News Article
Six engineers with nearly 100 years of manufacturing excellence between them are the latest recruits to join an acclaimed programme helping North East industry save millions of pounds.
The hand-picked team will be sent to work with a wide range of manufacturers from Berwick-upon-Tweed in the north of the region to Redcar in the south, introducing lean manufacturing principles to raise company productivity and profits.
They secured their places on the North East Productivity Alliance (NEPA) training programme after intensive interviews.
Over the next two years, the six will be trained in business improvement techniques distilled from the Japanese car industry, ingraining them into regional manufacturers to help them compete with low cost overseas competitors.
Since its inception three years ago, the NEPA programme has achieved a total of £19m in productivity savings for more than 250 regional companies.
Robert Phillips, Paul Gardner, Andrew Flower, Michelle Garthwaite, Claire Weir and Bede Kerrigan are all skilled engineers in their own right and have witnessed at first hand the challenging times North East manufacturing is facing. Their addition to the NEPA programme means it now boasts 18 skilled employees.
Robert, 43, a departmental manager at former Northumberland iron foundry Vald Birn in Cambois, said: “We have all been involved with and seen the pressures manufacturers face.
“The lean manufacturing principles and tools we will be teaching firms can be applied to any business from food producer to 84 inch steel roll mills.”
Claire, 37, who worked for three years as an HR manager at Zodiac Automotive in Ashington, said: “We are all very positive about retaining the manufacturing base of the North East and we’ve seen the consequences of manufacturing losses.
“A lot of the pressures firms are facing at the moment are down to labour costs and energy costs.
“We need a competitive edge and the advantage we will help to promote through NEPA is to have a highly-skilled workforce which is flexible and open to new ideas.”
Both Andrew, 28, and 36-year-old Bede worked at the Circatex circuit board factory in South Shields for a total of nearly 28 years between them.
““Working with NEPA is a unique opportunity for us all, it allows us to combine our own experiences and NEPA training to make a real difference,” said Andrew.
Paul, 36, and 31-year-old Michelle are both on secondment to the NEPA programme from Birtley-based construction equipment manufacturer Komatsu.
“We will work with companies to make them more efficient, to give them the capacity to grow in different areas by working smarter,” said Paul.
At the end of their two years at NEPA, the engineers will gain NVQ Level 4 Business Improvement Technique qualifications.
Previous NEPA graduates have returned to their parent companies in promoted positions with the NEPA experience having greatly improved their future career prospects.
Colin Herron, NEPA Dissemination of Best Practice Manager, said: “Our new engineers were selected from 25 applicants to help drive forward the world-class business improvement techniques we bring to regional manufacturers.
“They will work closely with companies from the boardroom to the shopfloor and train change agents who will carry on their good work when the engineers move on to assist other firms.”
Nearly £18m has been invested in the NEPA programme by One North East, the Learning and Skills Council and the European Social Fund.
The NEPA programme consists of four distinct elements all aimed at raising company productivity – Dissemination of Best Practice, Digital Factory, Engineering Fellows and Workforce Development.
In the past three years, NEPA’s Dissemination of Best Practice project has created 113 jobs, safeguarded a further 1,601 posts, assisted 224 businesses and generated 3,776 learning opportunities.
Ends.
For further information please contact:
Gordon Arnott, Senior Press Officer, One North East.
Tel:(0191) 229 6309 Fax:(0191) 229 6234 Mobile: 07713 317883
e-mail: gordon.arnott@onenortheast.co.uk
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