Frustration at the quality of the apprentices returning from ‘off-the-job training’ was the driving force behind Chirton Engineering’s ambitious plans to create the North East Advanced Manufacturing Academy (NEAMA), which aims to ensure that the apprentices will acquire the skills required by today’s engineering companies.
The brainchild of Paul Stewart, managing director of Chirton Engineering in North Shields, NEAMA will officially open its doors in September, when it will take its first group of apprentices from around the region.
“As a rapidly growing business supporting customers from around the world in the oil and gas, automotive and other sectors, we have a need for high-quality engineers. When Chirton Engineering started in 2003, it was just four men in a shed; the company now employs 65 people, but we could not have achieved that level of growth without investing in apprentices.”
However, Mr Stewart recently became very frustrated with the level of skills shown by his apprentices when they returned from their 18 weeks of basic training.
Most noticeable was their lack of skills in the operation and programming of CNC machines; rather than do nothing about it, he began planning to deliver the skills he needed — and to help other businesses in the North East.
“My aim was that apprentices would have the necessary skills after 18 weeks of off-the-job training to come back to a business like ours and be capable — to a certain level — of setting, operating and programming our CNC machines.
“The lack of the right equipment at external training centres meant that these skills were sadly lacking, so we had to spend considerable time to get the apprentices to the level we wanted.”
Industry partners
Working alongside North Tyneside Council, Tyne Metropolitan College, Tyne North Training and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, Mr Stewart has pushed through the development of NEAMA.
So far, the project has cost about £2 million, with money coming from the Employer Ownership Fund as well as significant benefit-in-kind support from industry partners.
Key to the success of NEAMA is its ability to deliver high levels of CNC skills in addition to traditional engineering apprentice training.
It was here that existing suppliers to Chirton Engineering stepped in to offer their support. “External training providers simply cannot fund the level of investment needed to provide the machine tools that reflect our day-to-day operations — and those of other businesses, so we were extremely happy when WNT (UK), XYZ Machine Tools and Siemens all offered significant help in various ways to make sure that NEAMA will be a success from day one.”
The workshop at NEAMA will have a total of 28 machines from XYZ Machine Tools, each supplied complete with a tooling package from WNT (UK) Ltd (
www.wnt.de/en-en).
To give the apprentices a good opportunity to progress, these machines will be a mix of ProtoTrak-controlled mills and lathes, and CNC machining centres and turning centres with the Siemens 828D control system. In addition, Siemens will be providing a number of control units that can be used for training; these will be sited in a separate classroom within the facility.
Preferential rates
NEAMA will also be eligible for WNT’s preferential discount structure for educational establishments, which sees a 50% reduction on any item in its catalogue. Apprentices and staff can also call on the technical advice of WNT’s local technical sales engineer in order to maximise the potential of the machines and tooling.
Tony Pennington, managing director of WNT (UK), says: “We have been a strong advocate of apprentice training and encouraging school-age students to consider engineering as a career, so we were more than happy to become involved with NEAMA. We will provide support wherever we can to ensure that apprentices get the full benefit of our detailed knowledge of cutting-tool application.”
These sentiments are echoed by Nigel Atherton, managing director of XYZ Machine Tools: “The education sector is important to XYZ, so the opportunity to support with machines what Mr Stewart is doing at NEAMA was too good an opportunity to miss. The machines have been supplied on a commercial basis, but with the significant rewards and incentives that are available when becoming an ‘XYZ Educational Partner’.
“In return, we will be able to make use of the facility for customer visits and training, further strengthening our position in the North East.”
The target for NEAMA is to train 50 apprentices from the North East each year.
Mr Stewart says: “The intention is that these apprentices will still get their 18 weeks of basic training, but with at least a further 70hr bolted on at the end, focusing on CNC machines. This will ensure that each apprentice is much better prepared to provide a return on the investment that has been made in them by their employer.
We are inviting other manufacturing businesses — both SMEs and larger employers — to become part of NEAMA. My vision is that by working in this way, NEAMA will provide a continuous flow of high-quality apprentices capable of operating in the modern manufacturing environment from the day they come back to the workplace. This is the only project of its type north of Sheffield, so it should be something that employers in the North East will become proud of.”
In addition to apprentices, NEAMA will provide facilities for local companies wanting to improve existing skills within their business. They will be able to send staff to NEAMA to undertake training that will be tailored to the individual’s needs and those of their employer. The academy will be run independently of Chirton Engineering; other like-minded business owners and managers are invited to become involved in this project.