According to Dr Steve Chicken, manufacturing growth director at the EEF, its Lean Academy levels the playing field, allowing smaller manufacturers to access and learn the game-changing methods of lean thinking and so to boost their efficiency and growth.
"This event is about promoting continued, long-term manufacturing growth so it makes absolute sense for us to be here talking to companies about Lean," states Chicken.
"Lean can transform businesses, providing manufacturers with game-changing techniques to boost efficiency and growth," he continues.
"These techniques are already being used by larger companies and our mission is to now make them accessible to smaller and mid-sized firms too."
EEF's Lean Academy is built around a full-scale, configurable and transportable modular assembly line, which can be reconfigured daily to challenge a company's employees as they work through a 12-day improvement programme.
Cranfield University's annual event is now in its sixth year and brings together manufacturing and plant engineering professionals to discuss key industry challenges and to promote cross-sector collaboration.