Digital Manufacturing System & ERP Implementation Internship in Ilford

Thomas Lyte is a Royal Warrant holder as Goldsmiths and Silversmiths to His Majesty King Charles III.

A contemporary luxury brand disrupting a traditional industry, we have quickly established a reputation as world‑class designers and makers of exquisite bespoke silverware.

We are responsible for designing, making and restoring some of the sports most iconic trophies including the Emirates FA Cup, the Rugby World Cup, the ATP Finals Trophies, FIFAe World Cup, and the ICC’s Men's and Women’s Cricket World Cups.

At Thomas Lyte, we combine the latest technologies with centuries of knowledge and are renowned for our stunning designs, superb craftsmanship, and incomparable service.

Our team of master craftspeople are bespoke silver and gold specialists and among the most talented artisans and metalworkers in the world.

The priceless pieces they create are packaged and presented immaculately at our London workshops, before being promptly delivered to our clients based all over the world.

The Role

As the business grows, Thomas Lyte is moving towards a more structured digital operating model, including the introduction of an ERP/MRP system covering stock control and warehouse management.

This is an opportunity to work inside a real luxury manufacturing business at an important point in its growth journey.

You will work closely with the leadership team, design/studio, workshop and office staff to understand how work currently flows through the business – from enquiry and quotation through to design, making, hallmarking, finishing, quality assurance, despatch and invoicing.

The role would suit a master's student or final‑year undergraduate with an interest in business analysis, operations, ERP/MRP systems, stock control, traceability, process improvement and digital transformation in manufacturing.

To protect continuity beyond the 12 weeks, you will work alongside a named internal project owner who retains the vendor relationship and system knowledge after the internship ends.

For a motivated and skilled candidate, there is the potential to continue working in the department once the 12 week internship ends.

Key Responsibilities

• Acting as the day‑to‑day point of contact with the system supplier, coordinating meetings, requirements, questions, data hand‑offs and implementation milestones alongside the internal project owner.
• Working closely with the leadership team to understand priorities, agree scope, and report progress, risks and decisions.
• Mapping current workflows across sales/enquiry, design, purchasing, workshop production, finishing, quality assurance and despatch.
• Shadowing and speaking with staff across the business to understand how work is currently planned, communicated and delivered.
• Documenting the journey from customer enquiry, quotation and design through to production planning, making, hallmarking, finishing, QA, despatch and invoicing.
• Identifying key handover points, dependencies, bottlenecks, duplicated work and manual or spreadsheet‑based processes.
• Capturing and structuring the master data the system requires – customers, suppliers, materials (including precious metals and hallmarking data), products, bills of materials, works‑order routes and operations, stock locations, lead times and cost/estimating data.
• Supporting data cleansing and preparation for migration from existing systems and spreadsheets.
• Defining stock control, warehouse and traceability requirements – including batch/serial traceability and provenance appropriate to a precious‑metal, Royal Warrant environment.
• Creating clear “as‑is” workflow maps and supporting “to‑be” workflows showing how processes will work.
• Helping identify practical efficiencies, quick wins and areas where the ERP will reduce admin, improve stock accuracy or improve visibility.
• Supporting the creation and upkeep of an ERP implementation plan priorities, owners, dependencies, risks and next steps, aligned to the vendor’s stages.
• Working alongside the systems implementation team during setup, data transfer, configuration checks, testing and first‑user training.
• Helping define basic reporting and performance requirements, such as job status, work‑in‑progress, capacity, lead times, stock levels and cost‑to‑estimate comparison.
• Producing clear documentation, SOPs and handover materials so the business and the internal project owner can continue confidently after go‑live.
• Postgraduate or graduate student in Business Analysis, Information Systems, Operations Management, Supply Chain, Project Management, Business Systems, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Management or a similar subject.
• Strong interest in digital transformation, ERP/MRP systems and business process improvement.
• Confident communicator, comfortable working directly with a leadership team and an external software supplier, and able to translate discussions into clear documentation.
• Strong analytical and organisational skills, with the ability to map processes clearly and identify inefficiencies.
• Good written communication skills, with the ability to create structured reports, process maps, master‑data templates and handover documents.
• Good spreadsheet skills and confidence working with, cleansing and structuring business data.
• Comfortable working in a small business and a real manufacturing/workshop environment.
• Able to use initiative, coordinate a project, ask good questions and work independently with guidance.

Preferred Skills

• Experience or knowledge of process‑mapping tools such as Miro, Lucidchart, Visio, Draw. io or similar.
• Interest in or exposure to ERP/MRP systems, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Odoo or similar, particularly stock control, bills of materials, works orders and MRP.
• Understanding of stock control, inventory accuracy, bills of materials, and batch/serial traceability.
• Understanding of Lean, continuous improvement or business process improvement principles.
• Basic understanding of production planning, scheduling, purchasing or supply‑chain processes.
• Some experience of coordinating with external suppliers, vendors or stakeholders.
• Interest in luxury goods, craftsmanship, precious metals, silversmithing/goldsmithing, leather or high‑value bespoke manufacturing.
• Experience preparing reports, presentations or project documentation.
• Curiosity about how digital systems support growth, stock accuracy, traceability and better decision‑making.

What You Will Gain

• Hands‑on experience running the business side of a real ERP/MRP implementation, from readiness through to go‑live.
• Direct working relationships with a company leadership team and an external software supplier.
• Practical business‑analysis and project‑co‑ordination experience within a growing luxury manufacturing SME.
• Exposure to design, workshop production, stock control, purchasing and despatch in a bespoke manufacturing environment.
• Experience creating workflow maps, master‑data structures, business requirements and implementation documents.
• A strong, portfolio‑ready project linked to manufacturing, digital adoption and operational improvement.
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