need to keep ahead of our competition. To do that, we need to invest our time and money in making sure that we have the right products and processes and that they are as efficient and effective as possible.

“Our strong culture of continuous improvement has already seen £5 million invested in our facility in East Kilbride and this further £2.2 million will see us purchasing a further 15,000 sq ft of neighbouring property space which will enable us to invest in additional equipment and target new areas of business growth, further securing our position in the marketplace.”

Scottish Enterprise director of SMAS, Nick Shields, said: “We’re seeing many Scottish manufacturers bucking the trends and experiencing strong growth, and The Boxshop Ltd is a great example of this. It proves that innovation and investment really are the key to achieving success.

“With Scotland being home to around 8,000 manufacturing companies, there’s a huge opportunity for Scottish Enterprise to help support their growth and ambition. For example, SMAS and RSA are a couple of tools we use to create a holistic tailored package of support to manufacturing companies.

“This year, we want to work with even more Scottish manufacturers, carry out even more projects and deliver even greater value to Scotland’s economy. We believe we can help companies generate more savings and create new jobs, develop new products and enter new markets, at home and overseas.”

Finance Secretary John Swinney said: “We are very proud of the continued benefits the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service brings to Scottish manufacturers. The service is highly respected by businesses from across all industry sectors. This respect is well-deserved. The dedicated team of practitioners within SMAS bring their own business experience direct to companies who are striving to make production or process changes. The Boxshop is a great example of an outward looking company who see the benefits in investing time and energy in specialist SMAS support. I urge other companies to do the same."

Scottish Enterprise account manager, Lorna Edward, works closely with Douglas and his team providing advice and guidance on their long term ambitions. She plays an instrumental role in linking Scottish Enterprise support, such as SMAS and RSA, to help accelerate their growth plans. Lorna added: “The Boxshop Ltd is a forward thinking and ambitious company which has continued to grow despite tough trading conditions.

“The company’s leadership, appetite for growth and commitment of its staff has truly helped make it the success it is. Going forward, I’ll continue to work with our account team, pulling in specialist support where required and really help the company grow from strength to strength as it delivers its long term growth ambition.”

During 20011/12, 60 per cent of SMAS projects were undertaken by companies in the food and drink, manufacturing and engineering sectors. However, more energy and chemical sciences companies undertook projects last year compared to previous years.

Approximately 75 per cent of SMAS customers are account managed by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, however, its services are open to all manufacturing business in Scotland.