| As
your new FMCEC President I look forward to an exciting and
challenging year ahead. We have a strong, financially sound
organisation with committed leadership. UK Manufacturing
faces difficult challenges now as evidenced by recent announcements
in the automotive sector. The current strength of sterling
makes exporting difficult and forces OEMs to look overseas
for components. At the same time our home markets have eroded
by competitive imports of machines that are not in compliance
with EC certification requirements. We continue to bring
these problems to the attention of Government with increasing
clarity and forcefulness.
Our
organisation gives us a voice in the detailed preparation
of future regulations at national and international level.
We need to be involved early so that the future requirements
are fairly applied and technically feasible and can be
accomplished at reasonable cost in the desired time frame.
A second benefit of participating in the formulation of
the regulations is that the staff of the FMCEC is in a
position to explain and assist in interpreting those guidelines
for the membership. The work of our Technical Committee
benefits all members.
As
an American I find a stronger emphasis on exports in our
British trade associations than in corresponding American
groups. The FMCEC has done well in supporting participation
in international exhibitions. I would encourage members
who have not yet become involved in exporting to contact
Joanna Oliver (Exhibitions Manager) or Pam Hyde (Export
Manager) at the FMCEC to review the services available
to them. The American market is so large that companies
act as though exporting or overseas operations are an
afterthought. This can be a competitive advantage for
British companies.
As
I look forward to this year I would like us to have more
opportunities for our members to get to know each other
and build relationships. I think our growing supplier
group needs to have opportunities to be more involved
with the work of the FMCEC.
BOB
SUTTON
Caterpillar (UK) Ltd
FMCEC President
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