Skills and training will be a key focus of the free conference programme at the Plastics Design and Moulding (PDM) exhibition this year. Taking place at the Telford International Centre on 16th and 17th June, the PDM Conference will explore whether employee training is a smart investment and evaluate the role of apprenticeships in the light of the industry skills shortage. The conference line-up also includes practical workshops for engineers looking to improve their moulding techniques and machine care.
Jointly presenting on the skills gap on the morning session of 16th June are Philip Law, director general of the British Plastics Federation which has recently established an industry education and skills committee, and John Holton, Director, Cogent. They will be followed by Richard Brown, Managing Director, G & A Moulding Technology who will share details of an employee training scheme which results in a polymer qualification (with Engineering Technician recognition from the IOM³).
The “On the Shop Floor” sessions take place in the morning of 17th June, with the following line-up:
- Process Innovations in Injection Moulding – Presenting Scientific Moulding Techniques (supported by RJG technology), led by Conor Cooke, sales manager, RJG Ireland UK
- Failure in Polymer Products – It Doesn’t Just Happen, led by Justin Taylor, principal consultant, iPolyTech, Telford (Part of the RAPRA Technical Support Network)
- Innovative Adhesive Bonding Solutions for Plastics, led by Antonio Pagliuca, advanced technical specialist, 3M Industrial Adhesives & Tapes
- The Importance of Hydraulic Oil Cleanliness to Moulding Machine Performance led by Bob Howard, global key account manager (Industrial), Millers Oils
PDM Conference speaker, Richard Brown, believes it is critical for employers to invest in training: “I believe there has been a significant decline within the polymer industry offering suitable Polymer Apprenticeship training for a sustained period, aligned with a lack of nationally-recognised qualifications. Some may say this coincided with a period of weakened manufacturing employment during the recent recession which gave a substantial decline in the industry skill levels, some being lost due to business closures, employers not recruiting and an ageing workforce reaching retirement.”
“It is clear that supply has fallen to a low level and the lack of apprenticeships that are critical to the sector gives rise to concern for the future with respect to meeting adequate replacement demand for qualified people. If we do not have a strong industry base, work will be lost to other competing nations who have maintained a focus on training for the future such as Germany, Netherlands and Ireland,” he warns.
Philip Watkins, managing director, Gabriel Chemie and chairman of the British Plastics Federation (BPF)’s education and skills committee, says: “I believe that the issue of skills and training has emerged as one of the most important challenges facing the plastics industry. We have a whole generation coming up who have been under-provided for in terms of training – and a recent BPF survey showed that nearly half of our members have difficulty recruiting technical staff as a result.”
For more details and to register to attend the free PDM Conference and On the Shop Floor sessions, visit: www.pdmevent.com
