With large aerospace and defence industries, the UK already has world-leading expertise in
(TES).
However, according to a new consultation paper, companies can improve the longevity and operability of complex assets, and create services from products such as aerospace engines and trains, by adopting a TES business model.
, provided a starting point for a national debate on TES strategy in the UK parliament in September.
The Institution's Director of Engineering, Dr Colin Brown, was among more than 60 industry representatives and MPs who participated in the debate. It also featured leading executives from Rolls-Royce, Bombardier Transportation, BAE Systems, Babcock International and the UK Ministry of Defence.
According to the paper, the UK has only a 5% share of a global market for engineering services, predicted to be worth £1 trillion by 2025. It asserted that UK must act now in order to take advantage of this growth.
Engineering services provide high-value jobs with wages averaging £42,000 per year, some 50% higher than the manufacturing industry average, according to the paper. It asserted that around 6,000 companies engage in these support industries, employing approximately 107,000 people in the UK.
The consultation reported that these services could save companies millions of pounds in maintenance costs and support industrial sustainability by reducing waste.
Rolls-Royce's Head of Engineering for Services, Dave Benbow, said: “Collaborative development of capability in through-life engineering services will be key to future success in a world where technical innovation is demanded in both products and services."
Dick Elsy, Chief Executive of the HVM Catapult, said: “The value in high-value manufacturing is increasingly in the provision of services surrounding the product. There are big opportunities for the UK to exploit new value streams with the guidance provided from a national strategy."
A national, strategic approach to engineering services is expected to be developed by late 2016. Development of new formal standards to assist in understanding and sharing best practice in the field will be a key element, and the British Standards Institution (BSI) will be supporting the initiative.
The proposal for a national initiative on TES was set out at an industry workshop in May 2015, which was hosted by Cranfield and Durham Universities. The workshop was attended by the Institution's Head of Transport and Manufacturing, Philippa Oldham.
Philippa said: “The days are gone when it was acceptable to sell products without support. Not only does it make good commercial sense to offer follow-on maintenance and upgrading, it gives invaluable evidence back to the manufacturer on the performance of their goods as a guide to their continuous improvement.
"Optimisation of those characteristics that are valued by the customer and omission of unnecessary costs and features is plain good sense. The UK already has a lead in this thinking with companies such as Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems. The potential for economic growth and for redefining what we understand by manufacturing are both clear.”
Philippa Oldham added: “The Institution welcomes the chance to support this new initiative as part of our manufacturing theme activity and we will look to showcase best practice at every opportunity.”
Download the consultation paper,
Making Things Work: Engineering for life – developing a strategic vision.
For more information about the TES National Strategy consultation and initiative, please contact Andy Shaw, TES Centre Manager at Cranfield University by email at
a.shaw@cranfield.ac.uk.