UK manufacturers dissatisfied with suppliers

Suppliers have come under attack after a survey found that 40 per cent of manufacturing firms would not buy again from their existing supplier.

The report, entitled Gambling with the future of the UK manufacturing industry, was produced by Financial Management Consultants (FMC), and polled UK manufacturing firms with turnover in excess of £2 million. The report claimed the majority of computer companies are harming the UK's manufacturing competitiveness.

Sixty per cent of respondents said they had to return to their supplier to fix or replace newly installed systems, while 20 per cent of firms said their systems were not working satisfactorily more than 12 months after installation.

Thirty four per cent reported difficulties getting their supplier to fix problems, with 13 per cent resorting to an alternative supplier to complete the job. Seventy nine per cent said staff time was wasted as a direct result of computer problems, 68 per cent said they lost management time and 44 per cent said staff morale was affected.

Keith Salmon, co-chairman of FMC, said: 'This report shows that users are not dealing with the severe problems caused to their companies by suppliers of defective and deficient computer systems.'

A representative at FMC added: 'We were surprised with the results of the survey. We expected maybe 10 per cent to say they would not buy from their existing supplier again, but we didn't think it would be as high as 40 per cent.'

He also stressed that the survey did not distinguish between vendors and other suppliers, such as resellers.