Research undertaken within Northumbria
University’s Newcastle Business School, has predicted the potential for £50m in
savings, as an eight-year projection, for SMEs it has collaborated with.
The Research Interest Group (RIG),
operating within the department of marketing, operations and systems (MOS), led
by Dr Alireza Shokri, is now keen to broaden its impact with SMEs by reaching
out to those operating within supply chains, to help them achieve significant
cost-savings by providing the knowledge to address sustainability and increase
business productivity and efficiency.
The Group is a frontline platform
which shares knowledge and skill with service and manufacturing enterprises of
various sizes across the UK and beyond. It has a national and international
presence, working with bodies such as Advanced Manufacturing Forum (AMF),
Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply and Chartered Institute of
Logistics and Transport and Chartered Quality Institute.
By way of example of the impact it can
have on SMEs, in 2021, the Group formed a strategic partnership with NBT Group,
a North-East based supply chain solution company and Senseye Ltd, a digital
predictive maintenance facilitator for global companies in a variety of
sectors, to undertake a feasibility study. The aim of the project was to gain
in-depth understanding of the potential for optimising predictive maintenance
and supply chain processes and to lay the ground work for development of an
integrated system.
Dr Alireza, Associate Professor in Operations
and Supply Chain Management and Head of Subject group, said: “The message we want
to be received by SMEs within the UK market, is those that feel ready to
embrace change and innovation in their operations and supply chains, but don’t
know where to start, should reach out to our team for help. They do not have to
commit to anything and we can start an open dialogue and work together,
utilising our wide-ranging knowledge and expertise, to help address any
inefficiencies and look at how implementing useful practices and technologies can
have a significant impact on the bottom line.
“Our partnership with NBT and Senseye
addressed one of the Grand Challenges in the UK Industrial Strategy, the artificial
intelligence and data-driven economy with particular emphasis on maximising
supply chain efficiency to optimise processes and drive efficiencies and
productivity increases. The feasibility study was incredibly illuminating and
our knowledge of how technology can have massive impact, is one of many areas
of knowledge we are seeking to exchange with SMEs looking to increase business
productivity and efficiency.
“Brexit and Covid-19 further highlighted the
cracks that exist within supply chains and the urgent need to address any
weakness.
“Our in-depth research in to supply
chains and operations management and how continuous improvement or incremental
improvement through knowledge and innovation can streamline operations and
processes, has allowed us to predict the potential for £50m in savings, over an
eight-year projection, for those SMEs we have looked at and we now want to assist
many others. Businesses are continually seeking ways to increase profits and
are so often caught up in day-to-day operations, they do not pause to address
costly inefficiencies. Having access to supply chain improvement tools and
advancements such as AI is game-changing, not least due to its ability to
mitigate risk, for example, pre-empting machinery breakdown.
“We have recently put forward a new
Innovate UK funding application for a project in partnership with NBT Group and
broader partners in different sectors. If we are successful, it will allow us
to implement our ideas of a feasibility study for generating significant impact
on energy and resource efficiency and carbon emission reduction. The results of
which, will create a platform for broader community development.”
As part of its simulation modelling, the
research group was able to recommend 50.1% less downtime across all plants for
one international company operating in the automotive supply chain sector, with
potential savings of up to £38.2M a year in machine downtime.
The Group, which has also worked
within the German financial sector, promoting innovation in its supplier
relationships, resulting in an estimated €10M worth of business growth, has
also facilitated a funded project involving ten UK-based manufacturers. The
result of which was a shift towards sustainable, efficient and top-quality
processes with an estimated £8M cost-saving collectively.
In addition, it has recently
undertaken a research project to support the Northern Power House with a more
innovative approach of focusing on the role of continuous improvement in
manufacturing SMEs in macro economy growth in Northern England.
As part of its ambition to promote the
role of continuous improvement for manufacturing SMEs, the Group is closely
aligned to trade bodies which identify supply chain issues, such as AMF.
Richard Swart, chair of AMF, said:
“Supply chain and operations inefficiencies cause widescale disruption within
manufacturing and is one of the biggest and most costly downfalls our sector
faces. The Advanced Manufacturing Forum is well aware of the work the Research Interest
Group does and the opportunities available to SMEs that connect with it to gain
significant knowledge on how to efficiently increase business productivity and
efficiency.
“I encourage all of our members, as
well as SMEs working within all supply chains, to engage with the Group. The
past couple of years has shown how business can be affected in ways outside of
our control. Operational efficiency is a variable that can be controlled and,
with the support of the Group, SMEs can expect to see significant
cost-savings.”
