A new social media driven manufacturing apprenticeship competition launched by AMI, is gaining momentum as it highlights top talents in industry.
The purpose of the competition is to reward current apprentices who are excelling in their role, and promote apprenticeship programmes to companies in the UK manufacturing sector.
Aspect Media International (AMI) – a digital marketing company who support UK manufacturers – has devised the structure to highlight one outstanding apprentice every month, with an overall winner for the year.
William Hunt, sales manager at AMI and one of the people behind the competition said to The Manufacturer: “This competition gives a push to employers and production managers in manufacturing to recognise their own apprentices that have stepped up to the mark and are doing well in their role.”
Hunt explained: “The quality of the apprentices is very good. The apprentices who have won, are the ones who have taken on more roles than were expected and have gone above and beyond.”
There is a large skills gap in UK manufacturing, and one of the biggest problems British manufacturers face is recruiting skilled staff. Hunt said that at AMI they believe that often companies spend three years or more training apprentices only for them to move on soon after the completion of their training.
Apprentices are nominated by line managers, and this acknowledgment of their contribution gives apprentices the recognition they deserve.
Last month’s winner, Alex Malam an apprentice at Salop Design & Engineering, said: ‘I am happy to have won this award and would like to thank my peers at Salop Design for their mentoring over the years.”
Hunt said that it is essential to have more apprenticeship training in manufacturing, he said: “Companies like the idea of people working for them at age 16 or 17 and learning their specific business well, rather than potentially learning the whole process in industry at university, and then from there, having to understand a specific business when they go into employment.”
He continued: “Manufacturers offer very similar services on the surface, but they all have very particular ways of working. I think it is very important for companies to train people not only in the processes, but how the companies work themselves – that is what our data shows.
“The main thing and the reason as to why the competition was launched, was to combat the lack of skilled staff that need to get used to a business.”
