SMAS urges firms to add value

By Peter Ranscombe
Published on Sunday 29 January 2012 00:00

SCOTLAND’S manufacturers must focus on “high-value, high-margin” products if they want to bolster exports and help prevent a return to recession, according to a senior industry figure.

Nick Shields, director of the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS), has called for businesses to focus on adding value to their products so that they can compete on an international scale.

SMAS, which was set up in 2005 by Scottish Enterprise, advises firms on how to make their operations more efficient and how to develop products. Demand for its services is growing, with a 5 per cent rise in the number of projects undertaken in the past nine months to 138.

Since the body was launched, more than 600 companies have used its services.

Shields said: “Manufacturers need to innovate if they want to become exporters. They need to think about what customers need – if a Scottish company comes up with a value-added product that no-one else is making then overseas clients will want to buy it.”

Shields – who took over as director of SMAS in June following the departure of Steve Graham, who became executive director of Strathclyde University’s technology and innovation centre – said research and development was a key part of export success.

His rallying cry comes ahead of the national manufacturing conference at Dunblane in March, where speakers will include First Minister Alex Salmond and finance secretary John Swinney.

Dyson deputy chairman and former trade minister Sir Richard Needham will deliver the keynote address, while Gilad Tiefenbrun of hi-fi maker Linn Products and his uncle, Castle Precision’s Marcus Tiefenbrun, will also address delegates.

Nairn’s Oatcakes’ managing director Mark Laing and Kirstin Mackie of ice cream maker Mackies will also speak about their successes.

David Currie, former managing director of FMC Technologies’ base in Dunfermline and now director of its global subsea operations in Houston, will also speak at the conference, which will be chaired by Scotland on Sunday columnist Bill Jamieson.

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