Almost a third of U.K. manufacturers believe that raw materials will be the biggest barrier to achieving product quality over the next five years, according to a survey of 200 U.K. manufacturers across all sectors. This pushes it higher than the current concerns, where time pressures dominate.

U.K. manufacturers who responded to the survey, conducted by Sapio Research on behalf of Miele, said that delivering on time is currently the most significant barrier to achieving quality (27 percent of respondents), closely followed by the need to reduce time to market and understand customer expectations (26 percent).

Yet in the next five years, manufacturers expect raw materials to become the biggest concern in producing quality goods. Almost a third of respondents (30 percent) chose this option, closely followed by access to skilled designers (29 percent).

This is in line with the report’s findings that achieving quality in the supply chain is the manufacturers’ second biggest challenge after innovation, with ethical sourcing also a concern. As a result, companies are reviewing quality procedures because of concerns over the provenance of raw materials, said the report.

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