Three East Midlands companies will be throwing open their doors
to fellow regional businesses as part of a series of factory visits
organised by the Food and Drink iNet.
The visits have been arranged to highlight best practice ways of
working, and are designed to encourage more efficient and effective
production across the East Midlands food sector.
Aimed at food and drink manufacturers and academics linked to
the food industry, the visits have been designed to illustrate how
firms can keep ahead of their competition.
The first event is hosted by Molson Coors Brewery,
Burton-on-Trent, on October 27th from 9am. It will be followed by a
visit to British Sugar plc, Newark, on January 28th 2010. The third
visit takes place on February 4th 2010 at Rolls-Royce, Derby.
"Companies can learn a lot from each other, and we are delighted
that three such well-known and respected businesses have offered to
host these best practice factory visits," said Peter Maycock, Food
and Drink iNet director. "Those who attend will be able to see
first hand the tools and techniques used by key companies in the
sector."
The Molson Coors Brewery visit will give companies the
opportunity to see how the firm stays at the top through automated
process control, remote monitoring, and having operators developed
to technician level, added Peter.
Grania Towle, of Molson Coors, said: "This is an ideal place to
visit as, like many companies, they haven't got the benefit of a
newly built factory and are embarking on a journey to
implement 'world class' practices into an old operational factory.
Visitors can see the new alongside the old, and witness at first
hand the lessons learnt."
Molson Coors (UK) has more than 2,000 employees in the UK and
breweries at Burton-on-Trent, Alton and Tadcastle. It is the UK arm
of Molson Coors and has a market share of over 20% of the UK beer
market. Brands include, Carling, the UK's best selling lager for
three decades, as well as Coors Light, Grolsch, Worthington's,
Caffrey's, Sol and Cobra.
David Wallace, Innovation Director of East Midlands Development
Agency (emda) which funds the Food and Drink iNet, said: "These
factory visits aim to promote best practice to managers of other
regional food and drink businesses who want to develop their own
companies. We recognise the importance of people coming together to
share expertise and knowledge, it is one of the reasons why the
iNets were established, and I am sure that the people who go on
these visits will all learn something new that they can apply in
their own businesses."
The Food and Drink iNet aims to foster innovation in the
region's food and drink sector by encouraging businesses to turn
new ideas into new business through the development of new
technologies and products. It also hopes to stimulate new
processes, services and ways of working in the industry to help
boost the sector.