John and Sarah Matthews from MCP will be joined by Tony Denning from Lucozade Ribena Suntory. Lucozade and MCP have worked closely for more than 15 years. Tony will discuss some of the training and assessment work that has been completed in Coleford and the benefits to his business.

Why should we multi-skill technicians?

When I completed my apprenticeship at British Rail Engineering in the 80s there were Fitters, Electricians, Instrument Techs, Pipe Fitters, Plumbers, Carpenters, Machinists, Welders, Painters, Blacksmiths, and Millwrights - a huge depth of skill.

With the massive shortage of maintenance technicians and technical operators in British industry, we now want a multi-skilled technician to be able to address 90% of the work that he/she encounters. Here, we are talking about a breadth of skill.

How do we know which areas to train our technicians in?

We carry out a Maintenance Development Centre (MDC) or Training Needs Analysis. An MDC gives you evidence of competence of your workforce and/or focused areas for improvement.

Why should your operators leave their brains at the gate?

If your operators are trained and competent then they can carry out maintenance tasks like Cleaning, Inspection, Lubrication and Tightening, leading to changing some components on a like for like basis. These are high frequency, low risk maintenance tasks. This frees up the technicians to carry out higher level maintenance tasks and continuous improvement work.

How can you find out more about closing your maintenance skills gaps?

Join us on 6 June.