Peacocks Medical Group Limited and academics from the Business School of the University of Newcastle have teamed up for a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project.

Peacocks Medical Group Limited operate across three separate medical business sectors; the provision of orthotic services (devices to replace part of a limb and support the remaining limb structure), the manufacturing of bespoke and stock orthotic products and the resale of other general medical products through the company's catalogue mail order service. The Group's headquarters and manufacturing operations are in Newcastle, with a branch sales office in Southampton. In addition, the company has a retail unit based in Newcastle which supplies both off-the-shelve and bespoke products to patients in the North East.

The two-year KTP project commencing this September will support the extension of the knowledge base for the application of ICT in reengineering key business processes and improve an organisation's efficiency and competitiveness. It will put in place the supporting IT and e-business systems in order to improve customer services and reduce costs and lead-times.

The Business School has extensive expertise in e-business and knowledge management and in using information systems to support business operations and organisational transformation.

The project also fits well University of Newcastle's policy of strengthening its relationship with local industry. The business development managers funded through HEIF, Knowledge House and the KTP Unit work closely together on knowledge transfer activities.