Helping Business By Sharing Knowledge

E-business and Information Systems graduate Robert Lee and his fellow associate Michael Boyce have been helping one of the leading manufacturing companies in the North East transform its business processes in preparation for economic recovery in the oil and gas industry.

They have done so through a national scheme designed to encourage businesses and universities to work closely together, sharing knowledge and expertise, with the clear goal of making UK companies more competitive in the tough global marketplace.

Key to the Knowledge Transfer Partnership, (KTP), has been the availability of talented graduates to work with companies for up to two years under joint supervision from university academics and business managers.

They have helped introduce a range of changes at Wellstream International with the support of management and assistance from academics from the Teesside Manufacturing Centre based within Teesside University’s School of Science and Engineering and have developed the global Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation solution for the Company.

The joint KTP between Teesside University and Wellstream International has not only picked up an A grade for excellence from the Technology Strategy Board, it also led to Michael and Robert being offered full-time permanent jobs, as the company didn’t want to lose their skills and expertise.

Michael is now an ERP implementation specialist with the company and Robert is an ERP integration lead working on the global ERP implementation solution.

Both say they have landed dream jobs despite the recession.

Caroline Capper, Wellstream’s global ERP manager, says: “Wellstream has benefited enormously from having two fresh thinkers with the latest academic knowledge in utilising technology to help manage the business.”

Michael joined the KTP after graduating with a First Class honours degree in Manufacturing Management and Robert graduated with a degree in accounting and computing and then a Masters in E-business and Information Systems from Newcastle University.

Extract taken from article in the Teeside Gazette published on 15/06/2010