Continuing professional development courses in lean manufacturing have been launched by the New Model in Technology and Engineering (NMiTE) university in Hereford.
The courses aim to improve the processes by which products are created and produced, by empowering people through problem solving and coaching to focus on the place where value is created, the university said.
Through the CPD programme, the university aims to attract experienced engineering and manufacturing professionals seeking to enhance their skills, productivity and employability.
The lean manufacturing course will be operated in partnership with food manufacturer Avara Foods, one of the UK’s largest food businesses, which has also a major manufacturing plant in Herefordshire.
“Lean thinking and practice helps organisations become both innovative and competitive, which in turn allows them to become more sustainable,” said NMiTE’s head of partnerships Toby Kinnaird. “Our courses will help participants to see problems as opportunities for meaningful learning rather than errors to be swept under the carpet.
“We will equip managers with the skills to act as coaches in helping their colleagues to identify problems and to practice daily continuous improvement. Their employers will benefit from improved operational efficiency,” he added.
The Lean Manufacturing CPD courses are available as either one day introductory courses or two day applied courses.
Avara Foods people and communications director Andrew Brodie said: “In any sustainable business, the development of its people has to be a priority, so partnering with NMiTE on their Lean Manufacturing CPD courses is an obvious step for us to take.”
The company is also a strategic partner to NMiTE and has committed itself to sponsoring five of NMiTE’s initial group of undergraduate students, and will support the development and teaching of the curriculum through its expertise, as well as offering work placements at its local manufacturing facilities.
NMiTE chair Dame Fiona Kendrick, the former chief executive of Nestlé UK & Ireland, said: “My career in food convinced me that UK food manufacturing, the largest manufacturing industry in the UK, has a particular shortage of engineers and so needs more multidisciplinary engineers to drive the productivity of this sector.”
Over the coming months NMiTE will announce and launch a further six CPD courses.