Britain's got talent

britain-s-got-talent
britain-s-got-talent

Composites Skills Alliance's composites business manager, Tom Preece tells Mike Richardson why employees within the UK's composites industry must continue to train to gain more work.

The Composites Skills Alliance’s composites business manager, Tom Preece tells Mike Richardson why employees within the UK’s composites industry must continue to train if they want to gain more work.
The term ‘black art’ is a well-worn phrase; figuratively speaking, it’s a process that is mysterious or difficult to master. Perhaps rather unfairly, it’s one that is often attributed to the carbon fibre composite production process. But beyond its obvious black appearance and the connotations it creates, what lies beneath the impenetrable surface of this composite material requires huge investments of time, knowledge and effort and perhaps most importantly, the skills to produce it. As with any production process, these skills need to be consolidated, matured and kept up to speed with ever-evolving training programmes that keep pace with the march of manufacturing technology. Then there are the commercial implications: in an industry increasingly played out against a backdrop of fierce overseas competition, cost reduction activities are rife and can often lead to swingeing cuts in training budgets. But let’s step back one pace: how does the UK’s composites industry proactively set about maintaining its manufacturing skills base? What’s galvanising its protagonists to evolve a coherent approach to composites training? In the beginning The initial catalyst to establish some kind of composites skills programme occurred when the Government published its UK Composites Strategy paper in 2009. This recognised that the UK was lacking in the areas of composites academia, R&D, skills and a coherent workforce which led to the creation of the Composites Skills Alliance, a partnership of organisations led by the National Skills Academy for Process Industries and Semta. Two of the key aspects recommended by Government have now come to fruition: firstly, the formation of the National Composites Centre (NCC), and secondly the implementation of a skills initiative, as it was clear there was a shortage of both people and skills within the UK’s composites workforce. These issues were addressed via an Emerging Technologies initiative supported by Lord Mandelson. “Biotechnology and composites were seen as two emerging technologies in which UK plc could be doing much better,” begins the Alliance’s composites business manager, Tom Preece. “The National Skills Academy Process Industries was successful in bidding for and acquiring grant funding to assist in this skills development. From the beginning, the aim of the Alliance was to create one point of contact for employers in the composites sector, and that the initial alliance would be between the National Skills Academy Process Industries and Semta.” In terms of the levels of support the Alliance has received from Government and industry in reaching its targets, it’s clear all parties acknowledge that composites skills need to improve and grow its workforce. “Advanced manufacturing is very much on the agenda for the UK coalition government and at a recent NCC event, Semta, Atkins and the Technology Strategy Board all made keynote speeches containing the importance in recognising composites technology and skills. What happens within composites and other advanced manufacturing areas is that technology tends to be a slightly ahead of the skills agenda and when it advances to such a level, skills have to quickly catch up - otherwise the situation arises where the UK possesses state-of-the-art composite production machinery, but the skills needed to operate this equipment are not fully developed. “Technology and skills need to happen in parallel and can’t be isolated. Obviously technology will always be ahead of the game, but the gap between skills and technology needs to be reduced. We need to be proactive instead of reactive within the composites skills area.” A holy trinity Preece says the NCC, the Composites UK trade association and the Alliance have formed the Composites Hub, which acts as the point of focus for the UK’s composites sector. “Hopefully, the Hub can cover all the bases where technology is ensconced within the NCC; the Alliance manages the skills requirements from cradle to grave and Composites UK supports the interests of both its OEM/prime and supply chain members. This has resulted in a constant dialogue between the three organisations in order to be able to service the composites part of the advanced manufacturing agenda.” To ensure it promotes the adoption of consistent standards of training delivery by its providers and that industry training priorities and course needs are effectively communicated, the Alliance is advised by an Employer Steering Group. “The Employer Steering Group meets quarterly and represents the voice of employers within the composites sector. The group has helped guide us through the first year of what their agenda and demand signals entail and this has significantly changed the Alliance’s direction. “The clearest message we’ve received from the industry is that it wants quality-assured composites courses delivered by accredited providers. This resulted in the creation of a network of accredited suppliers and delivering standardised courses.” The Alliance initially worked with five founder training providers: Yeovil College, Oxford & Cherwell Valley College, Burnley College, City College Southampton and Belfast Metropolitan College. This number has now doubled to ten. “Our initial idea was that we would review the development of course content from the five founder providers capable of delivering good quality courses. What transpired was that the steering group advised us to step back and create an ‘awareness of composites’ course that would fulfil the needs of the composite starter, such as school leavers and non-practitioners working in procurement and finance departments. The perception was that some employees working within UK composite manufacturing companies didn’t fully understand composites production technology. Making the awareness course our starting point provides a solid platform to develop our courses.” To overcome the barriers to training engagement, Preece says the Alliance has highlighted the extent of the UK’s fragmented approach of composite skills delivery. While there were pockets of excellence centred on the business activities of OEMs based in the South West and the North West, what was really lacking was good practice nationwide. “The Alliance has standardised its courses to meet employers’ needs by ensuring they are created and delivered by accredited providers. We obtain the unique speciality of these providers, create best practice and then relate the practical technician courses to Semta’s National Occupational Standards (NOS). The Alliance’s courses are only delivered via our accredited providers throughout the UK. “The quality and availability of composites-specific training is inextricably linked to the future of composites production techniques. Statistics show the UK is looking to double its composites workforce by 2015, but in order to achieve this target, composites training provision will need to quadruple to meet demand.” Preece concludes by saying that although the UK is at the forefront of composites manufacturing technology, it can’t allow any opportunities it already has to disappear overseas. “We must ensure there is a cohort of people within the UK that are trained in every composite discipline, so that major companies can come to the UK and immediately start manufacturing,” he ends. “At the present, there’s a critical mass of skilled composites people within the UK, but it’s a mass that needs to grow organically. The Alliance’s job is to increase the size of the workforce, so that when there is an increase in demand, it can be effectively met by UK-based companies.” www.composites-skills-alliance.com

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