The National Physical Laboratory has officially been named a Recognised Training Provider by sector skills council Semta and will now expand its manage of metrology programmes for manufacturing companies.
The recognition from Semta follows significant return on investment from manufacturing companies which have invested in NPL’s metrology training.
Companies such as Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Jaguar Land Rover have all attested to the benefits their staff and operations received thanks to NPL’s measurement training schemes.
NPL now has an agreement with Semta to expand these schemes to meet the changing needs of industry and the specific needs of individual manufacturing and engineering businesses both large and small.
Looking forward, Semta and NPL will work together to develop programmes which fill shifting skills gaps.
Suzanne Wells, operations manager for NPL Training, said: “The needs of industry evolve with both technological advancement and changing market demand. To ensure our training delivers the most impact to industry, we need to be close to our eventual customers, understand their changing needs and build our programmes to meet those needs exactly.”
Bill Sutton, networks manager at Semta, added: “We have recognised NPL as a top provider as they have demonstrated a service provision that brings proven quality and value to industry in terms of reduced costs, reduced waste, and shorter production times.”
NPL currently runs training courses in Dimensional and Large Volume Metrology and can cover a range of other areas such as temperature, electrical, uncertainty and laser safety.
The courses are aimed at reintroducing a questioning approach to measurement and applying good practice rather than relying on technology alone. They are designed with a view to reducing errors, solving complex problems, developing new products and services and functioning more efficiently.
NPL training qualifications in metrology are nationally recognised by EAL, the specialist, employer-recognised awarding organisation for the engineering, manufacturing, building services and related sectors . NPL training won the 2012 MTA Manufacturing Industry Award for Best Training Scheme.
