Simon Griffiths is a man on a mission to help save manufacturing – and he certainly has his work cut out. As one of the area directors of the recently restructured Manufacturing Advisory Service, Griffiths is responsible for helping to protect the long-term sustainability of the sector within England.
The figures spell out the enormity of the task that lies ahead: the new Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) is expected to help to generate £1.5 billion in economic growth over the next three years, creating 23,000 jobs and safeguarding 50,000 other positions in the process. Griffiths has no doubts that such a performance is achievable. “I am confident the figures can be delivered,” he says. “We have done a whole load of number crunching based on projects that MAS has achieved historically over the course of the past eight years. It’s all very measurable.”
MAS was originally set up under the auspices of the Department of Trade and Industry to help small and medium-sized firms improve their productivity and competitiveness. It provided predominantly shopfloor-focused advice based around the implementation of lean techniques, with the services delivered regionally through the nine Regional Development Agencies.
The demise of the RDAs gave the opportunity for restructuring, and a consortium comprising Grant Thornton, Pera, WM Manufacturing Consortium and SWMAS won a competitive process to manage the new organisation for the next three years. MAS will now be delivered nationally in England through a single organisation, and its services will move beyond shopfloor development into the more growth-orientated programmes.
“The new single contract will deliver national consistency,” explains Griffiths. “With the previous set-up, there were instances of companies being able to access certain MAS services in one part of the country, but not elsewhere. This wasn’t ideal when some companies had businesses in different parts of the country. And it made it difficult to share best practice. The new structure means we now have consistency of service.”
The new MAS will also offer more than just shopfloor advice around lean techniques, moving into other areas such as new product development and diversification strategies. Griffiths explains: “Historically, the majority of the projects MAS has been involved with have been around lean, operational improvement and productivity. But we are now looking to help businesses grow as well.
“Now we are looking to supplement productivity improvements with new product development and business strategy advice, looking at how you might develop a company either in terms of sector or product diversification.”
So what sort of services will MAS offer? Companies that require assistance can phone or email a team of experienced advisers, geographically dispersed around England. Griffiths says that the advisers are trained to deal with a wide range of problems, from profitability issues through to diversification queries. “There’s no average enquiry – it is a broad church,” he says. “But we reckon that 80% of the questions asked can be answered there and then. The other 20% might require a bit of desk-based research. Our advisers have really valuable manufacturing experience, they are very knowledgeable.”
The next step up is a manufacturing review – where one of the MAS advisers visits the firm in question to offer a free on-site review of activities. This is often done using a new diagnostic tool based on the principles of “Manufacturing Excellence” developed in conjunction with the IMechE and Warwick Manufacturing Group which includes comparisons against best-in-class companies. Griffiths says that this service is far from a box-ticking exercise: it provides the basis for initial discussion and deliberation that can lead to real, measurable improvements, he says.
“Recently one of our advisers was asked to go into a manufacturing company that had won a £1 million contract, potentially doubling the size of the business, but it was already creaking at the seams,” he recalls. “The owner had never project managed a move to a new premises and wanted some advice on what steps would need to be taken.
“The adviser stepped on to the shopfloor and could see that it was absolutely heaving with stock – he was literally tripping over products as he went through the door. What came out of the manufacturing review was the need to re-lay-out the shopfloor over the next three months, enabling the firm to get additional throughput from the same floorspace. As a result of these activities, the company actually freed up some working capital that paid for some of the tooling on the new programme.”
Griffiths says that the findings of a manufacturing review often result in quite straightforward recommendations. “It’s often not rocket science,” he says. “A lot of SMEs don’t know what they don’t know. And they don’t know who to ask about what they don’t know. There are a lot of family-run businesses who have always done things the same way, and when that approach stops working they don’t know where to turn. That’s where these reviews can help. They provide a fresh pair of eyes.”
The next step-up is more in-depth consultancy work that requires part-funding from the company itself. This consultancy work might entail the implementation of factory changes or process improvements that emerge from a previous manufacturing review.
There are three tiers of consultancy on offer, all requiring some level of financial commitment from the firm involved. The MAS Foundation Service provides funding up to £1,000 (or a maximum of 50%) towards an improvement project and is targeted at companies that need basic help. The Step Change Service provides funding of up to £3,000 (or 50% maximum) towards a more significant improvement programme. And the Transformation Service provides funding of up to £10,000 (or 50% maximum) for a strategic change to the business.
At the outset, this sort of consultancy work was free, with partial funding introduced five years ago. Griffiths believes that getting firms to pay at least part of the cost can improve commitment to the change process. “There was some gnashing of teeth when firms were asked to contribute,” he says. “But if companies are asked to pay a bit towards the process, they are going to make really sure that it is of real value to them. If it’s free, there’s a greater likelihood of any subsequent action plan getting put off.”
The new MAS has other strings to its bow. For instance, it will provide training and networking events, including best-practice visits to companies such as defence and aerospace giant Airbus, machine tool specialist Renishaw and other, smaller firms. Griffiths says these visits can prove truly enlightening, often providing processes and techniques that can be applied elsewhere. “Plagiarism is an art form – you should steal with pride,” he says. “In any factory you go into, even if it is the dampest, darkest place, there will always be something that you can pick up and think ‘that’s a good idea’.”
MAS advisers will also help identify partner support, bringing companies in contact with organisations running enterprise zones and regional growth funds. And they will help original equipment manufacturers and their suppliers to develop better relationships and achieve greater efficiencies.
Overall, Griffiths is convinced that the new MAS is better shaped to help manufacturing firms to improve competitiveness and unlock growth. And that makes him optimistic that the sector can fight its way out of the current economic malaise, delivering new jobs and enabling manufacturing to play a greater role in a more balanced economy.
“Despite all the negative surveys we see, the conversations we have had with companies have been far more upbeat,” he says. “The general view is one of reasonable optimism. Firms have been through dire times but the primary view is that they have fairly strong order books and that they are going in the right direction. Life really isn’t too bad.”
- If you want to find out more about the range of services offered by MAS, visit www.mymas.org or call an adviser on 0845 658 9600.