Chinese Checkout By UK Lifeboat Builders
Aberdeen UK based lifeboat manufacturers and safety equipment maintenance specialists Survival Craft Inspectorate is taking the rare step of repatriating its production facilities from low wage China to a new 10,000ft 2factory now under construction at Findon Shore.
In keeping with current trends, Survival Craft Inspectorate transferred the majority of its lifeboat production to China in 2001 but has found the increasing cost of shipping a completed boat from Asia to customers in Europe has counterbalanced the wages advantage. The company’s largest boats are up to 10m long and weigh over 5,000kg. The savings in transportation will also be combined with increased efficiency and the ability of the company’s managers and quality assurance to maintain closer involvement with the production process.
The new facility at Findon Shore is expected to create up to 40 new jobs and will also accommodate the company’s engineering facility, currently situated at Aberdeen’s Commercial Quay.
Angus Campbell, managing director of Survival Craft Inspectorate, is confident that customers will appreciate being able to buy British built lifeboats.
He said, ‘Steadily increasing freight costs mean that it can now cost thousands of pounds to freight a boat from Shanghai to a customer in Europe, with delivery taking up to four weeks.
We might as well pay the higher labour costs and put the money into the British economy. It will certainly be more convenient from the management point of view and our customers will still receive a quality product.’
MJ Information No: 20788
