opinion heading l Today’s solution
November came in with a bang for the British Industrial Truck Association (BITA). As the month opened, so too did the new BITA Academy for fork lift truck engineers, which has been developed in partnership with City of Bristol College. BITA’s Secretary General James Clark explores what the partnership means for the industry – and for the future apprentices who will graduate from the Academy.
Lopresti, of the new BITA Academy. Witnessed by over 50 delegates from the BITA membership, as well as college staff, apprentices, representatives of IMI, and members of the media, Mr Lopresti drew back the official unveiling curtains from the plaque in the smart new BITA Academy workshop. Decked out with the latest models of industrial trucks supplied by BITA members Doosan, Still, Toyota, Crown, Clark and Jungheinrich it was an impressive sight.
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Our industry’s need for new blood comes at a time when over 16% of 16-to-24-year- olds are not in employment.
Joined-up solution
We believe the new BITA Academy offers a totally new solution – and a joined-up solution - to one of the challenges facing our industry: replacing our retiring engineers with bright, qualified youngsters looking for a fulfilling career in Material Handling Engineering (MHE).
As it happens, our industry’s need for new blood comes at a time when, according to the Department of Education’s quarterly statistics last published in August 2011, over 16% of 16-to-24-year-olds are not in employment, education or training (NEET). So this initiative comes at a good time for young people as well. CoBC is already one of the leading academic institutions offering apprenticeship courses. The link up with
28 ShD December 2011
www.PressOnShD.com
ovember 1st was a very exciting day for the British Industrial Truck Association (BITA). It marked the official opening, by local MP Jack
BITA and the creation of the BITA Academy has enabled it to deliver a new approach to fork lift truck engineering training. As a result of these close ties between our two organisations, CoBC has become an Affiliate Member of BITA.
Designed to deliver
Not only will the close ties with the industry deliver timely sharing of data about the latest models of trucks and relevant legislation – which all budding FLT engineers must be aware of – but the course is solely dedicated to all aspects of industrial truck engineering. The modern lift truck market encompasses both internal combustion and electric power sources, which require different skills from maintenance engineers. Thanks to ‘pure FLT’ course content addressing both power sources, the BITA Academy graduates will be equipped in the best possible way to work with the full range of products on the market.
The important involvement from IMI Awards means that the three-year course delivered at the BITA Academy will lead to a Higher Apprenticeship qualification including an exclusive BITA ‘IMI Awards Quality Assured’ certificate. Apprentices will have the opportunity to train for a fourth year leading to an Advanced Level Apprenticeship qualification including IMI Awards accredited Diploma in FLT Maintenance & Repair.
Finally, BITA members propose to take an innovative approach to help ensure the best possible chance of every qualified apprentice staying within the sector. By creating a pooling scheme for graduate apprentices, the BITA Academy
will co-ordinate job vacancies from all participating companies even if those that may have been unable to offer a work placement.
Supported to succeed Under the expert tutelage of David Duckett, head lecturer at the BITA Academy, failure is not an option. During their apprenticeship, young people will come to the BITA Academy at City of Bristol College from work placements all round the country for short blocks of intensive training, both in the classroom and hands on in the workshop. As David himself puts this,
“Willingness to learn and try their best is all these youngsters need to succeed. The BITA Academy will provide far closer ties with the industry than we’ve ever had before, which will help us make sure that each of our apprentices qualifies with expertise in the latest lift truck technology.”
And here are some more insights from David: “Some have never done very well at school, but an apprenticeship gives them the opportunity to shine. There are real career opportunities in the fork lift truck market for well-motivated and skilled young people. The BITA Academy will enable us to take on greater numbers of FLT apprentices and the sector’s need for newly trained engineers is reassuring for new apprentices looking for a long-term career.”
Open for business
The BITA Academy is now officially open and recruiting new apprentices to start in January 2012. For further information log on to:
www.bita-academy.org.uk. ●
www.bita.org.uk
opinion
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