Digital Technology Internships

Formed in 2015 and based in Knowsley Business Park, the business is a manufacturer of crude Omega 3 Oil from plant algae which is further processed into the finished refined oil product and sold directly to food manufacturers as additive ingredients or to be made into capsules for consumers of vitamin supplements. The facility is the commercialisation site for Mara Renewables in Nova Scotia Canada who own the IP to the algae strains and extraction process used to create the oil. Using a fermentation batch process the site is currently expanding its capacity by 50% to take advantage of the growth in demand across the world for plant based, sustainably sourced health products and food supplements.

Rationalise the data and processes in place to enable the effective implementation of Sage X3 ERP manufacturing system, data entry and validation. Assessment and potential deployment of MES interface between ERP and DCS systems to maximise analytics. The goal is to automate the processes as much as is possible without losing flexibility and control, and to maximise the information to enable the business to be more effective and able to grow and adapt easily and cost effectively. This involves having fully integrated systems implemented effectively that supports the business and its ambitions.

The client is a privately-owned company specialising in the production and supply of a variety of household laundry and cleaning products. They supply several national and international customers with their own brand of laundry and cleaning products. They have laboratory, blending and packing facilities at their Birkenhead premises to produce household, laundry and cleaning products. They develop, scale up and produce all their formulations in house for products to match briefs from their customers. They specialise in the development and production of environmentally friendly products using sustainable plant-based materials to match the performance of the big brands.

At a high level, the client would like to: Optimise production from order receipt to product dispatch Optimise stock management Optimise production planning and yields from, each of their production lines (2) and blending silos (3) Monitor costs of product to maintain profitability Provide clearly displayed information for all the necessary staff.

Automotive, rail, nuclear, chemical, and aerospace all depend heavily on the integrity of safety critical systems to protect life and property. For over 30 years, the client has grown an enviable reputation for safety critical engineering services through working with many leading companies in these essential sectors. The business is an ISO 9001:2015 company with comprehensive in-house engineering facilities including precision machining, fabrication and welding, laser cutting and water jet cutting. The company’s problem-solving capabilities also extend to reverse engineering of obsolete or hard to replace parts or tooling. As an innovative business, they are enthusiastic to adopt digital technologies wherever they can have a positive impact on their growth.

The client wish to deploy a Management Information System (MIS) or Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP), which is highly configurable and wholly appropriate to the nature of their business, which shall form the backbone of their business upon which all data and information interchange shall take place. This will allow them to better estimate the costs associated with contract work that they bid for or take on, provide visibility of WIP, process orders more efficiently, better manage their liaison with their customer base and suppliers and provide transparency of their day to day operations and KPIs.

Our client is a privately-owned company specialising in the production and supply of a variety of household laundry and cleaning products. They supply several national and international customers with their own brand of laundry and cleaning products.

At a high level, our client would like to optimise production from order receipt to product dispatch, optimise stock management, optimise production planning and yields from, each of their production lines (2) and blending silos (3) and monitor costs of product to maintain profitability,

Our client is an ISO 9001:2015 company with comprehensive in-house engineering facilities including precision machining, fabrication and welding, laser cutting and water jet cutting. Their problem-solving capabilities also extend to reverse engineering of obsolete or hard to replace parts or tooling.

Our client wishes to deploy a Management Information System (MIS) or Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP), which is highly configurable and wholly appropriate to the nature of their business, which shall form the backbone of their business upon which all data and information interchange shall take place.

Formed in 1946, the company is a preeminent specialist Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) organisation that enables their customers and end users to support their products, systems, and platforms, many of which have critical status for extended periods, to and often beyond the products natural lifespan. Operating in the Global Defence, Nuclear and Oil & Gas industries, they utilise their extensive knowledge and supporting supply chain to maintain a continued availability of components, which ensures a product life extension for their customers as well as specialist knowledge in the sourcing of obsolete/difficult to source components.

This project is part of a Government Industrial Strategy Funded Project, working in partnership with BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, GKN, Nissan, and Airbus UK. The aim is to remove paperwork from the shop floor, using technology to improve efficiency within their operations and ultimately deliver better value to their customers.

The client is a privately-owned family business celebrating its 43rd year. From humble beginnings as a one-man-band making wrought-iron gates, they now employ around 80 staff as a subcontract steelwork manufacturer to a wide range of sectors including rail, defence, office furniture, automotive, and cycling to name a few. They also manufacture a successful range of high-quality bike racks and cycling accessories. Their wide-ranging capabilities include welding/fabrication, tube-bending, laser-cutting, CNC machining, powder coating and more. They supply a range of local, national and international companies including Network Rail, MoD, and Senator International.

The intern would support the implementation of the SFDC system and create the analysis tools required to close the feedback loop in their newly digitised factory. The goal is digital capacity planning for their manufacturing plant. The support for the successful intern would come from their in-house team who are experts in the manufacturing process, and Chess + Sicon as our IT support and software partner. The intern potentially being the conduit between the different parties and maximising the effectiveness of the funded project.

Formed in 1946, the company is a preeminent specialist Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) organisation that enables their customers and end users to support their products, systems, and platforms, many of which have critical status for extended periods, to and often beyond the products natural lifespan. Operating in the Global Defence, Nuclear and Oil & Gas industries, they utilise their extensive knowledge and supporting supply chain to maintain a continued availability of components, which ensures a product life extension for their customers as well as specialist knowledge in the sourcing of obsolete/difficult to source components. As a sustainable, profitable, private company with a rich past and secure future, they are committed to extending certainty for their customers, their products, projects, and needs. From their 22,000 square ft. manufacturing facility based in Worsley, Manchester, the company offer both a flexible and responsive service to their customers.

This project is part of a Government Industrial Strategy Funded Project, working in partnership with BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, GKN, Nissan, and Airbus UK. The aim is to remove paperwork from the shop floor, using technology to improve efficiency within their operations and ultimately deliver better value to their customers. Additionally, they wish to integrate Digital Technology, initiate a connected facility where decisions are made based on live accessible data presented across all areas of the business from a central location for users to access, interact and analyse up-to-date information to enable smarter, data-driven decisions.

Our client is a Surface Treatments and Non-destructive testing company who supply services to the Aerospace Industry. The company was originally formed in 1887 and is believed to be 2nd oldest company in Liverpool. The company predominantly supply to the UK aerospace market but some of the end customers are in Europe and the USA.

Our client is looking to strengthen the team to support the implementation process of a new ERP system. This project will digitalise shop floor data capture and provide data analytics focused on productivity and customer service. The successful candidate will take a lead role within the implementation team and be responsible for the successful data migration and introduction of the WIP tracking process.

Based in Manchester, the client is a manufacturing group that provides fast track, just in time production to brands, retailers and wholesalers. They manufacture a diverse range of print and textile products which are marketed under four product brands. The company has built its reputation as the manufacturing and fulfilment partner of choice for online retailers serving consumers with a diverse range of “made to measure” home products including window blinds, printed matting and digitally printed textiles. Once a sales order is received, it is manufactured and despatched directly to their customer’s customer within a few days. The short lead times and direct fulfilment model enables their customers to operate with minimal stock, thereby reducing working capital and avoiding the risk of lost sales. The company’s flexible, reactive manufacturing is a compelling alternative to overseas supply options, and this has led to year-on-year sales growth over each of the past 4 years. They are enthusiastic to adopt digital technologies wherever they can have a positive impact on their growth. As they have grown and enthusiastically adopted a wide array of different cloud based solutions they have created a confusing data infrastructure which may expose the business to risk through cyber-attack, loss of data etc. They need to understand where these risks lie and how they can migrate safely to a new, more robust data management platform that will support further growth.

The project will focus on data management across the business, reviewing their current systems, Xero, Zoho, Google sheets and in-house bespoke solutions, considering how they link together, or don’t as the case maybe. It should also aim to identify the holes where they do not generate or use the data available. The output of the project will help them invest wisely in a robust, integrated platform for gathering, storage, and controlling data that supports accurate and timely reporting and minimises further cyber threats. Preferably this new solution will be implemented in a way that retains what they have learned from the adoption of key applications such as Xero and Zoho.