Government initiatives such as MAS and the manufacturing industry as a whole can t afford to rest on their laurels, says Stephen Timms, Minister for Competitiveness.
Stephen Timms, Minister for Competitiveness, launching the MAS 2007 Annual Report
The Minister was speaking at the House of Commons launch of the MAS 2007 Annual Report, where he also outlined the next phase of its activity. This included a new focus on sourcing and supply chain issues.
MAS phase 3, due to commence in 2008, will now include: strategic planning and skills development; the sourcing of supplies, services and equipment; applying lean across whole organisations, supply chain improvement; and improving resource efficiency with respect to energy and waste.
It is vitally important to capitalise on and consolidate MAS already strong position, said the Minister. From 2008 onwards, MAS will be able to offer an enhanced service and SMEs can apply for a free business review which will be extended to up to 4 days and consultancy projects will be extended beyond the current limit of 10 days, in order to help those firms that have the potential to achieve world-class performance .
According to the Annual Report, MAS added £143m of extra value to the companies that it has assisted last year, contributing to a five-year total of £367m. MAS Regional Centres completed 5,000 diagnostic visits and 1,350 in-depth interventions in the 2006/07 period.
Centre Director for MAS West Midlands, David Wright, said, MAS is delivered by manufacturers, for manufacturers this is why the programme has been so well received. The MAS Annual Report results quantify all the Regional Centres hard work and successes. We have a good base to build on and a strong and unified vision for the future, going forward with MAS Phase 3 .
MAS Phase 3 has been overseen by the East Midlands Development Board (emda), the national lead for Regional Development Agencies on manufacturing. As part of a £1.3m pilot project and after a successful trial, the results showed greater flexibility for the MAS team, who were able to offer their services for longer periods of time where necessary.