Food and Drink Firms Reap Benefits of Business Efficiency

Scotland’s manufacturing sector - including food and drink - has received a significant boost as Scottish Enterprise announced it had helped companies generate over £21 million of productivity benefits in 2010-11.

Scottish Enterprise highlighted that the benefits were generated by its Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS), which completed 214 intensive business improvement projects with Scottish manufacturing companies last year – an increase of 56% compared to the previous year.

SMAS advisers also dealt with 1,498 enquiries from Scottish companies in 2010-11 (up 36% from 2009-10) and undertook 393 free one-day manufacturing reviews.

Lena Wilson, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, said: "This has been a record year for our team at the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service.

"The past 12 months have continued to be challenging for many companies and as a result, we’ve seen even more demand for support from companies looking to generate new efficiencies for their business."

Over the past year, the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service has also had a key role in supporting Scotland’s key sectors to respond to specific issues.

SMAS has completed 89 manufacturing reviews and 56 intensive projects with food and drink companies, for example, helping to drive much-needed productivity improvements within the sector and increase its competitiveness with international competitors.

This included support for companies such as Kirkintilloch-based Guala Closures, manufacturers of non-refillable closures for the international drinks industry. Guala Closures is on target to achieve £400,000 of productivity savings following its project with the SMAS team which saw the company implement a Lean Six Sigma culture.

Details of the achievements come as Scottish Enterprise also confirms the appointment of Nick Shields as the new director of SMAS. Nick will lead the 30-strong team of experts, who collectively have more than 500 years' manufacturing experience, and help Scotland’s manufacturing sector emerge from the recession stronger than ever.

Lena Wilson continued: "I am confident that over the next year, we will be able to build on these results and Nick and his team will be seeking out new ways to support manufacturing companies to respond to opportunities in growth areas such as renewable energy and in exploiting new technology."

Nick Shields added: "With manufacturing in Scotland continuing to grow over the last year and companies seeing an increase in new orders and strong export sales, there’s never been a more important time for companies to engage with us to help them realise the benefits of a leaner more efficient way of working.

"We also work closely with colleagues across Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International to identify if there is additional support we can provide, whether it’s support for research and development, advice or help to relocate or help to expand into overseas markets to ensure we can offer as joined up a service as possible."

Enterprise Minister Fergus Ewing said: "I would like to welcome Nick Shields to his new role as director of SMAS. The service is an invaluable asset in our business support portfolio and their outstanding results speak for themselves.

"The SMAS team have given an outstanding performance over the last five years and I know they will continue to do so."

Find out more about SMAS.