1. Background

National Manufacturing Competitiveness Levels (NMCL) was a system developed by an ADS Group Limited (ADS) and Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) led consortium, supported by industry primes and OEMs.

 

The Consortium had established a national, quality assured, best practice approach to improving the competitiveness of manufacturing supply chain companies to:

• • • Raise workforce capability
    • Increase productivity
    • Boost UK economic growth
    • Increase export levels

 

SC21 Competitiveness and Growth (SC21 C&G) was a programme that used the NMCL system to support the aerospace sector. The programme utilised £10m of Government funding to engage with over 60 companies over three years.

The funding was used to support improvement activities in the aerospace supply chain through training, coaching and mentoring.

 

2. Purpose

The purpose of this document was to summarise the eligibility criteria and selection progress for beneficiaries under the SC21 Competitiveness and Growth (SC21 C&G) programme.

 

 3. Key Eligibility Criteria (Ideas, People, Infrastructure, Business Environment, Place)

To be an eligible project on the SC21 C&G Programme the following key eligibility criteria must have been met: –

The beneficiary must have been; –

A.  Located in the UK (Place/Business Environment)

B.  A manufacturers or processors within the Aerospace and the Defence Aerospace sectors of one or more of the following products (Ideas):

a.  Aircraft – Aircraft assembly, Aerostructures, Fuselage, Wings, Tails, Nacelles, Exterior protection and cosmetics, Interiors and trim, Servicing and MRO

b.  Components and systems – Actuation, Electrical Power, Circuit Boards, Transmission, Controls, Hoses and pipes, Electrical systems, Wheel/brake/landing systems and controls, Fasteners

c.  Processes and Materials – Carbon fibre, Composites, Forging, Machining, Casting, Resins, Plastics, Surface treatments, Metal treatments (heat etc), Forming, Spraying, Dyeing, and similar activities

d.  Propulsion – Engines, Associated Systems, Fuel Systems, Controls and Actuation, Flight management systems

e.  Software – associated with operating aircraft (does not include systems for managing processes and businesses)

C.  Ideally be a Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) or nominated as important by a UK OEM (Industrial Strategy)

D.  Aligned with the Civil Aerospace Sector Deal (Industrial Strategy)

E.  Able to satisfy Financial Due Diligence checks undertaken by the Accounting Body (Place/Infrastructure)

F.  Able to satisfy Anti Money Laundering checks (Know Your Customer- KYC) undertaken by the Accounting Body (Place/Infrastructure)

G.  Willing to undertake an agreed improvement project in the UK (Place)

H.  Willing to meet their obligations set out in the Beneficiary Agreement

I.  Be endorsed for suitability by the Grant Authority

J.  Be endorsed for suitability at Main Gate (having met the requirements a-h) by the Aerospace Main Gate Approval Board/BEIS

K.  Willing to commit to increase productivity and growth (Infrastructure)

L.  Willing to commit to increase firm level GVA and profitably (Infrastructure)

M.  Have evidence of successful Continuous Improvement (CI) (Infrastructure)

N.  Have evidence of good Delivery and Quality performance to their customers (Infrastructure)

O.  Invest in innovation and Research and development (Ideas)

P.  Be targeting business growth within the next 3 years. (Business Environment)

Q.  Exploit the results from or in the UK (Ideas)

R.  Invest in technical education and skills to support high value jobs (People)

 

4. Key Success measures

The key success measures for the SC21 Competitiveness and Growth programme were stated in ADS ‘s Conditional Offer Letter as:

A.  Increased firm-level labour productivity;

B.  Increased firm-level GVA and profitability;

C.  Increased firm level competitiveness;

D.  Business retained due to implementation of the improvement plan;

E.  Business generated due to implementation of the implementation plan;

F.  Jobs safeguarded and created

For more information please visit https://www.sc21.org.uk/the-programmes/competitiveness-growth/