Five sector skills councils have launched an initiative to improve access to quality training and development for manufacturing employers in the UK, to help support the industry during the recession.

The Manufacturing Skills Alliance, Cogent, Improve, Proskills, Semta and Skillfast-UK have revealed their plan at a House of Lords event with Business and Regulatory Reform Minister Ian Lucas MP.

The Manufacturing Skills Alliance Plan will look to prioritise an approach to labour market intelligence so colleges and training providers get clear demand signals, including those from green and emerging industries, and will support development of the UK Talent Plan to provide easier access to skills information and strengthen links with Manufacturing Insight, which will promote manufacturing careers.

It will also focus on producing a common employer skills offer with measurable and sustainable impact on business performance through programmes such as Business Improvement Techniques (BiT); developing a coherent set of programmes to meet the current and future needs of manufacturing employers and adopting a common approach in higher education to help increase employer engagement in innovation and knowledge transfer.

Minister Ian Lucas said: “The government’s Manufacturing Strategy identified access to skills as one of the five key dynamics that is instrumental in reshaping global manufacturing. A globally competitive advanced manufacturing sector is completely dependent on UK manufacturers having access to the right skills, in the right place, at the right time.”

Jack Matthews, chief executive of food and drink sector skills council Improve, said: “What we are trying to do is put in place systems that better match supply and demand when it comes to skills. It is widely recognised that technology and business practice in manufacturing change and evolve at an astonishing rate, but what is not always considered is the impact this has on the skills of the workforce.

“We need to get training providers, colleges, universities and government working in harmony with industry so employers always have a ready supply of people with the right skills at the right time and, conversely, to ensure that people working in manufacturing develop flexible skills that can adapt to shifts in demand.”

The Manufacturing Skills Alliance has already started on a number of projects that benefit employers in the manufacturing and processing industries. These include Productivity and Competitiveness programmes, which provide training in lean manufacturing, using BiT to improve quality, cost and delivery. The programme pilot saw 14 companies go through the programme with an average £93,000 increase in profitability.

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