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Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 28 Nov 2002 11:07
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The final piece of the government’s regional development jigsaw was put in place on 27 November by Alan Johnson, minister of state for employment relations, industry and regions, at the launch of the East of England Regional Centre for Manufacturing Excellence at Ford’s Dunton Technical Centre in Basildon.

The launch completes the roll-out of ten RCMEs across the nine English regions, plus Wales, which will deliver the DTI’s Manufacturing Advisory Service (Scotland and Northern Ireland will make their own arrangements).

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) appointed a consortium of Cranfield University and Essex County Council’s Advancement of Manufacturing & Technology Centre (AMT), supported by Cambridge University’s Institute of Manufacturing to run the new service, which will be known as MAS East.

While any government support for manufacturing has to be welcome, it must be said that this is not the big bang that the sector needs. It’s early days, of course, but at the moment it’s no more than a low-budget quick-fix solution. A little over £2 million in funding has been allocated to MAS East. Geoff Nelder of Cranfield University, who has been appointed Chief Executive of the RCME, has 14,000 manufacturing companies in his patch and is recruiting a team of six to advise them. If they want to make the step change that MAS East envisages, they’re going to be busy.