Funded by the Automotive Industrial Partnership and launched earlier this year, the Advanced Problem Solving training programme is bringing industry and government together to ensure that the UK’s automotive sector has the “pipeline of skills talent” it needs now and for the future. It is led by Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd
on behalf of the wider industry.

Andrew Parsons, section manager (technical skills development) at Toyota Manufacturing (UK) Ltd, said: “The programme began as a Toyota initiative; it was then expanded to include our local supply chain and is now being rolled out across the UK. One of the key priorities of the Automotive Industrial Partnership is to help supply chain employers gain access to industry-standard technical, leadership and management programmes to ‘up-skill’ their existing workforce and develop new recruits.”

So far, 111 people have completed the Advanced Problem Solving training, with 21 of the 23 companies taking part being SMEs from the supply chain. To date, they have delivered almost £4 million in quality-related cost savings for their businesses.

Training is delivered by specialist provider Capella Associates, and two levels of Advanced Problem Solving are available — ‘Green Belt’ and ‘Black Belt’. It is a mixture of classroom-based training, on-site training, presentations and reviews, completed over a 10-month period.

Ian Harpham, manufacturing director of electronics manufacturer Pektron, which supplies the automotive industry, said three employees on the Green Belt course had been able to achieve substantial savings.

“We were able to solve a long-running testing problem on one of our components, saving us thousands of pounds, so the training has more than paid for itself. Everybody had an opinion on this one particular testing problem — and everyone was wrong. We would not have got to the point of resolution without the training; it removed the blinkers from our thinking.” The employers driving the Automotive Industrial Partnership include Bentley, BMW, Ford, GKN, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan, Toyota and Vauxhall. Further details can be found at the Web site (www.automotiveip.co.uk).