Silvergate Plastics, the UK’s leading independent masterbatch manufacturer, is collaborating with a number of multinational companies in an effort to establish a technically advanced global manufacturing and supply network.
The objective is to create a global supply network that will allow customers with sites around the world the opportunity to buy masterbatches locally from an agile, independent network. The concept of global sourcing has been around for a long time and often the smaller organisations are excluded as potential suppliers given their limited number of manufacturing sites. By creating this global manufacturing and supply network, the brainchild of Silvergate’s Managing Director Tony Bestall, smaller and more reactive companies can address this issue by leveraging a competitive advantage with other like-minded organisations across the globe. Customers who have a strategy to purchase identical products from different geographical locations will then have the option to procure goods globally, whilst benefitting from the advantages independent suppliers provide.
Silvergate has been identifying suitable organisations that can contribute to creating a responsive and resilient manufacturing and supply network, and are willing to share technologies and promote innovation in the fulfilment of customer requirements. Having discussed the benefits of such a network with a number of interested parties, Silvergate’s Bestall said:
“Due to Silvergate’s technical expertise, we are often called upon to provide products and services to customers literally thousands of miles away. Despite our ability to provide high quality materials rapidly and competitively, logistics can potentially be a barrier. This is the same inherent challenge facing many independent manufacturers worldwide. We are in the process of developing relationships with organisations with whom we have synergy and can operate as part of an agile, technically-driven global manufacturing and supply network.”
With many customers dictating the location of manufacture, Bestall believes a global network will ensure the integrity of products to the benefit of all involved. He continues:
“Customers in our industry want their raw materials to be manufactured as close to the end moulder or extruder as possible. This is where many independent manufacturers lose out. By creating a global network, I foresee a collaborative approach whereby local independents share technologies and formulations to fulfil specifications without customers having to look elsewhere.”
Despite the potential of the global network giving independents access to new markets and potentially cheaper resources, its true aim is to add value by promoting opportunities for technical advancements and knowledge sharing. Bestall is optimistic it can bring more innovative products to the global marketplace, create a flexible network that can react quickly to market demands and can overcome logistical challenges that historically only large multi-site organisations could provide.
Silvergate’s goal is to establish an efficient, responsive and resilient global manufacturing and supply network by the end of 2016.
