Member Article

Visit aims to put Kodak staff in the employment picture

More than 200 Kodak workers will be given a unique chance to showcase their expertise and skills later this week (25th July), as part of a special visit held by the Leeds Manufacturing Forum and the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS).

Employees facing redundancy after the recent announcement will be able to impress the management teams of over 30 local manufacturers all looking to recruit and fill positions within their businesses.

The half-day event will bring people up to speed with the timescale of the closure, as well as giving them an insight into the different skillsets available, including, engineers, estimators, operators, setters and quality specialists.

All members of staff have developed portfolios and will be able to demonstrate first-hand projects that have resulted in cost saving exercises and solutions to manufacturing bottlenecks.

David Whiteley, Manufacturing Advisor at MAS, explained: “Despite the recent news, the Kodak factory in Leeds is a great example of world class manufacturing performance.

“It has increased its capacity by 50% over the last 15 years, whilst reducing lead times by 2/3, improving quality and more than doubling on-time delivery performance.”

He continued: “The 200 plus staff have played an essential role in this and part of the event is designed to give them a shop window to other local manufacturers who are growing and need experienced and skilled staff.

“Our latest Barometer showed that exactly half of companies questioned are looking to recruit, so there is definitely a marketplace out there for the Kodak staff.”

The Leeds Manufacturing Forum is run by MAS and Leeds City Council and is part of the Manufacturing Leeds programme.

It works together to raise the profile of the area as one of the UK’s leading manufacturing centres and promotes the interests of companies both nationally and globally.

The Kodak visit is the latest best practice visit organised by the group and, in addition to the recruitment showcase, will be used by delegates to gain an insight into lean manufacturing, 5S, six sigma, continuous improvement, visual management and manufacturing KPIs.

David concluded: “Kodak staff are among the best in industry and include lean specialists and green and black belts in six sigma. We need to retain them in the region for the benefit of other local manufacturers who require quality workers.”

Please note the event on 25th July is now fully subscribed. However, if you would like to find out more, please contact Karen.clough@mymas.org to register your interest with a view to adding new dates.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .