The Costs and Benefits of Multi‐Skilling Available to Purchase

Over the past five years manufacturing companies have been under increasing pressure, both social and economic, to become more flexible in staffing levels, working practices, hours of work, payment systems and the use of contract labour. As the role of manufacturing increases in the overall competitive strategy of many companies, maintenance will be increasingly pressurised to find ways of improving its cost effectiveness and quality of service. Multi‐skilling is an important way of reducing costs and improving performance. A description of the nature and extent of multi‐skilling among production and maintenance jobs in UK manufacturing industry is given and some of the operational costs and benefits of multi‐skilling are considered.