EMPLOYEES of the Cross Manufacturing Company in Devizes were recently awarded NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) Diplomas as part of their successful completion of the SEMTA Apprenticeship in Business Improvement Techniques.

Nick Lambert, operations manager at Cross, which is on Hopton Road, explained: “Investing in this very worthwhile programme is part of our continuous improvement culture for the development of our valued staff. The skills learnt are used on continuous improvement projects throughout the company. Each cohort has teams made up of people from different areas of the business, who then embark on a project to put their new skills to good use.”

The programme at Cross is organised by Gina Farrugia, process improvements co-ordinator, who describes it as: “A key feature of the company’s long term success. The team projects have all helped to improve our processes, reduce our costs and help Cross to remain a market leader.”

One of the four teams in the current programme was titled Filling the Gap. The team’s performance has improved the way that manufacturing data on automotive industry products is collected, enabling the company to identify where the best improvements in production can be made. This shows the ongoing benefits provided by all the teams in the scheme, which has been running for three years.