International Manufacturing Centre, Coventry, UK
22 January 2009

IET.tv
Webcasts of IET and other technical presentations.

The Viscount Nuffield / Mensforth Lecture 2009: developing great people   2009-01-21 08:25:20.0 Manufacturing Channel >> go to webcast>> recommend to friend

About the lecture

What do you think makes your business successful? What does ‘Great’ mean?
What drives people to be great – is it nature or nurture?

Carol Burke provides her definition of what makes people great, and the difficulties encountered along the way. She draws on her experiences within the Unipart Group and the successes she has witnessed. Carol describes the methodology used, and explains why she thinks it is the way forward to ensure survival in the current climate.

The lecture is chaired by Chris Earnshaw, President, the IET.

About the speaker

Carol Burke graduated from Liverpool University in 1990 undertaking various placements within British Steel during her studies. On graduation she joined GKN Axles Ltd progressing through roles as foreman, Production Manager, Works Manager and Business Manager, and finally implementing a new factory making axles for the Vauxhall Frontera.

Carol’s fast-track GKN career led to her recruitment in 1994 by one of Unipart’s manufacturing companies, Premier Exhaust Systems Ltd, to introduce and refine Japanese manufacturing methods. In response to automotive industry globalisation. John Neill set up the UEES Joint Venture and appointed Carol to grow the company and its people, and to support the Unipart Group. She used the breathing space afforded by the Phoenix survival years to re-engineer the company by extending Toyota’s ‘lean’ system and the ‘Unipart Way’ to encompass manufacturing engineering, design, end-to-end customer service and human resource management.

In 2006 Carol extended her responsibilities. Unipart Manufacturing was established to grow the core fuel tank and exhaust system manufacturing businesses, realise the potential of selling the Unipart Way to clients and develop talent for the Unipart Group. As a core part of this, she developed the UEES ‘Teaching Factory’ - simultaneously a training facility where people learn about the techniques of lean manufacturing and the Unipart Way.

Burke has become a member of the National Skills Academy Board. She continues to serve on Liverpool University’s Industrial Liaison Board, Coventry & Warwickshire Learning and Skills Council and the Board of CBI West Midlands.

History of the Viscount Nuffield/Mensforth Lecture

The Viscount Nuffield/Mensforth Lecture was established in honour of the life of William Richard Morris (1877–1963), 1st Viscount Nuffield.

Beginning his career with a small bicycle-repairing business, William Richard Morris later became a manufacturer of motorcycles and, in 1912, of automobiles. The Morris cars, being a design that could be produced economically, quickly became one of the biggest mass-production industries in the UK.

During World War II, he engaged in the manufacture of aircraft. In later life, Nuffield was Chairman of the British Motor Company. He was created Viscount Nuffield in 1938 for his services to industry and his generosity to worthy causes, and his lifetime bequests of over £30 million have led to many commemorations, most notably Nuffield College, Oxford.

Sir Eric Mensforth helped create, and for long time led, the Westland Company. He was President of the Institution of Production Engineers, (IProdE) from 1967-69 and was awarded Honorary Fellowship in 1978. The Mensforth Gold Medal was one of four awards instituted by the IProdE (later the IMfgE who merged with the IET) in 1981 as part of their Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

» back to top of page