Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) fund a student who, supported by expert academics from their university, works full time for a business. These partnerships enable businesses to access academic expertise and drive innovation within their operations.
Led by Innovate UK, KTPs have supported over 100 successful projects, helping the businesses and charities involved to become more sustainable and profitable. Goonvean Group are now part of this exciting collaboration and have developed a KTP with the University of Exeter.
What inspired Goonvean Group to develop a KTP?
The ethos behind KTPs, which have been helping UK businesses to develop and thrive since 1975, was needed to create and develop an innovation agenda throughout Goonvean Group. We knew that by partnering with a leading academic institution such as the University of Exeter, we could accelerate our goals for innovation and sustainability.
The entire application process and development of the partnership was fully collaborative between the Group and the University of Exeter. The university’s KTP team were key in steering the focus of the application to ensure we met the necessary requirements to be awarded funding approval by Innovate UK.
Why was the University of Exeter the right partner for Goonvean Group?
1. Location
Geographically, the University is perfectly placed: it’s at the heart of our business footprint in the South West. The University has experience in delivering successful KTP programs for more than 50 years and we see the potential to develop a long-standing, highly beneficial relationship for both parties.
2. Academic resources
The KTP will give Goonvean Group access to leading academics and resources, offering our businesses the opportunity to develop skills, create positions and strengthen our existing businesses. It also brings additional benefits to the new businesses joining the Group.
3. Aligned values
There is no doubt that, partnered with such a high-achieving university (a university that counts “Excellence” as one of its values) we will continue to achieve our goal: to be the best in everything we do.
The Group’s vision for the KTP
Our long-term vision is to innovate and establish industry leadership across all our businesses, and it’s essential we find external partners to accelerate our innovation journey.
With this KTP (and future KTPs), Goonvean Group will take informed steps towards industry leadership. By building on existing academic research and development, we will achieve our goals at a faster pace than if we chose to do it alone.
1. Revolutionised business operations and R&D strategy
The KTP will focus on developing digital twins of our operations, starting with Precision Casting, which will become a model for all the production facilities within the Group.
Once these are developed, our digitally modelled production facilities will enable us to accurately assess outcomes before finalising our investments. Ultimately, this will help us make better investment decisions, maximising the return on investment internally and for our new acquisitions.
2. Talent development and digitalisation
At the end of the three-year program, we will have embedded new expertise within Goonvean Group, creating new opportunities, new roles, side projects and the development of future KTPs.
The program will evolve our operations teams, helping them to become more data-driven. It will also focus on digitalisation and process automation, incorporating Industry 4.0 technologies into many operations.
3. Sustainability and regional economic growth
We envisage the KTP resulting in significant productivity gains and improved energy efficiency for many of our Group businesses; improvements that will create better workplaces for our employees in terms of health and safety, environment, ergonomics and more.
Once Goonvean Group completes the program, we will be able to utilise our newfound expertise to support and develop SMEs throughout the South West, either through the University of Exeter or investment from us.
The KTP is an exciting opportunity for the entire Group
For anyone wanting to make positive, impactful changes to their business, a KTP offers the chance to gain:
- Funding through Innovate UK
- Access to invaluable university academics, resources, and knowledge
- The ability to adopt new technologies and expertise that would otherwise be difficult to access
The recruitment of our KTP Associate has begun, and we aim to have the successful applicant in position by October, when the partnership can start in earnest.
