SWMAS Ltd

“The trusted provider of advice and hands-on support for manufacturers aiming to achieve sustainable success"

SWMAS helps small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses in the region improve their productivity and competitiveness. Established in 2001, SWMAS has successfully delivered the Manufacturing Advisory Service - South West contract (one of ten regional MAS defined by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills) for the past eight years.

SWMAS is delivered by a consortium made up of the South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), EEF, the region's Business Links and Universities South West, representing the Higher Education Institutions.

SWMAS was created primarily to serve the 12,000 manufacturing businesses operating in the South West.

Together these businesses generate £11 billion for the local economy and employ nearly 300,000 people. 

Past  Success

During its six years of operation, SWMAS Specialists have visited 875 manufacturers.  More than 4,300 days of reviews, best practice modules and workshops have been delivered which have resulted in cost savings of circa £30million across 415 businesses.  In addition, SWMAS has organised 400 events, attracting a total of 8000 attendees, to create an awareness of the benefits of adopting lean manufacturing and provide an opportunity to learn about the tools and techniques. 


“I cannot speak more highly about the process and the SWMAS people... we are now very enthusiastic about the future and implementing our plan for the business”  - Chris Nagle, Managing Director, T M Safety Signs

As we implement our third contract to deliver MAS in the SW, our enthusiastic and dedicated team of manufacturing specialists have exceeded many of the targets the service has committed to deliver over the past eight years, including:

• 2000 organisations received information and advice
• 800 manufacturing companies visited
• 400 manufacturing companies assisted in continuous improvement
• £30 million pounds of operational savings added directly to companies’ the bottom line
• £30 million of added value generated by strategic change 
• 250 case studies of companies demonstrating examples of best practice in manufacturing

"Our experience of working with SWMAS has been invigorating.  With their help, we have developed our strategy, leadership and operations. As a result we have increased our annual turnover by £2million and we are confident of further growth." -
Alan Robinson, Managing Director, ARC Energy Resources

Through being “lean” ourselves, with no office or administration staff, and getting the best possible value out of services and associates we use, we are able to spend at least 80% of our funding at “the coal face” for the benefit of our manufacturing clients. This policy has enabled us to stretch the funding for the Strategic Management Programme (SMP) and exceed the original target of 50 companies by a further 50% to 76 companies who have now participated in the programme. We estimate that by the end of the programme as many as 1,000 manufacturing jobs will have been safeguarded as a result of strategic initiatives planned and implemented by the companies on the programme.
The Operational Leadership Programme, another SWMAS programme created in response to client demand and funded under AESP by EEF Western, has been a huge success. Aimed at filling the void between shop floor and senior management, it helps operational and supervisory managers with the skills and knowledge to implement and lead the change process.  A total of 49 staff have attended workshops and implemented improvement projects in 39 companies in the SW.

“A programme that has taken 12 weeks but will stay with me for the rest of my life.”  - Mark Hill, Smurfit Kappa Machine Systems

SWMAS have been delivering the Competitive Improvement Programme (CIP) to the Aerospace and Defence sector for nearly one year in partnership with the West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF). We have visited 88 establishments and 44 projects have been completed or are work in progress. Many of these projects are helping companies improve their organisation and processes enabling them to participate in the aerospace sector’s Supply Chain 21 initiative.

SWMAS will continue delivery of its core Lean Implementation model that consists of an initial half-day visit to the client site. Having identified the opportunities, a tailored programme of best practice or lean modules is proposed, aimed at team building, waste identification, problem solving, and implementation of improvement.

Future Plans

We are also very excited about the potential of new programmes of collaboration with the SW Business Links, EEF and other parners to help the 9000 manufacturing companies in the SW with less than 10 employees who may not yet have the appetite for lean but need help with basic business processes to survive.  We hope that by the end of 2011 at least 50% of these would have received some form of assistance from SWMAS and its partners.

With the increased funding we have been awarded we have plans to increase the SWMAS team and strengthen the management team. A Director of Business Development has been appointed. Simon Howes has been with SWMAS through out its history and who has made a significant contribution to its success through programme management and delivery of the Strategic Management Programme and Aerospace SC21 programme. In addition two operations team managers one for the South region and one for the North have been appointed. Both Charles Hill and Phil Townsend have been with SWMAS since its inception and have contributed massively to the success of our core delivery and the AESP funded programmes. We will be working together closely as a management team to ensure that we attract new clients to the service whilst continuing to delight existing clients with our support. 
                 
A. S. Richardson
Chief Executive
Executive Summary 2010