Eligible companies are those, whose core activities involve 'in-house' manufacturing and employ a fixed maximum of 250 staff. Firms employing less than 20 staff may be considered providing they continue to meet the eligibility criteria for the schemes. Company groups will be eligible for support, providing the overall staff count for the group does not exceed 250 people, and manufacturing remains the principal business activity of the group.

Applicant firms must have a declared competitive strategy, to which the company board is formally committed. The applicant must outline the corporate strategy and highlight steps to be taken to meet defined market objectives starting with an analysis of the current position of the company. The strategy statement should demonstrate a sound understanding by the firm, as to why it is in business and how products win orders.

Applicant firms must demonstrate that they are likely to draw substantial benefit from the strategic planning of AMT. Companies will be seen to exhibit a number of the following characteristics:

• A formal structure to company organisation. Departments are organised on the basis of discrete manufacturing and management functions.
• Components of AMT have been implemented within the company e.g. CAD, CAM, JIT, TQM etc.
• The company shows diversity in: selling to different market sectors, meeting different customer requirements, making a wide product range, employing a number of manufacturing functions, and using a number of manufacturing processes.

The application of Advanced Manufacturing Technology can play an important role in securing competitive edge. However, insufficient planning means many UK companies do not enjoy the full benefits of AMT.

The strategic planning of AMT involves identifying appropriate processes, infrastructure investments, procedures and systems together with establishing the most appropriate use of the new technology. The analysis work involved must be set against the requirements of an agreed corporate strategy. This must seek to identify the appropriate technology, human resources and other dimensions of infrastructure essential to manufacturing's support of a company's agreed markets.

Most SMEs do not possess the necessary skills resource and so must hire in the required expertise. However, hiring outside help is expensive and coupled with the high risk inherent in the planning and initial stages of implementation, many companies are deterred from undertaking strategic AMT projects. Our methodology helps in the planning and initial implementation phases of their projects, by providing grant assistance to offset the costs of hiring the necessary expertise.

Applicant firms must nominate a project team to manage and undertake planning and implementation work. The team must comprise of at least one board member, and have been involved in the development of project proposals. Proposals must demonstrate that all members of the project teams will be actively collaborating with the staff of advisors, in the strategic planning tasks.

Proposals must describe projects for the strategic planning of AMT. Project objectives must centre around the effective application of AMT to obtain competitive advantage. The planning task must be company wide in scope, and is likely to involve analysis of company systems, production operations, processes, inter-functional relationships, logistics (e.g. distribution), organisational infrastructures, cost benefit analysis and training requirements.

In general, projects involving the application of new technology in most industrial sectors will be eligible. Typical components of projects are:

• Processes - forming/ moulding, machining, fabrication & welding, assembly, finishing, casting, coating, forging, lazer cutting.
• Pre-production Activities - product specification, product design, CAD CAM systems, materials research, materials testing, finite element analysis, competitor product evaluation, rapid prototyping.
• Management of Production - CAM, TQM, JIT, flexible manufacturing systems, production planning and control (MRP solutions), automated handling systems, factory simulation, energy/ waste management, recycling, expert systems.
• Applications of New Technology
  • Sintering technology to accelerate healing
  • Electro chemical machine technology to improve manufacturing tolerances and productivity
  • Component washing technology to improve productivity and reduce environmental impact
  • Automated handling and manufacturing of foam adhesive blocks
  • Moulding technology for the manufacture of composite blocks