The success of the project was recognised this week (Thursday January 28 2010) at the annual KTP Regional Awards ceremony for Wales, held at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, when it was voted the Best Welsh KTP Partnership 2010.
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) in Wales is managed and part sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government and forms part of the Academic Expertise for Business programme (A4B).
KTP involves a three-way partnership between a graduate, an enterprise of any size and an academic institution. The programme part funds the employment of high calibre graduates or associates to work with companies on specific projects that are vital for their strategic development.
Laing O’Rourke formed its three-year partnership with Swansea University back in March 2006 and employed graduates Bin Chen, Akshay Peer and Jonny Williams to develop the company’s Biometrics, Radio Frequency Identification system (RFID) and Waste Management processes.
The first project was the development of a time and attendance system to supervise the mobile workforce. A patent for the technology has been applied for and a new spinout company formed to take this forward as a commercial product.
The associates also worked alongside Laing O’Rourke engineers to develop a Radio Frequency Identification system (RFID), enabling products to be tracked from manufacture to construction site. From improved logistics, reduced errors and greater integration and automation, the company believes there are significant benefits.
Finally, with the help of the KTP, Laing O’Rourke has prevented its plasterboard waste ending up in landfill. Working across all stakeholders within the supply chain a ‘cut to length’ approach was developed providing significant savings annually. This approach is now being extended to other waste streams of the company.
According to a Laing O’Rourke spokesman, the partnership achieved far more than what was originally estimated.
“This KTP with Swansea University has identified, mapped and re-engineered three important strands of the Group’s internal operations and ensured that the most efficient use of available technology is being made.
“It’s not only proving to be a major success internally for the company but also commercially – opening up a whole raft of new markets for us and for that, we are delighted.”
As a result of the KTP, all three associates are set to receive their PhD and have agreed to become freelance consultants for Laing O’Rourke plc going forward.
Lesley Griffiths, Deputy Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills, said the KTP supported the Assembly Government’s drive to encourage innovation and collaboration between industry and academic centres.
“The highly successful partnership between Laing O’Rourke plc and Swansea University is an excellent example of how KTP clearly delivers real benefits for industry whilst also supporting the development of higher level research students in Wales.
“It reinforces what can be achieved through this academic partnership approach and illustrates how businesses can benefit from tapping into and accessing the skills, expertise and technical know-how available in our universities.
“In this particular case, KTP helped a large organisation operating in a very competitive market sector overcome obstacles, introduce new processes and adopt new technology, resulting in significant savings to boost turnover.
“KTP is one of a number of programmes supported by the Assembly Government to increase economic growth through innovation and knowledge transfer, enabling Welsh businesses to access the high level skills and technology needed to prosper.”
Swansea University Vice Chancellor, Richard B Davies, who accepted the award at the event, said of the projects: “I am both proud and delighted that the work of Swansea University has been recognised by such a prestigious award.
“Swansea University was founded at the behest of industry in 1920 and we have always been comfortable working closely with industry. This award shows that we have the high-level expertise to help develop an innovative, modern knowledge economy and the commitment to support wealth creation.”
Runners-up in the KTP Regional Awards for Wales were: Cardiff Airport Ltd & University of Wales Institute Cardiff, and Clynderwen and Cardiganshire Farmers Ltd & Gorseinon College.
Gorseinon College also received an award in recognition of having achieved the highest number of shorter KTP projects as part of a UK pilot, and Semantise Ltd and Bangor University for having completed the first shorter KTP in the UK pilot.
Note:
- Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is a Technology Strategy Board programme, enabling innovation in business.
- The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led, executive non-departmental public body, established by the government. Its mission is to promote and support research into, and development and exploitation of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK businesses in order to increase economic growth and quality of life.
- Academic Expertise for Business is a six-year project, launched in 2008, which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and European Structural Funds, and geared to ensure Wales maximises the economic impact of its academic institutions. A4B supports a range of activities in higher and further educational institutions to develop more effective transfer mechanisms, to commercialise their intellectual properties and develop and exploit the research base. Funding is available to academic institutions for projects that involve collaboration with businesses.
To find out more about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and how they could work for your business, click here.
If you would like to speak with a University representative about a problem within your business, or you have an idea for working with the University, email: researchandinnovation@swansea.ac.uk or call the business hotline on: 01792 606060.
