Many people's knee jerk reaction to manufacturing in the UK, is that it must be cheaper to have products made in the Far East or Eastern Europe. Are they right?  Let's look at the big picture.

Consider that for many products a significant part of the production cost is the cost of labour. If we run a lean, state of the art machine and automate as much as possible to keep labour costs at a minimum, then there is no reason why British manufacture cannot be competitive on price. In addition it is only a matter of time before the Chinese labour force demand better wages.

Not only is it cost effective, there are actually advantages in local manufacture, including significant risk reduction and lower carbon footprint. 

I frequently meet with budding inventors to offer help and advice. This is usually a pleasure, particularly when they are on to something really exciting (No, I'm not going to tell you what!). However, when they do the big reveal - and it's a no hoper, or their big idea has already been out there for years, then it is less of a delight. I'm faced with the task of letting them down gently. That is not a skill that I am particularly good at, especially if they find reality hard to accept. I don't believe in leading people on with kind words if they are wasting their effort and, more importantly, their money.

I see a spectacular range in quality of ideas.

People come to me with brilliant commercially viable and well thought out ideas, complete with an impressive business plan. They are determined to succeed and passionately committed to their projects.  Whilst others are equally passionate and committed to lemons.

The difference between them is homework.  It saddens me to see such energy wasted on projects that are not properly researched. By this I mean finding answers to the questions: Does this product fulfil a real need  that can't be overcome in an alternative, cheaper way? Can it be manufactured? Is the cost of production capable of achieving a selling price that the market will bare? Will enough people  be willing to part with hard-earned cash, for this product to be a viable business proposition of interest to investors?

All these answers are essential if you are going to proceed. Thomas Edison said "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration". The same applies to invention. 

I look forward to seeing many more enthusiastic inventors but if I trample over your idea with two left feet, my apologies in advance. I've got your best interests at heart.

Twitter.com/mandyhaberman
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col·ic/ˈkälik/

The word colic comes from the word colon (or large intestine) and refers to gastrointestinal pain (‘belly ache’ to you and me) experienced in the abdomen from a variety of causes. 

Most of us (especially parents with babies under four months old) are familiar with infantile colic.  It is very common and is reported to affect just two out of every 10 babies (surprising -I would have thought the incidence was much greater).  This condition is when an otherwise healthy baby cries or displays symptoms of distress (like cramping) for no discernible reason, for extended periods (usually at night, when parents are at their most exhausted). 

However, this condition isn’t just for babies.

Two high profile cases of colic reported last week drew my attention to the wider world of colic sufferers. 

First, the male giant panda at Edinburgh Zoo Yang Guang (meaning “Sunshine”) was diagnosed with colic after showing signs of discomfort.  He is expected to be resting for a few weeks away from the public eye and has been given anti-inflammatory medication to ease the problem.

Then the legendary Argentinian football player / manager Diego Armando Maradona, the incumbent coach of the Al Wasl team, was hospitalised with acute renal colic.  His club from the United Arab Emirates announced the story on its official Twitter account.  Happily, like Sunshine, Maradona is back home now and resting.

Horses, are also prone to digestive upset and colic poses a great challenge to horse owners as the actual cause varies. It is estimated that between 10-11 per cent of the general horse population will suffer from colic and about 1 in 10 horses will die as a result. I’ve experienced a horse with colic. It is very upsetting to see. You have to keep the horse walking (sometimes for hours) to help it to pass.

But back to babies.  Infantile colic isn’t as nasty as this. Often the cause is nothing more sinister than trapped wind. It typically appears within the first month of a baby’s life.   Symptoms often disappears before the baby is three to four months old, but can last up to 12 months. Usually it disappears once the baby can sit up – as being vertical helps wind to escape. (My elder daughter, Nadia continued to get it occasionally until she was 3 yrs old). It can be terribly stressful for parents, at a time when they are at their most anxious.

Breast fed babies get less colic than bottle fed babies. The so-called ‘anti-colic’ bottles do help a bit in reducing air swallowing but, in my experience, they don’t solve the problem completely and they tend to overwhelm the baby with milk. I have spent the last 5 years working hard to design a better solution to the problem, and expect to launch my new product later this year.

I would love to talk to you if you are a breastfeeding mum who has experienced difficulties with using bottles to deliver breast milk (or supplements), or if you bottle feed, and your baby is still experiencing wind and colic despite using 'anti-colic' feeders.

To make contact go to Contact Mandy Haberman or go to Twitter.com/mandyhaberman.