27th October 2020
Arden Dies Ltd. have a large workforce of staff who have worked there a long time- they have the amazing advantage of experience and technical knowledge, but could they do with a modern upskill? Skills Support for the Workforce steps in to assist.
Arden Dies Ltd is a privately owned Limited Company, producing wood-based metal-ruled tools and metal engraving tools, primarily for the printing and packaging production industries. They employ 90 members of staff at their site in Greater Manchester. They’ve faced challenges in recent times due to customer order patterns and Brexit, which led them to open a production site in Germany in a very short space of time.
The company prides itself on having many staff who have worked there a long time- this has the advantage of years of experience and technical knowledge, but it does have one flaw. It’s limited the knowledge and development of the workforce in relation to the productive and modern ways of thinking- for example, LEAN manufacturing and business improvement techniques. As they didn’t have this knowledge in house, they knew they’d need some form of external support.
The Growth Company put them in touch with the Skills Support for the Workforce team, and the training soon commenced.
Arden Dies Ltd. felt strongly that if everyone has the same understanding of LEAN manufacturing practices and how to identify improvements, they will rapidly move forward. They also wanted to normalise a culture of providing opportunities for staff to engage with ongoing personal and professional development, and the ability to get a qualification.
Skills Support for the Workforce set to work, and working with Arden Dies Ltd., began to upskill the team leaders and middle management teams, allowing the knowledge to matriculate downwards. This would help to give them the more professional approach to the business structure that they were hoping for, keeping up with current trends in the manufacturing sector.
So far, 4 staff have benefitted from the completion of the LEAN course and have all progressed onto further courses. They’re currently in the process of re-promoting the courses to staff and hope to increase the engagement in light of how successful the first four have been.
Sarah Poynter, Operations Manager at Arden Dies Ltd., was extremely happy with the result, saying: “The program is a perfect fit for our business. The one-to-one support that our staff have received is excellent, and the communication has been good. The remote support to enable our staff to continue with their courses has been invaluable. The provision is flexible in terms of how our staff can access the course and it is very success focused so that everyone can achieve and benefit."
"It’s been an excellent support to our business, especially in the current climate to help us to move forward and bring about the positive changes needed for the future.”