PDT and IMT working together for success in Unilever
Unilever Purfleet's intensive upskilling programme is well underway with groups of technicians receiving two days of electrical training every other week. Groups one, two and six have started their training with Richard Palmer from lndustrial Maintenance Training Limited with other groups due to begin their sessions during July and August.
"The technicians have been grouped according to the level of upskilling they each need with up to eight days of electrical training being scheduled for each person as required," explained Training Co-Ordinator Gina Cook.
"We have worked closely with unit managers to schedule in the training. July and August are difficult months because of holidays but unit managers have worked hard to overcome these issues and provide cover." She added: "There was a bit of apprehension when the technicians first started the training but they soon realised that it is a useful way of refreshing their skills and bringing themselves up to date with technology that is moving on so quickly."
The electrical element of the Technicians' upskilling programme is expected to run until the end of the year. They will then be regrouped and move on to the mechanical side with another eight days of training per person made available. The upskilling will enabie them to work towards an NVQ3 in Engineering Systems which has both electrical and mechanical modules.
Technical operators are due to start training in October, following the same electrical training programme as technicians but not at such an indepth level.
Picture: Steven Gildersleve (right) from Professional Development and Traning with Unilever technicians Michael Seymour, Michael Nicholls and Greg Payne
