Collaboration is a cornerstone of the way we work at Feritech Global

 

By Rob Ferris, MD Feritech Global

 

In today’s world, most large scale projects require a collaborative approach. We have considerable experience of collaboration with companies of all kinds. Sometimes we are the project lead. Sometimes we are a sub-contractor. It makes no difference to the proactivity and energy that characterises our approach. At all times, we are focused on delivering the very best solutions to achieve the project goals, working in close partnership with all other team members.

Collaboration is growing as a way of working within the manufacturing sector, partly driven by increased complexity of projects and partly driven by the increase in outsourcing. Businesses can benefit in many ways from collaborating with others, from expanding networks and insights, to accessing new talent pools, techniques, processes and funding, potentially increased productivity and faster business growth.

This new way of working does throw up a number of new challenges however, including managing intellectual property rights (IP) and risk.

Over the years, we have learnt a thing or two about what makes a collaborative project work well. Here are our findings in a nutshell.

  1. Trust. It is imperative that everyone in a collaboration has trust in each other to deliver their particular elements of the project. Trust has to be earned of course, and it should be nurtured at every possible stage. The importance of good relationships cannot be overstated as it is the foundation of collaborative working.
  2. Open and clear communications. Good communication is vital. When everyone is busy, it can be easy for communications to go awry. Effort must be expended in ensuring that accurate communication flows well.

 

  1. Clarity. It is essential that everyone involved is completely clear about the project objectives, as well as other key items such as budget, timings, decision-making processes and so on. It goes without saying it is crucial to scope out exactly who is going to do what. Within a successful collaboration, there is no room for any assumptions, as unfounded assumptions too often lead to errors being made.

 

  1. Shared ownership and shared credit. When it comes to merchandising the success of a project, collaborative projects must be handled equitably, without any one partner over-stepping the mark.

 

In May 2021, we will be opening our brand new £3 million manufacturing facility in Cornwall. This will enable us to ramp up the number of collaborative projects we work on. We are aiming to offer our manufacturing services as a sub-contractor to businesses in the South West as well as leading flagship innovation projects, such as those we already work on across the globe.

New opportunities, like floating offshore wind, are calling for multi-disciplinary solutions at the cutting edge of innovation, and collaborations are regarded as the best way to seize the opportunity.

Increasingly, as projects demand an ever wider range of skills – including emerging technologies such as AI and robotics – collaboration will become more mainstream as a way of doing business.

At Feritech Global, we intend to be right at the forefront of this trend.