University launches £850,000 research project to help SMEs
A RESEARCH project focused on identifying risks facing small businesses in the construction and manufacturing sectors is to be launched by the University of Wolverhampton.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face risks associated with information and financial management, health and safety and intellectual property which they often lack the capability to manage.
Funded by the European Commission, the new £850,000 four-year scheme will aim to develop software to help them manage operational risks facing their business.
The aim is to create an affordable and user-friendly system that will enable SMEs to assess and monitor potential risk, with a view to completely eliminating or minimising its impact.
The project will be led by the University’s School of Technology and will include partners from the UK, Czech Republic and Denmark, being funded under the European Commission’s FP7 Marie Curie Industry Academia Partnerships and Pathways initiative.
Professor Chike Oduoza, head of the Process and Manufacturing Engineering Group which is leading the research, said: “The project will provide an affordable, flexible software based tool for small to medium businesses to assist them in managing operational risks facing their businesses.”
The project will involve knowledge transfer and the exchange of researchers for up to two months across partner institutions and companies. The research will be shared via seminars, workshops, a website and international conferences. PhD students will also be trained during the course of the project.
