Annette’s inspiration

As Operations Director for Lancashire’s PDS Engineering, Annette Weekes (pictured) has also worked on record-breaking projects such as the Thrust supersonic car, and the rebuilding of Donald Campbell’s Blue Bird boat. She is a final year student on The Manufacturing Institute’s MSc in Manufacturing Leadership, awarded by the six-star Lancaster University Management School. With global market influences and competitive threats from overseas affecting PDS, which specialises in hard metals engineering, she says her MSc studies have reinforced the importance of PDS seeking competitive advantage through speed and agility in responding to customers, and new market opportunities. “This is something we are already very good at, and was demonstrated in the post 9/11 period, when there was a temporary aerospace slump and we were able to quickly seize new opportunities in the museums and exhibitions sectors,” she says. “I have a much better realisation now of the importance of keeping an eye firmly on the global picture and working to make our business even more nimble so that we can be one step ahead of market forces.” As PDS’ Operations Director, she has instigated a succession planning strategy, involving management training for section leaders. “The job market for skilled engineers is impossible,” she explained. “We need to ensure that talent is properly developed from within, which will also help to retain key staff. At present, 50 per cent of staff are working towards NVQs or other qualifications, which is helping to differentiate PDS as a knowledge-driven company.” She has also applied her learning on world class manufacturing practices to boost productivity by 20% - using skills in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and lean best practice to improve machine productivity from 55% to 92%. On-time delivery has improved by 31%, while ‘right first time’ quality of 99.19% is also consistently achieved. Applications are now open for the MSc programme and funding is available to North West manufacturers. For more information phone 0161 872 0393, www.manufacturinginstitute.co.uk