He is clearly impressed with how each of his interactions with the University has worked to complement the others. Theyre all linked. The integration of the ERP system was accelerated through the EnginE involvement. That integration gave us the foundation which our Made Smarter Sprints are now building on. Our whole digital strategy has come from that platform.

The future for Forsberg looks bright. During 2019 they increased from 30 to 40 staff and in September moved to larger premises.

We have a very adoptive and innovative team and we all relish the opportunity to improve, Chris says. The programmes Ive been involved with have helped to build the culture and engagement in the business. Its all part of the same journey and it has all come about from talking to the University.

Chris himself has recently become one of LUMSs Entrepreneurs-inResidence. Now, having taken the lead on the EnginE project, Forsbergs operations manager Dr Raphael Treffny is beginning his own journey with the University on the Lancashire Forum.

Dr Raphael Treffny says: We were struggling to get the latest version of our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system off the ground and make it an integral part across all departments. We understood that we needed someone to bring new skills to the business, build the system and work with us to get it running.

Through the EnginE project our workforce challenges and skills gaps were reviewed, recommending a range of taster masterclasses to look at upskilling key staff, and providing us with a Skills Champion Internship as part of this.

Joe Dodd, our intern - a second year finance and economics student at Lancaster University - had prior experience with systems and operations processes. He certainly met our expectations and the outcome had a positive impact on our business. Even now that internship has finished, the ERP system he helped to set up is live and still growing. We were impressed with what was achieved in the 8 weeks, and weve used the experience to inform the creation of a new role in this area.

Joe says the respect and the impact was mutual. My presence provided an outside perspective, coming into the business with a lot of energy, with a different view on how things could work. I sparked some interesting conversations with staff, and within departments, and we got people coming together to create more efficient processes.

The internship changed my future career objectives. I realised that an incredibly positive and employee focused SME like Forsberg makes for a great company to be involved with. I hadnt previously considered this an important aspect of a job - working with passionate people and still feeling cared about by the business at an individual level.

Raphael concludes: As well as the Skills Champion Internships, EnginE provides access to a variety of high calibre funded taster masterclasses which get businesses thinking about upskilling opportunities. Our staff have attended sessions on subjects from leadership and process improvement to CAD modelling. Weve received support for workforce development planning, and around the funding of the internship. The process has been hugely beneficial.

See the article here:
Forsberg's growth journey with Lancaster University - Lancashire Business View