Businesses get design for life from MAS North East
Businesses get design for life from MAS North East North East manufacturing experts who have saved companies millions by embedding world-class working practices are expanding their expertise into the design field.
MAS North East, formerly MAS-NEPA, has helped firms in the region increase competitiveness by working with individual companies to instigate lean manufacturing techniques, improve energy resource efficiency, reduce energy consumption and as of this Friday (March 27) will offer guidance on design.
The Design programme is being launched at the official opening of Design Network North at the Open University Building in Gateshead’s Baltic Business Quarter.
“With the support of MAS North East and the former NEPA programme, manufacturers in the North East have been transforming their businesses by achieving invaluable shop floor improvements,” said Manufacturing and Productivity Manager Colin Herron for One North East, which is funding the Design programme.
“The next step of this transformation process requires us to move up stream to the development and innovation of products where the potential impact is even greater than that of the shop floor improvements.”
To help North East manufacturers take the next step, the MAS North East Design program will assist businesses by embedding improved skills through training on projects such as technology tracking, project management, prototyping techniques, product innovation and projects tailored to drive down costs.
These projects will generate real benefits to the manufactures such as reduced time to market for new products, decreases in unit cost and advances in product innovation techniques.
The programme will be managed by MAS North East engineer, Andrew Flower. He said: “This support is available to all manufacturers in the region who want to develop a formal approach to product innovation and to provide the awareness, skills development and advice needed to embed and operate an effective product innovation process.
“The current economic climate means that businesses are more aware than ever that they need to be as lean and fit for purpose as possible, the Design programme cuts to the very core of the manufacturing process and will prove as invaluable as our successes in the fields of lean manufacturing and energy reduction.”
