Bid to improve productivity

Chairwoman of the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service, Sarah Jardine, explains how it can help businesses reduce waste

What is the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (Smas)?

Smas is the manufacturing arm of Scotland’s economic development agencies Scottish Enterprise and Highland and Islands Enterprise, which aims to support manufacturing businesses in Scotland increase their productivity and competitiveness.

At what point should companies contact the service?

Businesses can engage with Smas at any time. Productivity is a critical aspect of any business and our experience is that the most productive businesses are those that constantly seek improvement, leading to increased efficiencies and providing an excellent foundation for new investment.

What approach does Smas take when it goes into a company?

SMAS engages with more than 1,000 business a year, which gives us a unique perspective on how businesses solve their internal challenges and meet customer demands. However, when it comes to implementing change and improvements, our research shows businesses enjoy learning from each other. By introducing clients to companies with a strong track record of best practice, it helps them gain a getter understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in implementing change. With help from their Smas practitioner, they can then put in place a structured approach, tailored to their needs.

What are some of the common problems Smas helps address?

Businesses often focus on internal needs which can result in too much working capital being tied up in raw materials, work in progress and finished goods that are not what customer’s need. We aim to help companies take much more of a customer-driven approach, helping them focus more on their outcomes and avoid many of the pitfalls that can lead to waste in a business. Encouraging companies to use all of their staff to their fullest potential and empower those directly involved in making products to drive the productivity process, helps raise morale and ultimately improves productivity.

How many businesses does Smas help in a typical year?

We currently work with more than 1,000 businesses a year and have recently grown our support to focus both on efficiency programmes and helping companies look at new ways of using emerging technology to reach customers and improve competitiveness while increasing output and improving quality.

Can you give a couple of examples of companies that have benefitted from engaging with Smas?

Brand-Rex, a leading global supplier of high-performance structured cabling systems, has worked closely with our S mas team since 2014. Since then Brand-Rex has delivered a sustained overall equipment effectiveness improvement of 15%, resulting in increased output and real financial benefits to their business. For the last year, our support has been focused on helping the company upskill and develop its operation’s support functions. Dundee-based Denfind Stone has also worked closely with our Smas team, increasing productivity by 37%. The company was so impressed with our support that it asked us to help with the design of its new state-of-the-art, purpose-built manufacturing facility.

What would you say to companies thinking of contacting Smas?

I’d recommend they contact our business helpline on 0300 013 3385 and ask for a Smas practitioner to meet their business. All manufacturing businesses in Scotland are given a free of charge diagnostic report, which identifies opportunities for improvement in the business. Small- to medium-sized businesses are then entitled to up to 50% financial assistance for support to drive these improvements forward. Smas saves an average business £150,000 per annum on eliminating waste from the business, so I’d say don’t waste any more time and get in touch.

When it comes to implenting change, our research shows that businesses enjoy learning from each other SARAH JARDINE