Developing with the Best

Operational improvement is being overtaken by the ability to bring superior, cheaper products on to the market in amazingly short periods of time. EDS and the Design Council joined forces to initiate the UK Benchmarking Survey examining how well UK manufacturing companies are performing in bringing new products to the market. Questionnaires, sent out in 1992 to a range of discrete manufacturing companies in the UK, sought opinions from the board room down to the planning offices. Surveys included questions on time predictability, cast predictability and engineering changes. Results show a small group of companies are capable of competing on the top level, while many other companies have potential but lack the ability to convert investment into results.