Getting fit for offshore renewables
Scottish Enterprise
Putting businesses at the heart of everything we do, our focus is on innovation, investment and international.
By Gillian MacLeod, Specialist SMAS Business Support Services at Scottish Enterprise
I know a lot is spoken about the huge opportunities that the energy transition is creating for Scottish businesses. The rapid expansion of the sector will require products and services to support the increased demand, and more innovative businesses will be needed to support this. And the beauty of it is, that you don’t need to have prior experience of, for example, the offshore renewables sector.
But if you are running a business, you might well be thinking ‘how might I adapt, what do I need to do, to take advantage of these opportunities and diversify into the sector? Where do I start?’
Sottish Manufacturing Advisory Service
Our Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS) helps businesses across all industries in Scotland to build a sustainable future. Our team's role is to support improvements in productivity, culture and behaviours from the shop-floor to the boardroom, and our improvement projects can be tailored to solve an immediate business issue or focused on a more significant change programme.
Companies come to SMAS for support for a wider variety of reasons.?They may want to:
Helping Brimmond get fit for offshore renewables
If we look at offshore renewables, one of the businesses that we have supported to pursue a future in the sector is Brimmond . The Aberdeenshire-based family business specialises in the design, manufacture, rental and repair of lifting, mechanical and hydraulic equipment for industry – and was traditionally focussed on oil and gas. We've worked closely with the company through our account management programme to support its growth ambition, and were delighted when its Managing Director, Tom Murdoch, wanted to ensure it was fully prepared for a transition into offshore renewables by applying to the Fit for Offshore Renewables (F4OR ) programme.
F4OR aims to help supply chain companies get ready to bid for work in the booming offshore renewable energy sector. A UK-wide programme, in Scotland it’s run by the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult . It’s a 12–18-month Business Excellence scheme is designed to identify areas for improvement against a comprehensive set of strategic and operational factors, and to support change and build capability.
An on-site assessment was led by an experienced industrial advisor from KPS Partnership Ltd who provided an independent view of Brimmond’s current capabilities in the light of future requirements. The firm were then guided by the assessor as they implemented a series of agreed improvements in strategy and leadership, design, project management, people and process excellence, health and safety, and quality. Building on Brimmond’s existing great strengths, they drew on the assessor’s experience of continuous improvements in offshore renewables and other manufacturing and services sectors to make strategically important changes.?
Participating in the F4OR programme also ensured that Brimmond was well informed about the evolving offshore renewables market, through a series of sector-specific awareness-raising events and training sessions.
This is where we come in...
During the entire programme, SMAS was a key partner to the Brimmond team as they worked on?improvements. Led by myself and another SMAS colleague, we supported the Brimmond team to implement sustainable change in the areas identified for improvement in process excellence.
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Initially, we trained all staff in 5S workplace?organisation - a systematic way of organising workplaces by eliminating waste, improving flow, and reducing the number of processes where possible. The 5 ‘Ss’ – Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardise and Sustain form a 5-step process to help improve the overall function of a business.
We then guided Brimmond through the practical implementation of the training.?A team of 5S champions was formed and coached by SMAS to lead?on 5S through the ‘Standardise’ and ‘Sustain’ levels.
Finally, support was given to build up competence in the ongoing delivery of 5S induction, training and support for all new employees. A continuous improvement plan was also developed to build on the success of this work.
At the completion of the programme, Brimmond received its ‘granted’ status – recognition by the Catapult as being ‘Fit for Offshore Renewables’.
Companies achieve ‘granted’ status when they can demonstrate that they have the knowledge, capability, and competence to meet the standard required to do business in the offshore renewables sector.
Investing in change for success
The company’s investment in change has positioned it perfectly for future success in this exciting up-and-coming market. And as a mark of its achievement, Brimmond has recently won its first contract in offshore wind – also the company’s largest ever!?
Through our successful partnership with Brimmond, the Catapult invited SMAS to work with nine other companies on its next cohort.?We are actively working with these companies to? develop their ‘Process Excellence’ competency so they are ready to meet the demands of the offshore renewables sector.
It has also opened up the opportunity to give these companies access to our additional support, such as bringing them into Account Management and access to specialists who can help with digital transformation, innovation, intellectual property and workplace innovation.
The SMAS Business Improvement Academy (BIA) is also bringing additional benefits to the companies we get to work with through the programme.?
The BIA brings together a group of people from different companies to form a cohort.? It's a great way to develop the skills in people new to continuous improvement and to be more effective in making their improvements stick.
The focus of the BIA is around introducing delegates to some Lean tools, helping them understand how behaviours have a huge impact on whether people will buy-in to change or not and thus helps them develop their leadership skills.
Working alongside Brimmond and other companies within the F4OR programme has been incredibly rewarding. Witnessing the company's success in achieving accreditation and actively collaborating on live projects highlights the power of teamwork and the significant impact SMAS can have in supporting businesses as they navigate the energy transition.
If you would like to know more about how SMAS can support your business to adapt or diversify to take advantage of the opportunities the energy transition is bringing, get in touch with us to speak to one of our specialists or visit our?website .