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Two college tutors have given the Midlands motor industry a major lift after becoming the first to boost their skills with an intensive workplace-training qualification.
Oliver Kolontari and Alfred Eves from Dudley College of Technology gained their National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) in Business Improvement Techniques (B-IT) at Level 2 after completing a new Skills4Auto training programme.
This will now enable them to train employees in best practice so that those employees can develop workplace processes, including reducing waste and improving quality, which are key to automotive industry competitiveness.
Skills4Auto, which promotes skills growth within the industry, designed the programme to ‘upskill’ trainers and assessors on the successful B-IT NVQ course by identifying skill deficit areas and arranging automotive company placements where the Tutors can practically apply B-IT tools and techniques.
Dudley College, which worked with Skills4Auto in creating the NVQ course, put Oliver and Alfred through a five-stage learning programme to gain the skills and knowledge needed to train automotive manufacturers and their suppliers in a standard methodology for improving the Industry’s competitiveness.
Oliver Kolontari, a lecturer in maintenance engineering in the Dudley College’s engineering department gained the qualification after completing a two-week placement at Land Rover where he worked as part of the end of line water testing team, evaluating the vehicles performance and highlighting any rectification work necessary.
“I logged the performance of the vehicles and suggested the small technical changes that could make a difference. I also checked on waste and inefficiency and suggested improvements. It was not a matter of applying anything new, but rather on encouraging people to focus on a series of improvement techniques bundled up in one package - and so far very few people can deliver it,” said Oliver.
“Land Rover was very open with its data. I started on the shop floor and was allowed access to the company’s information systems - and I even looked at the top end of the company including their business planning.
“What was so great about the placement was that the experience helped me to make the company’s business more efficient whilst gaining a qualification and developing case studies for my students. Ultimately this programme will help bridge the skills gap and make UK industry more competitive.”
As a work-based assessor in the engineering department and a recent recipient of the NVQ BIT Level 2, Alfred Eves was delighted to be nominated to join the Skills4Auto programme.
Alfred already had 40 years’ large-scale industry experience, having risen from apprentice to senior foreman with MG Rover before joining Redditch-based aerospace supplier HDA Forgings where he became the Chief Engineer.
He also completed a placement at Land Rover, in his case on the Range Rover finishing line where he was able to monitor working practises and make suggestions for improvements.
“The well-structured training and carefully chosen work placement offered the best possible applied techniques for me to be assessed for the BIT Level 2 qualification. I would recommend the programme to all other tutors on the course,” said Alfred.
“Everyone at Land Rover was involved in operating BIT techniques in their everyday tasks and their enthusiasm and co-operation made my placement an enjoyable and satisfying experience,” he added.
Alfred said he originally took the NVQ BIT course because he could see from his experiences of visiting companies as an assessor, that there was a need for the techniques to be implemented in smaller factories for them to remain competitive.
“A lifetime of experience in automotive and aerospace engineering has given me a broad base to identify areas where BIT would benefit companies and advise on the training opportunities available, as well as be able to work with them as an assessor.”
Both Oliver and Alfred are now continuing their ‘upskilling’ with Skills4Auto to gain the Level 3 NVQ in Business Improvement Techniques.
Bryan McGinity, Managing Director of Skills4Auto, said: “We are delighted that Oliver and Alfred have found the programme so useful. We would like to see as many tutors as possible come forward to teach these key units of the BIT programme in order to keep up with demand for improved workplace techniques within the automotive industry.”
Notes to Editors:
(1) The Skills4Auto Trainer-Assessor programme is funded jointly by the Birmingham and Solihull Learning & Skills Council and Advantage West Midlands and it was developed by SMMT Industry Forum.
(2) The Business Improvement Techniques (BIT) material was initially produced through collaboration between the five Midlands colleges: Dudley College of Technology, Sutton Coldfield, City College Coventry, City College Birmingham and Warwickshire College and one training provider, MGTS in answer to the vehicle requirements needs.
(3) Making up the West Midlands Further Education (FE) Network, the organisations have a long history of supporting vehicle manufacturers and their associated supply chain throughout the West Midlands. All are active organisations in the delivery of training aimed at lean manufacturing and its associated quality assurance processes.
(4) The member organisations of the West Midlands FE Network were individually allocated up to five units from the BIT NVQ and were tasked with the development of training and assessment materials, along with additional support material and PowerPoint presentations. This material was then freely shared within the network and delivered through a pilot programme to employees of vehicle manufacturers and tier 1 suppliers.
(5) Following delivery into the manufacturing environment, a process of evaluation and refinement took place culminating in each unit going through peer review and finally being signed off as Best Practise material aligned with the vehicle manufacturers needs and available for delivery to a much wider audience.
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