Academy set to reverse toolmaking skills crisis
The UK 's first ever precision tooling academy has been launched thanks to a pioneering partnership between In-Comm Training and Brandauer.
Over £1m has been invested by the two strategic partners to create a commercial toolroom in the training provider 's facility in Aldridge, which will produce complex tooling, as well as acting as a professional training ground for the toolmakers and designers of the future.
The launch makes a vital move for the domestic industry, with the sector being held back by a severe lack of toolmakers and the very real possibility of losing these essential skills forever as older workers choose to retire.
The precision tooling academy aims to reverse this trend by offering companies access to professional toolmaking courses, upskilling opportunities for qualified engineers looking to diversify their skills and a Level 6 tool process design apprenticeship to develop the next generation of talent.
Up to 35 individuals in the first 12 months will be able to learn on live tooling projects that will be producing hundreds of thousands of parts every week and will give Brandauer and other tooling experts the opportunity to restore more manufacturing projects from Asia, the EU and the US.
The toolmaking programme features 12 different units, ranging from manufacturing process, costing and strip layout to understanding the bill of materials, using a wire EDM machine, part validation and problem solving to ensure the tools work when they are built.
Gareth Jones, managing director at In-Comm Training, commented: “We have always placed employers at the heart of our approach to skills and, through our close relationship with Brandauer, identified a real demand to create and upskill engineers into world-class toolmakers.
“Lots of conversations turned into a rough plan to create an advanced training academy that is embedded into a live commercial toolroom.
“This would serve two purposes; provide the best possible hands-on practical and theoretical training, whilst also giving the precision stamping specialist additional capacity to meet the growing global demand for more UK made tools. A win-win and we 've both backed it to the tune of £1m. ”
The precision tooling academy has also attracted the support of inventive engineering and design and hexagon, who will bring product development, jig and fixture design and VISI die making expertise to the fore.
Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer said: “This is a real industry collaboration featuring some of the best names in training, toolmaking and tool design.
“We are talking about one of the 'great ' manufacturing disciplines and we 're in a real pinch point now where a lot of the skills could be lost forever with people retiring.
“This academy will begin to address this issue, as well as giving us additional toolroom capacity to produce commercial tools that will help us grow.
For further information, please visit https://in-comm.co.uk/tooling-academy-launch/
Pictured from left to right: Marcus Gardner of Hexagon, Geraldine Bolton of CBM, Stuart Berry and Rowan Crozier of both Brandauer, Gareth Jones of In-Comm Training, Adrian Howell of Inventive Engineering & Design and Bekki Phillips of In-Comm Training.