Winners 2023

Manufacturing 2023

TOMLINSON WAS PROMOTED a year ago to her current role, in which she is responsible for applying her Toyota Production System expertise to 200 different assembly processes, as well as overseeing parts flow for those processes. She won her promotion after impressing as a group leader in assembly, where she was project lead for European production kaizen (continuous improvement) meetings at Toyota. Indeed, Tomlinson has become “renowned” for her kaizen and problem solving capability at the company, according to her nomination. She also helped with design support in the introduction of new equipment, including a new engine line. Outside her main role, she has impressed as the driving force within the Toyota assembly diversity and inclusion working group and is chairperson of Kaleidoscope, an LGBTQ+ employee group.

Manufacturing 2023 nominees

Rhoda Adesanya, Tooling engineer, Ford UK

ADESANYA JOINED FORD on a four- year Level 3 apprenticeship, preparing her for a role as a mechatronics maintenance technician. On completion, she went from being an apprentice to managing a £1 million tooling budget in just two years. In that role, she is a tooling engineer for a high-volume engine component manufacturing line in the Dagenham plant, overseeing a team. Adesanya started in fashion after failing to get educational support to further her interest in engineering, but she persisted. “Starting all over again was a difficult choice but one that I’m glad I made,” she said in her nomination.

Claire Brady, Senior manufacturing engineer, Lotus Cars

BRADY ARRIVED AT Lotus in 2020 after a career with the Royal Air Force and she currently works within the Lotus Advanced Structures department, where she was responsible for the introduction and the implementation of the Emira sports car chassis production. One of her tasks was to introduce instructions that adhere to the strategy of RFT (right first time), helping to bake in quality from the outset within her area of expertise.

Eve Davison, Maintenance supervisor, battery assembly, Nissan

DAVISON STARTED HER career at Nissan Manufacturing UK as a graduate engineer with a chemical engineering degree in 2017 but she has quickly been gaining experience in a variety of manufacturing areas after impressing her managers. After a move from process engineering, including overseeing the introduction of a new bumper sub-assembly line, she moved to maintenance supervision and now oversees the maintenance department for the new battery assembly facility, a key role as NMUK evolves to electrification. “Throughout her career, Eve has been constantly breaking new ground,” her nomination said.

Felicity Harris, Business steering coordinator, BMW Hams Hall

HARRIS STARTED HER automotive career as an apprentice with Jaguar Land Rover before joining the BMW Hams Hall engine plant on the manufacturing team. After moving to become a quality specialist within the machining department, she was promoted to her current role last year. Here, she has to work closely with all manufacturing teams at various management levels globally. She impressed her seniors most recently with her work on an IT project to find a common method of reporting for raw casting issues. Harris’s solution “will now be the reference model for regular reporting”, according to her nomination.

Rosanna Zagaria, Facilities project engineer, Stellantis

IN HER NOMINATION, Zagaria recounts a recent win in her role at the Vauxhall van plant in Luton that will resonate with cost-conscious Stellantis management. Faced with quotes from suppliers for a project that were well out of budget, she sought other suppliers and looked at ways to cut project costs. Success followed. “I obtained the quotation and thanks to the team working with experts in the field I got the most efficient solution at the best cost,” she wrote. Zagaria also manages the application for government grants for upcoming energy projects, with an initial success and potentially more to come.