The Manufacturing Advisory Service has appointed Lorraine Holmes as the new chief executive of the West Midlands Manufacturing Consortium and regional director for North and West England.
Lorraine Holmes was formerly CEO of Business Link West Midlands and has also had an extensive industrial career – notably in the chemicals sector. She spent 18 years with Henkel Chemicals and Ameron Inc.
Ms Holmes will replace Simon Griffiths in leading the West Midlands Manufacturing Consortium (WMMC) and the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) in the North and West. Mr Griffiths left the role in August.
The West Midlands Manufacturing Consortium is one of four organisations which collaborate to run the national contract for MAS. The other partners are Grant Thornton, Pera and SWMAS and the CEOs of each organization take on a regional directorship for the national Manufacturing Advisory Service.
Commenting on her appointment Holmes said: “It’s an exciting time to be involved in manufacturing with billions of pounds of automotive investment flooding into England, new advancements in aerospace, med-tech and food and drink and the low carbon agenda gathering pace.”
She went on to assert that WMMC, through it work with MAS and through other channels, has a vital role to play in optimising these investments and advances by developing capability at an SME level.
Holmes was keen to emphasize that WMMC and MAS services are not only designed to aid process improvement and productivity – MAS has been criticized in the past for focusing too heavily on lean manufacturing – but also to improve strategic planning and peer-to-peer collaboration.
For further information on MAS services go to: www.mymas.org
