UK: Nissan can show the way forward

[ruimegas]

UK: Nissan can show the way forward

"LAST week, John Cridland, director general of CBI, and I were privileged to be the first external guests to the new Nissan battery plant in Sunderland.

This plant will produce batteries for the Nissan Leaf, which will be manufactured in Sunderland from 2013, and supply batteries to Renault.

The factory has “mother plant” status meaning that as Nissan test their processes, the Sunderland engineers are joined by a Portuguese team and an American team who will be trained in the UK.

This creates further opportunities for the supply chain and partners such as Gateshead College with their on-site Skills Academy for Sustainable Manufacturing and Innovation – a £9.8m centre that will focus on training in battery assembly, manufacturing, testing, charging and safety.

The fact Sunderland will be the first place outside Japan to roll-out this critical technology and that it has been trusted with training others shows the confidence Nissan Japan places in the leadership and workforce.

The confidence that the region engenders externally from inward investors was one of the key themes of CBI chairman Ken McMeikan’s speech at the CBI Annual Dinner on Thursday evening."

Em: http://www.4evriders.org/2011/10/uk-nis ... ay-forward