Over 150 aerospace companies will congregate at RAF Cosford in Shropshire on Thursday (Oct 15) for a combined SC21 briefing and national Task Force event which is being put on by the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) and ADS.
SC21 – Supply Chain for the 21st Century – is the single, co-ordinated industrial change programme for the UK aerospace and defence industries and has been established to accelerate national competitiveness. More than 30 West Midland manufacturers are already involved, along with industry heavyweights including Rolls-Royce, GKN and BAE Systems.
At Thursday’s event a number of keynote speakers will speak on the progress of SC21 as well as funding opportunities for companies looking to deploy the programme.
Delegates will also see video case studies and presentations from current participants from the West Midlands companies including Arrowsmith Engineering (Coventry), Burcas, G&O Springs, Precision Micro and Technoset.
Cliff Johnson is specialist manufacturing advisor at MAS West Midlands. “We launched the Advantage West Midlands and European Regional Development Fund-backed £1.5m World Class Supply Chain initiative in January in front of 170 people and I’m delighted to say the response was tremendous and a lot of businesses came forward to take advantage of the in-depth support on offer,” he said.
“These companies have been working with specialist aerospace and defence experts to identify and implement key manufacturing improvements, all geared towards recognition within the SC21 programme and importantly making them more efficient and competitive when looking to win new business on the next generation of aircraft and numerous defence projects set to be tendered.
Other speakers on Thursday include Peter Hogg (SC21 Chairman), Phil Curnock (SC21 Programme Manager) Ian Wilcox (National Skills Academy for Manufacturing) and Iain Low and Huw Gullick (Rolls Royce Submarines).
Some of the first companies in the UK to secure SC21 Awards will also be announced at the event, including one from the West Midlands.
Interested companies can snap up the last few tickets by contacting 07766 470505 or [email protected].
