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THE COSTS OF UK LOCATION
Page 57
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Countless British manufacturers have relocated their factories overseas in search of lower overheads, and plant manager Graham Whitehurst points out that the annual electricity bill at the Ballymena plant is £3m —twice what the company would pay in the United States.
Michelin has a high-tech plan to combat this problem: two Born-high wind turbines which will cost £4m apiece, Production-line staff are paid an average of 225.000pa, compared with an average of 215,000 in the province.
"But you don't get many of these {tyres] in your briefcase," Whitehurst smiles. His point is that truck tyres are expensive to transport, so Michelin finds it makes sense to manufacture tyres as close to their markets as possible.
And while production costs are inevitably higher than in the developing world, the answer is to focus on productivity at sites like Ballymena. As Whitehurst puts it, Michelin aims to "muscle up the west".