Sector Skills Councils scheme to bring benefits to small
companies
PAC pilot sees 14 companies increase profitability by
more than £1.3million
Four Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) are joining forces to enable
a major transformation for the future of UK manufacturing and
engineering through the Productivity and Competitiveness (PAC)
programme.
The alliance of SSCs, called the Manufacturing Skills Alliance
(MSA), is made up of:
- Cogent, the SSC for the Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Oil and
Gas, Nuclear, Petroleum and Polymer Industries;
- Improve, the SSC for the Food and Drink Manufacturing Industry,
and go under the name of the Manufacturing Skills Alliance
(MSA).
- ProSkills, the SSC for the building products, coatings,
extractives, furniture, glass, paper and printing industries;
and
- Semta, the SSC for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing
Technologies.
The PAC Programme has been formed by leading engineers who have
pooled their core techniques in lean process and manufacturing to
create a new and different approach specifically designed to help
smaller companies. Through measurements of quality, cost and
delivery, on site PAC analysts work to assess manufacturing and
engineering company’s performance, and thereby facilitate progress
to high performance working. In order that skills and knowledge
acquired are sustainable, selected staff subsequently undertake
Business Improvements Techniques (B-IT) NVQ qualifications.
A recent PAC/B-IT pilot programme in the West Midlands has
anticipated a total increase in profitability of more than
£1.3million. The pilot saw 14 companies go through the PAC
programme with companies involved seeing an average of £93,000
increase in profitability. One company involved, HydroBolt, a
manufacturer and supplier of bespoke fasteners from Wolverhampton,
saw a continuous improvement and a £9,000 increase in output.
Phillip Whiteman, Chief Executive of Semta, on behalf of the
Manufacturing Skills Alliance said:
“We are delighted that the pilot has been such a tremendous
success. PAC enables employers to really increase and sustain
productivity and competitiveness. Business-Improvement Techniques
are an important tool to compete globally, and the benefits of PAC
are clear, simple, and quantifiable and can have a huge impact on
your bottom line.”
- Ends
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For further information please contact:
James Cameron at Semta on 020 7781 2316 or email: jamesc@consol.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
- The overall PAC programme is an initiative by the Manufacturing
Skills Alliance, Semta, Proskills, Cogent, Improve, and various
National Skills Academies. It was originally launched by Industry
Forum.
- The PAC and B-IT programme takes 6 to 9 months, and the total
cost to the company ranges from £3 to £5k.
- There are currently around 20 PAC analysts in the UK and the
number is growing.
Semta (Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and
Manufacturing Technologies)
Semta is the employer-led skills council for Science,
Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies in the UK. The sectors
it represents are: Aerospace, Automotive, Bioscience, Electrical,
Electronics, Maintenance, Marine, Mathematics, Mechanical, Metals
and Engineered Metal Products and Science. Its role is to the raise
skills levels and competitiveness in the 76,000 companies and 1.4
million-strong workforce that make up these sectors.