Pictured above: Peter Jones, SC21 Project Manager
Aerospace and defence firms in the West Midlands are being urged
to tap into specialist support to help them take advantage of
continued growth in the sector.
Peter Jones, the newly appointed SC21 Project Manager at the
Manufacturing Advisory Service-West Midlands (MAS-WM), believes new
developments in narrow aisle aircraft and advancements in composite
materials hold significant potential for the region.
The former production and operations manager at IMI Marston also
stressed the need for local firms to embrace SC21World Class Supply
Chains, in order to become globally competitive and secure future
contracts with the sector's major primes.
He identified a £1.5m Advantage West Midlands and
ERDF-backed funding package currently being delivered by MAS-WM as
a major opportunity for manufacturers, with grants of up to
£20,000 available to help them commit to the programme.
"We've already assisted more than 200 businesses to embrace SC21
and this is helping the West Midlands' supply chain achieve world
class manufacturing performance and, importantly, put it in a
perfect position to win future work," explained Peter, who started
his career as an apprentice at Chubb in Wolverhampton.
"Aerospace and defence has stayed pretty strong through the
global recession and we're now looking at a host of new model
introductions, with a focus on narrow body jets and the launch of
the Dreamliner that utilises new composite material
technology."
He continued "Over 45,000 people are employed in the Midlands
and our region - with major clusters in Birmingham, Coventry and
Wolverhampton - account for 25% of the £20bn-strong UK
industry.
"We've got all of the skills, the proven track record in
powering and controlling aircrafts and, thanks to partnerships with
world-leading academic bases, the innovation and new technology
needed to head off threats from the emerging Chinese and Indian
superpowers.
"SC21 is fast becoming the global benchmark and is endorsed by
all the main primes...in my opinion it will soon become the
pre-requisite for working in the sector."
Supply Chains for the 21st century offer a range of cost-saving,
quality improvement and relationship-building benefits to aerospace
and defence industry suppliers.
The programme focuses on development and commitment to
innovation in the supply chain, relationship building with
customers and quality improvement and accreditation to AS/EN 9100
and Nadcap.
Once a commitment has been made to participate in the programme,
an experienced adviser will arrange for a series of business
diagnostics to be carried out within the company, which will inform
them where they are now and what they need to do to work towards
globally competitive performance via the SC21 programme.
A sector specialist from Industry Forum, TEC or TPT, will then
work hand-in-hand with the business on improving performance and
quality, as well as facilitating relationship workshops with
stakeholder customers.
"SC21 is much more than just a "badge", it is a way of working,
a culture and if implemented successfully will help safeguard and
create hundreds of jobs in the West Midlands," continued Peter.
"Companies such as Technoset, G&O Springs and Burcas have
already secured awards and are enjoying major operational benefits
and new contract wins. Now is the time for others to benefit."
Peter, who replaces Cliff Johnson in the role, is a
manufacturing professional with business administration
qualifications gained over 30 years in manufacturing.