Lancashire Profit Programme gets seal of approval

The Lancashire Profit Programme was officially launched at Precision Polymer Engineering (PPE) during June's Lancashire Manufacturing Week.

The £2.4m programme of funded training and specialist business improvement support for manufacturers was introduced to business guests during a breakfast workshop and factory tour at the industrial seal and gasket maker's Blackburn site.

The Profit Programme is delivered by North West charity The Manufacturing Institute. It is designed to help manufacturing businesses increase efficiency, improve sales and skills, unlock cashflow and boost innovation.

Businesses can benefit from a fully funded business review session at their factory. This provides an opportunity to discuss current challenges with a seasoned manufacturing expert, who will listen carefully and then help create an action plan for immediate business performance improvement. Follow up subsidised consultancy, coaching and training support is available to implement the actions.

Welcoming the launch of the Lancashire Profit Programme, Brett Hogarth, Operations Manager said: “If other manufacturers do nothing else, they should take up the free Profit Programme business review. In itself, it’s an incredibly powerful tool and enables you to tap into broad expertise to give you a fresh view of your operation.”

PPE participated in a pilot for the Profit Programme, which led to improved profit margins and on-time delivery. The company shared its experience of developing better team leader culture and its focus on capturing and using highly accurate shopfloor data, and the impact that is having on the business.

The Manufacturing Institute’s involvement, says Hogarth, has “lit the touchpaper” for PPE and sparked a new-found enthusiasm for improvement. One initiative in a cell is almost complete and will soon be rolled out to the rest of the factory: “At this early stage, it’s showing significant improvement and major savings,” adds Hogarth. The Manufacturing Institute is funding the Profit Programme, which is matched by support from the European Regional Development Fund.