Newcastle’s Soil Machine Dynamics shortlisted for top manufacturing awards

20 September 2011

Newcastle-based subsea robotics manufacturer Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd (SMD) has been shortlisted for two awards, as part of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Manufacturing Excellence Awards 2011.

Colin Brown, the Institutions’ Director of Engineering said:
 “SMD is a fantastic business that is helping to ensure manufacturing remains at the heart of Newcastle’s economy.
“It is exciting to see a company excelling in such diverse parts of its business and we hope the company can inspire more local manufacturers to take part and benefit from the Manufacturing Excellence programme.”

SMD has been shortlisted for awards in the Customer Focus and Financial Management categories.

Manufacturing Excellence assessors and moderators will be visiting SMD on Tuesday 20 September.

Manufacturing Excellence, run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, is the most successful and long established manufacturing support programme in the UK, and the only one that provides a detailed benchmarking and assessment process to help improve manufacturing businesses.

As part of the Manufacturing Excellence programme companies are asked to conduct an in-depth self assessment and those who complete one or more of the eight parts receive a free, bespoke and confidential benchmark report. The best companies in each module receive a free visit from a team of expert assessors who verify the audit responses and offer practical advice and suggestions for the business.  The winning companies in each category will receive an award at the Manufacturing Excellence Award Ceremony at the Dorchester in London on 23 November.

Manufacturing Excellence is supported by PwC, Autodesk, PP Business Improvement, The ERA Foundation, Lombard, WMG, Arup, and Barclays Corporate.

SMD is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of remote intervention equipment, working in hazardous environments worldwide. The product portfolio includes the world’s largest range of subsea remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) such as work-class and specialist trenching vehicles; as well as tidal generation devices, subsea mining equipment and specialist equipment for use in nuclear decommissioning. Customers span a range of sectors from energy (oil and gas, marine renewables and offshore wind infrastructure, nuclear), to telecoms, mining, naval / military and scientific communities.

SMD is based in Wallsend near Newcastle, with offices in Yorkshire, Singapore, the US and Brazil.