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Crafts & Trade
Definition and methodology
"Crafts and related trades" are considered
as a group of professions in which "workers apply their specific
knowledge and skills to produce or process goods" and in which "the
tasks call for an understanding of all stages of the production process,
the materials and tools used and the nature and purpose of the final
product". However, there is no European definition for craft
enterprises and crafts cover a very wide range of activities that
do not constitute a marked-off sector in NACE.
The e-Business W@tch will apply an operational definition
of craft enterprises as "firms with less than 50 employees in crafts-related
NACE categories". Considering the economic activities criterion
that is applied in nine Member States, crafts firms are included
in manufacturing activities in fields such as food, wood, metals
and ceramics (NACE 15 - 37, excluding 23 - 25), construction
(NACE 45), repairs (NACE 50), transport (NACE 60), and several "other
services" (NACE 90 and 93). Since the crafts sector is very
heterogeneous, a comparison of sub-sectors needs to be possible in
the e-Business W@tch analysis. Therefore, a reasonable number of
interviews per sub-sector and country has to be conducted. Consequently,
a comprehensive coverage of crafts would be out of the scope of the
e-Business W@tch survey. Several crafts will be selected.
In order to make best economic use of the sample,
the crafts sector analysis will partly be based on interviews that
are also evaluated
for other sector reports. Firstly, a composite crafts sector will
comprise firms with less than 50 employees in the three sectors
of textiles, electronics, and transport equipment in which firms
from
all size classes will be interviewed. Secondly, the composite crafts
sector will include construction as well as wood and furniture
manufacturing; in these two sub-sectors, only firms with less than
50 employees
will be interviewed. Thus, activities covered in the composite
crafts sector are:
NACE
Rev. 1 |
Business
activity |
| 17 -
19 |
See
Textile Industries |
| 20 |
Manufacture
of wood and of products of wood and cork, except furniture; manufacture
of articles of straw and plaiting materials |
| 20.1 |
Sawmilling
and planing of wood; impregnation of wood |
| 20.2 |
Manufacture
of veneer sheets; manufacture of plywood, laminboard, particle
board, fibre board and other panels and boards |
| 20.3 |
Manufacture
of builders' carpentry and joinery |
| 20.4 |
Manufacture
of wooden containers |
| 20.5 |
Manufacture
of other products of wood; manufacture of articles of cork, straw
and plaiting materials |
| 30 -
32 |
See
Manufacture of electrical machinery and electronics |
| 34 -
35 |
See
Manufacture of transport equipment |
| 36 |
Manufacture
of furniture; manufacturing n.e.c. |
| 36.1 |
Manufacture of furniture |
| 45 |
Construction |
| 45.2 |
Building of complete
constructions or parts thereof; civil engineering |
| 45.3 |
Building installation |
| 45.4 |
Building completion |
Main reasons for selection
- Economic importance of the sector: Crafts is a huge sector
in terms of number of enterprises, employment and value added.
While
it is "impossible to
quantify craft-trade in Europe owing to the deformity of surveying methods
and the different up-dating levels" , 99% of European non-primary enterprises
are small firms with less than 50 employees, accounting for around 50% of
employment. The construction industry comprises more than 1.9 million enterprises
and employs
more than 10 million people, the third largest amounts after retail and business
services in the e-Business W@tch. As regards value added, the construction
sector is second with 345 billion Euro. Wood manufacturing comprises 129,000
enterprises that employ 874,000 people and account for a value added of 29.6
billion Euro; in furniture manufacturing around 770,000 people are employed
and a value added of 26 billion Euro is created.
- Importance of SMEs: By
definition crafts comprise only small companies with less than
50 employees. Therefore, the analysis of crafts
offers the opportunity
to gain deeper insights into e-business applications within the group of
small companies. Construction as well as wood and furniture
manufacturing are chosen
as sub-sectors of the composite crafts sector because they have a particularly
high share of small firms: Construction crafts enterprises account for roughly
two thirds of value added within the sector which is 2.5 times as much as
the corresponding share of small enterprises in the manufacturing
sector. Wood
manufacturing (NACE 20) has an SME share of 98.3%, furniture manufacturing
is dominated by micro and small enterprises which account for around 50%
of EU value added which is close to double the manufacturing
average.
- E-business intensive sector: While small companies
generally tend to lag behind medium-sized and large firms in
e-business
application, many craft firms
are quite advanced in this respect. For example in electronics and electrical
equipment manufacturing, a sector which was already included in the previous
e-business surveys, small (craft) firms perform better than small firms in
many other industries under consideration. Furthermore, certain sub-industries
such as furniture manufacturing have recently been found to perform particularly
well in e-business applications. Crafts could therefore serve as an e-business
model for small firms in other industries.
- Importance of ICT for the sector:
ICT and e-business application will be crucial for many craft
firms to stay competitive with industrial production.
Possible benefits include reduced procurement costs through e-marketplaces-
particularly in consortia with other craft firms -, new
ways of contract acquisition, and more efficient business processes.
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