The Brexit deal was made in the final moments of 2020 and this allowed only a short time for manufacturers to map out how they will serve their European customers in the new environment. Maybe they should be setting up in the EU?

Much has been written about how even the Department of International Trade is advising companies to “set up in EU to avoid trade disruption”.  This means setting up distribution i.e. warehousing for end user product deliveries. For instance here on the BBC. The logic is simple: instead of sending 5oo small packages through customs, it now makes sense to send one container through customs to Europe, and then distribute the 500 packages inside the EU’s transport networks.

So how can small and medium sized manufacturers stay competitive in Europe post-Brexit?

Even if you are using a 3PL (3rd Party Logistics supplier) to manage your transportation, storage and shipping, you will still need to have a system that shows you where everything is, and what’s its availability. Manu Online Multi Company Edition lets companies manage more than one legal entity i.e. a manufacturing company in the UK and a sales company in Holland, all inside one system. Invoices and orders go to the right places, stock levels are visible to everyone, but you still manage your manufacturing and sales as one “business”.

Manu Online is a cloud system, so there’s no need for expensive software or hardware installation, and you can get going on the implementation even when your staff are working from home. Contact us to get started today.

Before Brexit, it was easy to send goods directly from UK manufacturers

After Brexit, it makes sense to have a sales and distribution centre in the EU