November 28, 2017 News The UK’s automotive industry is ready to deliver a new supply chain competitiveness and productivity solution following Government’s Industrial Strategy white paper. Automotive industry has co-developed a new programme that will boost the competitiveness and productivity of the UKs advanced manufacturing supply chain. In response to the launch of the Industrial Strategy white paper by the business secretary, Greg Clark, yesterday, SMMT Industry Forum – the organisation set up by the UK government, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and vehicle manufacturers to improve the competitiveness of the UK’s automotive supply chain – welcomes the announcement of a new Supply Chain Competitiveness programme as part of the Automotive Sector Deal. Over the last 18 months, the aerospace and automotive industries have been working closely together to develop a cross-sector approach to boosting the competitiveness and productivity of the advanced manufacturing sector supply chains in the UK. The result is a new programme, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Levels (NMCL), created by the Government-sponsored Automotive Council and Aerospace Growth Partnership bodies as well as the SMMT and Aerospace, Defence, Securities and Space (ADS) trade associations. It is backed by 25 of the UK’s largest manufacturers and early stage discussions and pilots are already underway with the rail and nuclear sectors. NMCL builds on the experience gained in previous national programmes. Notably, it takes a more holistic view of manufacturer performance improvement, with a focus on competitiveness in addition to productivity: achieving customer impact and winning new business. “We welcome yesterday’s Industrial Strategy white paper which commits to launching a new cross-sector supply chain competitiveness programme to encourage industry leaders and the best performing sectors to improve further by adopting best practice as exemplified by the automotive sector. Our Automotive Sector Deal also commits to rolling out an industry-led supplier improvement programme to boost the competitiveness of supply chain companies needed to manufacture current and future generations of vehicles at volume, and increase UK content from 44% to 50% by 2022. We stand ready to work with Government to deliver much needed competitiveness and productivity improvements. NMCL captures the best of manufacturing know-how and provides the practical means for driving industry best practice across hundreds of advanced manufacturing supply chain companies to genuinely move the needle on the UK’s productivity dial,” says SMMT Industry Forum CEO, Dr. Chris Owen. SMMT Industry Forum has more than 20 years’ experience helping advanced manufacturing companies become more competitive. Over the last four years, the Automotive Council has run its Long-Term Automotive Supply Chain Competitiveness (LTASC) programme through SMMT Industry Forum where it has worked with over 70 automotive supply chain companies, large and small, to upskill hundreds of employees, boost productivity, deliver new products to market, leverage more than £75m of private investment in CAPEX, skills and R&D, and is set to create and safeguard more than 3,800 jobs. SMMT Industry Forum has also been the largest provider of knowledge and expertise to deliver the aerospace industry’s Sharing in Growth (SiG) programme. How does NMCL work? The NMCL programme provides manufacturers with an in-depth assessment of their competitiveness, based on their company capabilities and the views of their key customers. This data is used to aid investment decisions, according to the needs of each manufacturer, across six competitiveness areas of quality, cost, delivery, flexibility, products and/or technology and customer experience. Programmes are tailor-made for each manufacturer and are focussed exclusively on boosting the competitiveness of the company, increasing their ‘value add’ and winning more orders. Company projects will typically last from six months for smaller improvement projects, and up to three years for entire business transformations and will use practical resources and share best practices which have been developed by aerospace and automotive industries working together in partnership. For more information, or expressions of interest on the NMCL programme, visit www.nmcl.co.uk
November 16, 2017 News The Northern Automotive Alliance (NAA) Awards, which showcase the successes of vehicle manufacturers, supply chain companies and service providers in the region, took place in Cheshire on 9th November 2017. Ian Constance, CEO, Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC UK), gave a keynote speech to the audience of over 270 members of the northern and national automotive communities. As a leading provider of skills training who actively support organisations to identify and embed the skills and strategy they need to succeed, SMMT Industry Forum were proud to sponsor the NAA People & Skills award. This Award acknowledges and celebrates investment in skills by a small to medium sized enterprise in the engineering and advanced manufacturing sector. The award recognises a business that invests in the training and development of its workforce and demonstrates that they are a leading light in this area through clear evidence of how investment in skills can bring benefits to people and businesses alike. Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) was the winner of the NAA 2017 People & Skills Award. BAC is the British manufacturer of Mono, the lightweight, ultra-high performance, road-legal supercar designed and manufactured using the latest racing technology. The company demonstrated impressive levels of growth based on recruiting, developing and maintaining its highly skilled and engaged workforce, with every individual having a development plan linked to the business requirements. » Industry Forum’s Mike Dickinson (left) presents Briggs Automotive Company with the NAA’s People & Skills Award » NAA CEO Carol Holden (centre) with incoming NAA Chairman Wes Jacklin (left)
October 31, 2017 Articles Write a brief intro to IATF 16949 Certification… Subject Matter/Topic/Clause Audit & Assessment Training Consultancy Certification for IATF 16949 We can help you prepare for your certification to IATF 16949 by conducting IATF 16949 Assessments, Mock Audits and Gap Analysis exercises. Awareness IATF 16949 EssentialsManagement AwarenessAuditor Training Internal Auditor TrainingUpgrade Training (for 1st and 2nd party auditors)Lead Auditor Training We can help you with “process owners” and documentation writing in preparation for your certification to IATF 16949 Core Tools for IATF 16949 Core Tools Certification Core Tools Certification TrainingCore Tools Individual Courses Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP)Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA) Production Part Approval Process (PPAP)Statistical Process Control (SPC) Enquire for more information about how we can help you implement and embed Core Tools into your manufacturing process TPM for IATF 16949Clause – 8.5.1.5 TPM Assessment… Our TPM for IATF workshop is designed for operations, quality and maintenance leaders who need to introduce TPM to improve their equipment management system and satisfy the revised requirements of the IATF 16949 standard. JIPM TPM Consultancy… 8 pillars… help you go for your TPM Award Risk Management for IATF 16949 / ISO 9001 Audit & Assessment Training Consultancy Supply Chain for IATF 16949 We can help and support you with your preparation for MMOG-LE self-assessments MMOG-LE Training MMOG-LE AwarenessSupply Chain Training Principles of Supply Chain ManagementAPICS Supply Chain Certifications CPIM CSCP CLTD Ask us how we can assist you with you MMOG-LE implementation and help drive improvements in the areas identified within the assessment
October 19, 2017 Articles, News continuous improvement, New Product Launch, New Product Launch Excellence UK car manufacturers and Automotive Council endorse new national programme to upskill and improve competitiveness of UK automotive suppliers Birmingham, UK – A new national skills programme is being launched to the UK automotive supply chain later this month, aimed at improving its ability to support increasing numbers of new product launches in the car industry. New Product Launch Excellence (NPLX) – ensuring the perfect conditions for launches that meet cost, quality and delivery targets – is one of the industry’s answers to making UK manufacturers more competitive on a global stage. The programme has been designed in conjunction with UK manufacturers including Jaguar Land Rover, Caterpillar, Bentley, JCB and Toyota, who will encourage their suppliers to take part. It will be delivered by Birmingham-based Industry Forum, the consultancy and training provider for manufacturers that was set up by the government and Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). NPLX is endorsed by the Automotive Council. “The only guaranteed way for manufacturers to cope with Brexit, whatever it means, is to become more globally competitive. OEMs and suppliers who get launches right will get their products to volume production and the market quicker, they will be able to reduce risk, grow their businesses and be more profitable. We want the UK supply chain to be seen by both domestic and international OEMs as the most competitive choice. Traditionally, the manufacturing function has seen new product introduction as a burden because it affects the smooth running of a factory, but we intend to demonstrate how it can be a positive lever for competitive growth for OEMs and the hundreds of supply chain companies that support them,” explains Industry Forum CEO, Dr. Chris Owen. NPLX has a modular curriculum encompassing 24 learning topics, designed around specific operational roles and four distinct business environments: new suppliers, build to print, complex build to print and design & manufacture businesses. It adopts a blended learning approach incorporating classroom training and on-site coaching and mentoring. NPLX supports the IATF 16949:2016 quality management standard, which mandates effective new product introduction processes and competently-trained practitioners. The programme starts later this month, with the first few sessions already sold out. It will be delivered regionally at convenient local venues later in the year. Through NPLX, Industry Forum will coach companies on the importance of the following in relation to a new product launch: Nominating an NPLX project manager, and four key functional players in design (where the supplier designs its own component(s)), quality, manufacturing and logistics & supply chain Designing a rigorous gated project management process and plan Building senior leadership awareness to ensure the plan is prioritised within the organisation The programme has been designed as a cost-effective solution, which has been made possible by leveraging national volume across OEMs and tier one suppliers. The SMMT is offering an initial subsidy to its members to reduce the cost to suppliers. To register interest in the NPLX programme, suppliers should visit our dedicated NPLX page: NPLX.
June 6, 2017 News New Product Launch Excellence (NPLX) is a national programme aimed at improving the New Product Introduction (NPI) capabilities of the UK supply chain through the provision of essential skills training, coaching support and project management expertise. The programme is sponsored by the Automotive Council, endorsed by OEMs and delivered by SMMT Industry Forum. To find out more about the programme register for our free webinar or vist the NPLX homepage Thursday 20th July 2017 10:00am – 10:30am
March 13, 2017 News Information Time: 10:00am – 11:00am Date: Tuesday 11th April 2017 Overview This free webinar aims to provide all attendees with an overview of the AS9145 standard, which provides the framework for the introduction of new products across the Aerospace and Defence sectors. The standard aims to embed APQP and PPAP best practice within an organisation’s New Product Introduction process. The webinar will explore the fundamentals, advantages and expected benefits of the APQP and PPAP processes from planning, product design and development through to process design, validation and on-going production. Who should attend? Senior Managers, Management Representatives, Implementation Teams, Internal Auditors and others who are involved in the auditing or implementation of Advanced Quality Planning (AQP) activities including Control Plans. Download flyer AS9145 Webinar flyer (pdf)
February 8, 2017 Industry Forum Blog Principles of Operations Management The APICS Principles of Operations Management is a complete education and training programme focused on providing delegates with a solid foundational knowledge in the field of supply chain and operations management. programme is designed to help new entrants to the field of operations management establish the knowledge necessary to excel in the fields of production and distribution management. Certified in Production and Inventory Management Since 1973 the CPIM program has educated more than 90,000 manufacturing professionals on essential terminology, concepts, and strategies related to demand management, procurement and supplier planning, material requirements planning, capacity requirements planning, sales and operations planning, master scheduling, performance measurements, supplier relationships, quality control and continuous improvement. Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution The Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution (CLTD) certification provides you with the information you need to meet today’s supply chain logistics challenges. Created by APICS with a team of subject matter experts, the CLTD designation covers a comprehensive body of knowledge that sets the global standard for best practices in logistics, transportation and distribution. Certified Supply Chain Professional The APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) Learning System is a comprehensive professional development and certification preparation program based on the APICS CSCP body of knowledge. It is designed for individuals and organisations looking to develop or enhance skills to create and execute a global supply chain management strategy that meets customer needs, reduces cost, and increases profits. Supply Chain Operations Reference Model The Supply Chain Operations Reference model (SCOR) is the leading end-to-end global supply chain framework used by the world’s leading organisations. The model uses predefined links between your business processes, your performance metrics, practices and people skills in a single structure. Why Choose Industry Forum? Industry Forum is an approved APICS Channel Partner offering a comprehensive range of Supply Chain training and consultancy services. Industry Forum helps major global manufacturers understand, optimise and improve both manufacturing capability and business performance. An integrated team of consultants and practitioners – all seasoned expert engineers with multi-sector manufacturing experience – Industry Forum brings together a world-class combination of improvement competency, insight, process and best practice. Spanning automotive, aerospace, construction, consumer appliance, electronics and food sectors, for over 20 years Industry Forum has planned and delivered some of the world’s most consistent and successful transformations for business-critical manufacturing operations. Our trainers are expert practitioners in Supply Chain Management with hands-on industrial experience and highly developed communication skills. They have a wealth of technical expertise and often provide on-site advice and coaching. During every course we will encourage collaboration and sharing of practical experiences, ensuring learning can be put into context and empowering delegates to apply their new skills successfully in their workplace as well as making sustainable improvements. APICS is the leading professional association for supply chain and operations management and the premier provider of research, education and certification programs that elevate supply chain excellence, innovation and resilience. APICS Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) and APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) designations set the industry standard. With over 37,000 members and 287 international partners, APICS is transforming the way people do business, drive growth and reach global customers.
November 25, 2016 Articles, Resources VDA 6.3 – Qualification for Process Auditor (3rd completely revised edition 2016) In 2016, the established audit standard VDA 6.3 (2nd edition 2010) was revised by the VDA working group and specified on the basis of experience and feedback. The aim was to simplify evaluation and the alignment of the questionnaire with the new requirements. The revision focused on auditability on site in the processes and a limitation to process-specific contents. Thus, the risks in the supply chain and product life cycle processes can be specifically analysed, so that weaknesses in the procedures and their interfaces can be identified, corrective action can be introduced and opportunities for improvement can be determined. Simultaneously, the existing questionnaire was further consolidated, and terms and definitions were harmonised, in order to guarantee consistency with VDA maturity level assurance and further VDA volumes and the resulting applicability. See below for more information on and to book on to our VDA Training Courses: VDA 6.3 Awareness Training VDA 6.3 – Qualification for Process Auditor VDA 6.3 – Qualification for Certified Process Auditor VDA 6.3 – Workshop for Certified Process Auditors VDA 6.5 Product Audit Training VDA Maturity Level Assurance (MLA) VDA Field Failure Analysis (FFA) VDA Product Safety and Conformity Representative (PSCR) VDA 2 Production Process & Product Approval (PPA)
September 30, 2016 Industry Forum Blog Autonomous Maintenance, Coca-Cola Beverages, JIPM, JIPM award, Panasonic, Policy Deployment, Tetra Pak, Total Productive Maintenance, TPM What do we have to do to make sure our investment in TPM pays off? How can we ensure we reap the promised business benefits? We can’t give you a magic wand that ensures instant results. But we can share with you these three vital activities practised by JIPM award winning companies, such as Coca-Cola Beverages, Panasonic and Tetra Pak. You will notice a common denominator for all three; time. TPM is not something that can be implemented overnight. Organisations take five years and more to even become eligible for the first level of awards. The good news is that it doesn’t take that long for the performance benefits to start accruing. The sooner you start your pilot activities the sooner you can see a difference and improve your bottom line. 1. Obtain commitment from the very top It’s no coincidence that the very first step on the 12 step journey is called “Declaration by management”. The senior management team must first understand the reasons their company is embarking on this journey. And then they must communicate their intention to the entire workforce. We have seen how companies who don’t start here take much longer to get results. Even the best efforts prove difficult to sustain and at worst the programme just fizzles out. 2. Integrate TPM activities into your company’s policy and strategy Companies that are serious about using TPM to continuously improve their business performance, integrate it into their existing Policy Deployment plans. In fact this is the focus of the work in step 4 of the 12 step journey. Think of it as a two pronged approach to support achievement of: Daily performance targets derived from customer requirements. Stretch goals derived from the annual policies. Treating TPM as a set of activities additional to your short term or long term targets, dooms them to being side lined when the going gets tough. You may have already experienced this scenario. You put a lot of time and effort into training your production associates in Autonomous Maintenance (AM). Once the production plan is complete the teams stop and move onto their AM work. Initially output and quality improve and unplanned downtime is reducing. AM works! Then one Friday you haven’t met the plan, so you keep manufacturing. Maybe your order book is increasing or you had a particularly unusual and lengthy breakdown. What we find is that if this happens regularly, the benefits of the TPM programme become forgotten and production output at all costs is the priority. The TPM activities cease over time, morale decreases and people become resistant to new initiatives. Instead of treating TPM as a set of bolt on activities, integrate it. Specifically target use of the tools to prevent that breakdown happening again and to increase capacity over time. The tools need to become part of daily working, not something scheduled for the end of the week. This applies at the shop floor as much as it does the boardroom. 3. Include every single person in the organisation In a previous blog we learned that the main aim of TPM is to achieve zero losses. These losses can occur in every function and at every level within your business. So to root out every loss you need to involve people from every function and at every level. When only a proportion of the workforce are involved we always find losses and, of course, the costs associated with them. If you want to find out more about the future of TPM, it’s integration with Industry 4.0 and how it can help your organisation reduce costs and improve quality then make sure book your place at Industry Forum’s TPM seminar. This one-day event will allow you to learn from world-class, award winning manufacturers alongside speakers from the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance. If you want to speak to a member of the team to find out more about TPM and how Industry Forum can support your TPM implementation give us a call on +44 (0)121 717 6600 complete our enquiry form or email us at enquiries@if.wearecoal.work
September 22, 2016 Industry Forum Blog cloud based technology, Computerised Maintenance Management System, Connected factories, digital factories, fourth industrial revolution, Internet of Things, predictive maintenance, preventative maintenance, vibration analysis The connected factory drums up images of fully automated, high tech, integrated plant with barely a human in sight. That doesn’t quite chime with scenes of people walking round plants and plugging hand held devices into various pieces of equipment. So, what is the future of CBM (Condition Based Monitoring or Maintenance) in our digital factories? Will we still need to stand beside our plant and plug in portable vibration analysis kit? Or take thermographic images with hand held cameras? Let’s start with the need for CBM. Will there still be a need for Condition Based Monitoring? Our factories of the future will still contain equipment that moves or is powered electrically. This means certain components will be subject to wear and if left to run without intervention, will eventually breakdown. CBM is one strand of predictive maintenance. It typically uses equipment based diagnostics to monitor and diagnose conditions of both moving and static equipment. You may already use, or be familiar with, techniques such as vibration analysis, tribology, thermography or acoustic analysis. When the condition being monitored reaches a determined level a repair or replacement is carried out. Compared to preventative maintenance time based interventions, CBM allows you to get the most life possible out of your components. So unless we invent materials that will never wear out, we will still have a need for CBM techniques. The next question is what will those techniques be? Will Condition Based Monitoring change? History suggests it will. CBM techniques have actually been around longer than we may think. But as our equipment has developed so have the techniques we use to monitor it. The first industrial revolution bought us steam locomotives and with it the CBM technique of wheel tapping. Wheeltappers were employed to walk along the train and tap each wheel with a long-handled hammer. A wheel with flaws or cracks doesn’t make the same ring as an undamaged one! Now at the start of the fourth industrial revolution, steam has been replaced by diesel and electric, the wheel design has changed and wheeltappers have been replaced by ultrasonic testing. (Except on a few eastern European railways!) So what’s next? The falling cost and size of sensors, coupled with developments in wireless technology, is making it more realistic for sensors to be permanently located. Look how different this wireless vibration analysis sensor is to the hand held device pictured earlier. Permanently mounted sensors mean a greater amount of data is collected, which results in a more detailed and accurate analysis. Initially this data has been analysed by software in plant based PC’s. However the growth in cloud based technologies and the Internet of Things is now enabling analysis of extremely large volumes of data across multiple plants. So we are now entering an era of data driven CBM where a whole host of predictive analytics packages are available. And cost is not the barrier it once was. You can start small with just a few sensors and scale over time by adding more. Data can be monitored live in house as well as sent direct for remote analysis. Information on the best time for interventions to prevent failures and minimise downtime is returned to the plant. In short, maintenance teams can use the enhanced analytical capability provided by the new technologies to boost the power of CBM and their Computerised Maintenance Management Systems. You could argue that CBM will become more relevant in our digital factories as we strive to improve output and efficiency, meet changing customer demands and increasing our profit margins. Industry Forum’s one-day seminar: TPM Towards 2025 and Integration with Industry 4.0 features a packed programme of keynote speakers from world-class award winning manufacturers and includes the topic of TPM in the Connected Factory.
