South West Regional Development Agency

The South West Manufacturing Advisory Service (South West MAS) is one of ten regional Manufacturing Advisory Services created by BERR and funded by SWRDA with a brief to help manufacturing businesses improve their productivity and competitiveness. 
 
In the South West, MAS is delivered by a consortium made up of SWRDA, EEF, the region's Business Links and HERDA South West, representing the Higher Education Institutions. The aim of SWMAS is to play a fundamental part in building the skills and expertise which will help manufacturers to not only meet daily challenges but to become agile, responsive and adaptable to compete in the future. 
 
SWRDA has worked via the South West MAS since its creation in 2002 to improve the efficiency of manufacturing businesses across the region committing over £10 million to the programme.  
 
During its six years of operation, South West MAS specialists have visited 875 manufacturers. More than 4,300 days of reviews, best practice modules and workshops have been delivered which have resulted in cost savings of circa £30million across 415 businesses.  
 
In addition, South West MAS has organised 400 events, attracting a total of 8,000 attendees (100 events and 2,000 attendees this year alone) to create an awareness of the benefits of adopting lean manufacturing and provide an opportunity to learn about the use of specialist tools and techniques to implement and sustain improvements in production processes.  
 
For more information on SWMAS visit: www.swmas.co.uk