Local students plugged in for

Enterprise Week 2007

(posted on 19 November, 2007)

The National Skills Academy for Manufacturing celebrated Enterprise Week 2007 for East Midlands Schools last week by working in partnership with Corus Tubes, BERR Manufacturing Advisory Service, EEF and Northampton College.

24 local students and staff from Roades School and Northampton College were hosted by Corus Tubes in Corby, Northamptonshire. The students had fun by taking part in some simulated ‘lean’ environment workshops, with the aim of gaining a better insight into the real world of engineering in a leading company and also raising the profile of careers in manufacturing.

The students were split into teams of three and competed against each other on the ‘Plug’ Factory simulation game, based on assembling a series of 3 pin plugs in 10 minutes to demonstrate effective use of resources. The teams were championed by The Skills Academy, MAS Lean Practitioners and Northampton College

The event was rounded with a tour of Corus Tubes, one of Europe's leading manufacturers of welded steel tubes, which gave them a real insight into lean environments and the production of Corus tubes.

Tom Preece, Regional Manager East Midlands said “The National Skills Academy for Manufacturing is proud to be assisting employers and providers to encourage younger generations into UK manufacturing careers. This initiative as part of Enterprise Week largely expands on our commitment to improving the skills gap in UK manufacturing. The activities used are centred around lean philosophies and demonstrate the importance of such techniques in a production environment from the bottom line up, to deliver efficiency and productivity in a global marketplace.”

Mark James, Training and Development Manager from Corus said “Corus are proud to have worked with The National Skills Academy for Manufacturing to deliver a worthwhile initiative which will create new footpaths for young people into manufacturing. As a lead manufacturing employer in the East Midlands holding the batten for skills development, we hope to work with the Skills Academy in the future to run similar activities.”

Eighteen year old Jarrod Grant studying for a BTEC National Diploma in Engineering said “The visit to Corus was great. I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot about lean. I was always interested in a career in engineering and this visit has confirmed it’s definitely the career for me.’

Neil Tobin, Advanced Mechanical Engineering Lecturer at Northampton College said “We were extremely pleased to be involved with this year’s Enterprise Week, especially seeing young people discover the career opportunities that exist within the Manufacturing sector.”

Tony Pritchard from BERR MAS said "It is always very satisfying for our practitioners to be involved in Enterpise Week. We did a similar activity this time last year in North Nottinghamshire but this is the first time we have been able to link up with The National Skills Academy for Manufacturing in this way. It is important to show young people the good things going on in manufacturing and this activity was an excellent example of the sort of thing we can do together with the Colleges and leading Manufacturers to help break down some of the myths."