In January 2008, IME offered delegates the opportunity to visit world class engineers C.Brandauer as part of their regional company visit programme for the West Midlands.

Delegates were offered the opportunity to learn more about C.Brandauer's approach to ‘Effective Communication’ and ‘Continuous Improvement and Training’ and as always this visit was over subscribed.

The visiting companies found the ½ day visit to be a very useful and helpful process which allowed them to not only witness firsthand how successful business operates but also enabled them to question the actual workforce and managers. The visit gave all 15 delegates ideas that could be implemented in their own business and also offered an ideal opportunity to build a network of useful contacts.

The host company, C.Brandauer, saw this as a way assisting the regional manufacturing business base, while adding to their own network of like-minded individuals who by sharing best practice can assist each other.

Manufacturers in the West Midlands are being given the opportunity to look and learn by taking a close-up and in-depth view of some of the region’s top manufacturers.

The chance comes in a series of Best Practice Manufacturing Visits, run by the Manufacturing Advisory Service West Midlands (MAS-WM) and delivered by the Inside Manufacturing Enterprise (IME) programme from Coventry University Enterprises.

Now in their fourth year, the Best Practice visits started in September 2007 and takes visitors into companies that exemplify best practice from across the region. Visits so far have focused on 'Improving process capability', 'Adding value to the supply chain', 'New product introduction' and 'Positive about disabled people'.

Hosts range from small to medium enterprises (SME’s) to global market leaders, each with best practice to share in a number of areas relevant to other manufacturers. Each Best Practice visit offers in depth presentations on two specific topic areas, a full site tour, question and answer sessions as well excellent networking opportunities.

This season’s first Best Practice visit, on Tuesday, January 15th, was to C.Brandauer, one of the largest contract presswork companies in Europe.

C.Brandauer has re-engineered its business from a manufacturer of pen nibs into a world-class engineering company with an enviable reputation for providing high volume, high quality technical solutions in a range of materials to a very demanding set of customers.

C.Brandauer has been involved in the IME programme since its early days and is a clear favourite of delegates to the programme. The key areas of discussion on this visit were ‘Effective Communication’ and ‘Continuous Improvement and Training’, both of which have been essential for C.Brandauer's survival.

“Brandauer have been, and will continue to be, enthusiastic supporters of the IME programme since its inception and really value both its educational value, as well as it networking opportunities, with other like minded companies within the Midlands. We will always support initiatives that promote improvement and communication between businesses”.

“The team at Brandauer found the event on 15 January to be challenging, enjoyable and were impressed with the enthusiasm and commitment of the delegates, who were from an interestingly diverse selection of businesses”.

David Barry - HR Manager at Brandauer

Below are just a few of the positive comments received from delegates who attended;

• Most useful was going around the factory and seeing how clean it was,
• all aspects were very well presented,
• topics were comprehensively covered and were well presented,
• Continuous Improvement gave a real insight into what can be achieved and was well delivered.
• The site tour was excellent as was the hospitality on the day.

To find out more about IME Best Practice visit please visit the MAS-WM website or contact Michelle Connors at mconnors@cad.coventry.ac.uk