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Recent news
French Engineering Student Seeks Summer Placement
13th January 2010
CeeD member Murgitroyd & Company has been in touch to let us know of a French Production Engineering student who is looking for a 12-week summer placement this year. For his CV and covering letter please Click Here.
CeeD Have Moved
18th December 2009
The M74 extension has caused some degree of disruption for many businesses of late and CeeD has been no exception. However after a few hectic days, we’ve finally settled into our new home in Hamilton International Park. We continue to be generously hosted by our good friends at Babcock Rail who’ve been kind enough to spare room on the ground Floor of their Kintail House office. The neighbours seem quite nice - CeeD members Philips Lighting, Portakabin and Cookson Electronics are all close by - and we extend an open invitation to any passing CeeDer to drop in for a chat and a brew. You might even be our ‘First Foot’ in the New Year!
We’re at…
Kintail House
3 Lister Way
Hamilton International Park
Blantyre
G72 0FT
And our new office phone number is: 01698 203 420
Location map is here.
Need an extra pair of hands?
There are 6 x MSc Lean Six Sigma Green Belt qualified students looking for project placements in local companies to support their learning.
These students are available to work full time on a project identified by your company for a 5-month period (Sept 09 – Jan 09) with a half day support per week from the University’s Dept of Design, Manufacture and Engineering Management at the University of Strathclyde.
The project should be on an existing problem within your company which you have identified. You may have tried to find solutions in the past, which have not worked. These highly qualified students can assist in implementing cost saving techniques which can contribute substantially to your bottom line.
These students are keen to gain valuable industry experience to allow them to complete their studies and require only travelling expenses – it is your company’s decision as to whether you would like to help to contribute to their living expenses by paying them a salary.
In the first instance you should respond with a brief outline explaining the nature and extent of the problem including which manufacturing processes are involved – and a note of any supportive data which you have collected. The University will then assess the nature of the project and whether it is suitable for a Six Sigma approach before working with you to match an appropriate student. Please get in touch with Kevin or Gill with any questions on 0141 800 5104 / 5.
Adopt An Apprentice
The Scottish Government has guaranteed to support apprentices made redundant in the economic downturn with a £2000 one-off payment. The “Adopt An Apprentice” scheme started on June 10th 2009 and entitles companies to £2000 salary support when employing a redundant apprentice. For more information, please visit the Skills Development Scotland website and scroll down to “Adopt An Apprentice”
One such apprentice of which CeeD has been made aware is Scot Macdonald, a 3rd year civil engineering apprentice recently made redundant. If you have an opening for Scot’s skill set (or know of a company which does) to allow him to complete his training, there’s £2000 waiting…if you think you can help then please get in touch with Kevin at the CeeD office on 0141 800 5104 or get in touch via Contact CeeD.
The future of engineering
A key aspiration of CeeD is to encourage young people back into engineering and related technical subjects as a positive career path. So we're delighted that 22 of them entered our Modern Apprenticeship Passport in 2008.
In years to come, when these young people and those that follow become fully qualified, the available labour pool will be enlarged and the positions of those experienced operatives nearing retirement will be more readily backfilled.
Click here for more information on the Modern Apprenticeship Passport.
Six Sigma Cluster Proposed
8th July 2009
Does your company currently deploy Six Sigma methodology? Do you have any expertise in this area? Would you like to contribute to and benefit from a Cluster on this topic?
Alternatively, do you aspire to Six Sigma? Are you taking your first faltering steps? Would you like to work with others in the same position?
A CeeD member has approached us to gauge member interest in the formation of a Six Sigma Cluster. If you’d like to be a part of it and get in at ground level, then please get in touch with Kevin at the CeeD office on 0141 800 5104 or via Contact CeeD to register your interest.
If you have a general idea of what Six Sigma is but would perhaps like some further clarification here’s the what and why…
Six Sigma is a business strategy that employs both statistical and non-statistical tools and techniques, change management tools, project management skills, teamwork skills and a powerful methodology (Define-Measure-Analyse-Improve and Control) to maximize an organisation's ROI through the elimination of defects in processes. The focus of Six Sigma is not on counting the defects in processes, but the number of opportunities within a process which lead to defects. The Six Sigma approach begins with a business strategy and ends up with top-down implementation, having a significant impact on profit if successfully deployed. It takes users away from intuition-based decisions (what we think is wrong) to fact-based decisions (what we know is wrong).
Organizations adopting the Six Sigma business strategy will have the following benefits:
1. Effective management decisions due to reliance on data and facts instead of gut feelings and hunches. Hence costs associated with misdirected problem solving efforts with no structured approach could be significantly reduced.
2. Increased understanding of customer needs and expectations, especially the Critical to Quality characteristics which will have the highest impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty.
3. Reduced process variability and hence increased process capability and performance, leading to more predictable and consistent level of product quality and service performance.
4. Transformation of organizational culture from being reactive mindset to proactive mindset.
5. Created new customer opportunities, improved market position relative to competitors.
6. Improved knowledge across the organization on tools and techniques of process and quality improvement.
Click here to view archived news articles.
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