Business Consultancy (Manufacturing & Innovation)

Tender description

North Lanarkshire Council wishes to establish a contract for the provision of business consultancy services to help manufacturing SMEs in the region to innovate, automate and grow. The support will be delivered under the Smart Hub Lanarkshire brand. The successful contractor will work with a recently created innovation asset and associated resource to help contribute to the project’s key objectives and goals. The appointed contractor will plan, market, deliver and report on a mixture of support activities designed to help manufacturing SMEs to automate and innovate. This includes in an event, workshop and 121 capacity. A key goal will be to engage with manufacturing SMEs with ambition and plans to advance into new areas of project and company development. This may include technological advancement, the introduction of new products, processes or services, operating efficiencies, access to new markets, as well as the development of people and skills. The contractor will require to have established links with academia, NMIS and the wider industry and enterprise network, to co-ordinate impactful and engaging sector focused learning sessions and facilitate introductions. Connecting manufacturing SMEs to agencies and partners that can stimulate and support new thinking, collaboration, improved operating practices and the creation / commercialisation of IP is a priority. Project Delivery the selected contractor will: Operate from Smart Hub Lanarkshire as a project base ensuring visibility, engagement with New College Lanarkshire and NMIS delivery staff and SMEs Travel across the Lanarkshire and the wider area as appropriate (AMCF project territory is primarily the Greater Glasgow and the Clyde Valley locality, though there are no geographical restrictions on wider engagement) Provide a mix of digital and physical delivery methods (121 manufacturing SME engagement) Provide all necessary IT, Telecom, Comms hardware and software necessary to deliver the specified contract activity Record, report and track all manufacturing SME engagements with monthly KPI tracking and reporting requirements Operate under the Smart Hub Lanarkshire brand in tandem with project partners Engage with manufacturing SMEs solely for the purposes of Smart Hub Lanarkshire project objectives and outcomes Undertake necessary marketing, communications, prospecting and relationship building activity as necessary to enable project targets to be met At the end of the contract period, supply a database of all manufacturing SMEs engaged with through the contract duration including individual key contacts and email addresses for each SME. There are nine project targets that the appointed contractor will work towards over the Feb 2022 to March 2023 timeframe. As part of this procurement process, bidders will commit projected targets and an associated pricing formula, achievable in line with the AMCF programme completion deadline. The targets themselves are detailed within section 2.7.3 of the ITT.