Keith Bevis

Knowledge transfer initiatives as a doorstep formula to open innovation

The development of cars and car components has become a more and more complex affair, requiring more and more inputs from a wide range of actors and technology domains. Hence, automotive firms must look increasingly beyond the intramural setting and reach out to external partners and sources to master innovation processes. The sensitisation of firms towards so-called open innovation practises can be facilitated by means of innovation support schemes run by public actors. The present paper evaluates the additionalities of several of such schemes from the UK and the Netherlands. It concludes that the schemes succeed in getting SMEs warm for sourcing external knowledge, skills and facilities for innovation purposes and in getting them into the open innovation mode. Notably the higher equity schemes demonstrate relevant and sustainable effects in this regard. Nonetheless, opening up automotive SMEs for cooperative and multiparty innovation practises appears is for many cases a question of long breath, and will require sustained action to really institutionalise multi-party innovation practises into their behavioural patterns.

The challenges for sustainable skills development in the UK automotive supply sector: Policy and implementation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for sustainable learning that can be used to target training resources more effectively. The focus is the automotive supplier chain where skills development is an urgent problem.Design/methodology/approach – A number of different surveys have been combined to draw out government, employer and staff approaches to training. From these a model was developed and its elements tested on a further group of small to medium‐sized companies (SMEs).Findings – From the initial surveys the outcomes of training across this segment of the industry were mostly unknown, unmeasured and often unpredictable. This result was in keeping with wider research which has indicated that even in large enterprises some 60 per cent of training budgets lack quantifiable targets to achieve. Amongst the smaller SMEs the skills needs were different to those of the larger enterprises.Practical implications – A model has been presented that can support sustainable learning. More speci...

The role of education in industrial maintenance: the pathway to a sustainable future

Sustainability is critical in the maintenance of machinery and other high capital assets. Increasing regulation emphasises social responsibility, increasing the costs during asset life, like waste disposal, efficiency, emissions, and end-of-life. Our responses to these will become the differentiators for survival. Maintenance practitioners have a wide range of needs for updating and up-skilling. Some of this is achieved with new young staff, and some by training and education of employed staff. Education in maintenance has an important contribution to sustainability. The maintenance professional has special needs for accessible training, some very specific to new technologies, for example, but some in broader education leading to a wider understanding of his contribution to the sustainability agenda.

The role of social dialogue in skills initiatives: a case study approach

With an automotive industry racked by uncertainty and continuing competition, the stability of companies and the risk of job losses have been tackled differently across a number of European regions. In each scenario, governments, employers and the workforce, represented by the unions, have had to work together in what is termed European social dialogue. Using case studies this paper samples the approaches taken to social dialogue on the issue of skills, highlighting both positive and negative scenarios. The lessons drawn are about speed, communication and cooperation. SMEs, engaged in the supply chain projects, became involved and embraced the opportunities, with measureable training outcomes. The factory run-down scenarios demonstrate the importance of the social partners working together at the local level and acting with speed as the situation develops. Policy makers can and must react quickly to changing circumstances. Training strategies need to adapt to the life cycle of companies.