Manufacturing losing out at the skills ‘Olympics’

Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 02 Nov 2005 9:49

At a time when manufacturing is crying out for skills, the sector is lagging behind British cooks, hairdressers, car mechanics and bricklayers.

Graeme Hall, chief executive of UK Skills – the government-backed organisation that organises Britain’s entry to the WorldSkills Competition – says the UK Team that competed at the last competition in Helsinki was 18 strong but only three were engineers. The contest is the biggest skills competition in the world and often described as an ‘Olympics’ for skills. Taking place every two years, with competitors from almost 40 member countries, young people from nearly 40 skill areas compete over four days to become the best within their chosen skills ranging from graphic design, cooking and hairdressing to CAD, bricklaying and auto-body repair. “It is our performance in the engineering competitions which gives us the greatest concern,” said Hall. “In 2005 our three competitors were a welder and a team of two in the mechatronics competition. We had no competitors in the Polymechanics/Automation, Manufacturing Team Challenge, CADD, CNC Milling and Turning.

What has gone wrong with UK engineering? Is there a major supply problem or are we simply not interested in showing that we can compete with the best?”

He argues that Britain does have the talent and skills but employers are reluctant to enter their staff to take part. “Perhaps the case for skills competitions has not been made strongly enough,” he says. Participating in skills competitions drives up standards for the individual and for colleagues around them, argues Hall, adding that preparation focuses the mind while participation develops precision, time management and the ability to work under pressure. “One common theme we notice in all our competitors is the challenge to do better - surely this sort of trait should be encouraged?” he says. “Employers will also reap the rewards. Employees are more productive, less wasteful and much more conscious of getting the job done right first time and on time. Managing the preparation and training of the competitor provides supervisors and managers with an external driver and an opportunity to review training methods. Benchmarking the performance of your employees against local, regional, national and even international competition is a massive quality improvement tool. Employees return from competitions with new skills, new ways of approaching familiar tasks and greatly enhanced workplace value as members and initiators.”

Hall urges more employers to get involved to help sustain the future of manufacturing. For more information contact Ian Credland at UK Skills on 020 7543 7437 or visit www.ukskills.org.uk

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