Industry-led initiative aims to meet skills crisis head on

A leading independent machine tool supplier is tackling the skills gap head on after making a £6 million commitment to developing a network of Technical Academies. Dave Tudor reports.

Martin Doyle, managing Director of the Engineering Technology Group (ETG), made the announcement at the launch of its first facility at Norton Motorcycles in Castle Donington recently and laid out the vision to create a further 14 centres across the UK.

The Academies, which will all be located on the site of a strategic manufacturing partner, will provide companies with the opportunity to upskill their staff on the latest CNC machine tools and precision technology, with some providing a full apprenticeship curriculum.

ETG managing director, Martin Doyle (left) with Norton CEO Stuart Garner

They have been developed in collaboration with 14 like-minded technical partners with all of the training set to be provided by Ofsted ‘outstanding’ In-Comm Training. Each centre will also provide demonstration/showroom facilities and reflect the manufacturing expertise required by the region they are based in, ensuring firms get access to skills that will help them grow and individuals receive training that will help secure them employment.

“There is a real need for industry to get to grips with developing the skills of the next generation of engineers and those already working in the sector,” Mr Doyle explained. “Put bluntly, the current education platform is broken and not relevant to the world we operate in. Instead of bemoaning our luck and lack of support, we’ve decided to do something about it with the launch of our national network.

“ETG is investing £6 million in 15 Technical Academies and these will be fitted out with world leading CNC machine tools and precision technology. This will be further reinforced by equipment and software from technical partners keen to help bridge the gap, creating what will – in essence – be advanced manufacturing cells capable of training young people, existing workers and supporting SMEs with production issues.”

First out of the blocks

The 250m² Technical Academy at Norton Motorcycles is the first to be officially launched and will feature a range of Bridgeport Hardinge, Quaser, Chiron and Nakamura CNC machines.

Delegates heard how it will be open to companies looking to train their staff in advanced manufacturing, ETG customers and technical partners looking to demonstrate their technology on live projects. The centre will also act as a new prototyping cell for Norton where it can quickly trial the manufacture of new parts for its range of British-built bikes that are highly sought-after by enthusiasts across the world.

Stuart Garner, CEO of Norton Motorcycles, added his support: “We are very proud of our British heritage and the reputation UK manufacturing carries across the world. However, in order for us to remain competitive we have to take it into our own hands and do something about bridging the skills gap.

“Working in partnership with ETG, we are delighted to launch the first Technical Academy at our facility in Leicestershire and look forward to using it to improve the skills of our workforce and to support the wider supply chain in embracing advanced manufacturing.”

Britain’s finest

Norton’s rich history dates back to 1898, when it started life supplying fittings and parts for the two-wheel trade. The modern day success story started in 2008 when it was bought by Stuart Garner from a US owner who, despite investing $12 million in the business, was unable to make it work.

In a whirlwind transaction, Mr Garner was approached by the former owner with a view to buying the company. He did and the rest is history; Mr Garner decided to bring manufacturing of the iconic motorcycle back to the UK. Since then almost 2,000 have been built and the brand has become renowned for world class design, quality of materials and its superb handling.

It now employs 130 people at its purpose-built facility on Donnington Park and is enjoying 50% year-on-year growth. Norton Motorcycles also founded the British Motorcycle Manufacturing Academy to train 16-19 year-olds for a career in motorcycle manufacturing.

“Nowadays we still look East – but it’s for customers rather than suppliers,” Mr Garner enthuses. “We’ll be making an announcement soon that we’ve just sold the IP for our latest engine technology – a 650cc Euro 4 compliant model – to one of China’s biggest engine manufacturers. That’ll be worth millions of pounds to the business which of course will help fund reinvestment.

“Over time, we’ll be looking to develop more partnerships like this in the Far East,” he continues. “We have the capacity here now, with ETG’s new Technical Academy to engineer, design and prototype world class products, not to mention the excellent training capability it’ll provide for us. Most importantly however, through our facilities here, ETG’s Technical Academy and the host of supporting partners, we’re all helping to train the next generation of engineers.”

Good listeners

All successful businesses listen to their customers and for ETG, the original idea for Technical Academies came from exactly that: “Nearly all our clients suffer from the lack of skilled people in the marketplace so we decided to try and do something about it,” Martin Doyle recalls. “The important thing for us however was that any initiative needed to be industry-led rather than instigated by the Government, who to be honest, quite frankly, don’t seem to live in the real world.

Donington Hall. Norton Motorcycles’ head office and ETG’s technical academy are located in the grounds

“The benefits are twofold,” he adds. “Firstly, our customers and partners can use the Technical Academies for process development and training on the most up to date equipment available; and secondly, ETG gains a platform for showcasing the latest technology from our principals. Product sales will, in turn, will help fund the project.”

Mr Doyle is full of praise for ETG’s training provider of choice – Walsall-based In-Comm: “We looked long and hard for a partner that shared our passion for high quality training and In-Comm ticked all the right boxes,” he reveals. “They have around 400 apprentices on their books and what’s really important is that they tailor training to specifically meet the needs of industry.

“The icing on the cake is the fact that they’re Ofsted ‘outstanding’ rated; we were so impressed that we’ll be using them to deliver training to our own customers. We’ll be effectively ‘training the trainer’!”

On a roll

ETG has agreements in place to shortly launch another six academies in Birmingham, Bridgnorth, Shrewsbury, Warwickshire, Tayside in Scotland and in Ireland. Negotiations are currently underway with partners in Lincolnshire, Northern Ireland, the North East, the South East, the South West and in the Thames Valley.

Each site will feature ETG-supplied machines and technical partner equipment from the companies such as Blum, Bott, Cimco, Filtermist, Formation, Guhring, Halter, Houghton, Hyfore, LNS, Mastercam, Nikken and WNT.

In addition to training, each academy will stage open days, product launches and best practice seminars focused on the aerospace, automotive, medical and oil and gas sectors.

Engineering Technology Group www.engtechgroup.com

Norton Motorcycles www.nortonmotorcycles.com

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