Young people in the casting and foundry industry were front and centre at the recent West Midlands, Birmingham and Coventry Branch hybrid event.
The evening was opened by David Hall Prof MICME CEng, Maxima Engineering Ltd, who is one of the tutors teaching on the Metal Casting, Foundry and Patternmaking Apprentice Programme. Attendees were then able to hear from Martin Haynes, Quality Director at Alucast Ltd who had started on a temporary contract on a ‘year out’ before embarking on a career in teaching – he is still at the company some 35 years later, the teaching profession’s loss clearly being the castings sector’s gain!
Martin described how the apprentice programme is just one part of the whole strategic development plan for the company, led by Directors Tony Sartorius FICME and John Swift FICME, based around continuous improvement and customer support – he himself had just completed a part-time MSc in Engineering Business Leadership through WMG and is involved in mentoring their apprentices.
He explained how the apprentices are encouraged to think for themselves, to be part of the improvement programme at the company and to be ambitious, with the company pledging to support their learning to enable them to progress as far as possible with their careers.
Delegates were then able to hear from some of Alucast Ltd’s young employees who had been on day-release apprentice programmes delivered by Wolverhampton College and who are now taking on more senior roles in the company. It was encouraging to hear Louis Sartorius MICME talk about his role as Continuous Improvement Engineering, Connor Danks MICME, who is now Manufacturing Process Engineer speak of his work to make process improvements to increase competitiveness and Liam Greaves, Foundry Engineer, who is working on scrap reduction programme using Magmasoft simulation as a tool to support this.
Also presenting was Dennis Hewitt MICME, from investment foundry Lestercast Ltd – the first apprentice to successfully complete the final stage of his metal casting apprenticeship programme whilst studying at the ECMS National Foundry Training Centre – this was the End-point Assessment process, consisting of a technical interview and practical observation carried out by independent assessors. Dennis is now a Methods Engineer with a bright future at the company, having originally considered a career in football.
There was of course disappointment expressed by Chris Allott FICME IEng MIMMM, one of the apprentice tutors, that there had been no new apprentice intake in the Midlands on the Metal Casting apprentice standard since early 2022, and that no new intake was presently possible, given the high level of interest and demand from industry. Pam Murrell FICME, speaking for ICME, agreed and explained that the Institute, with the Cast Metals Federation, remained committed to finding a solution through other apprentice providers so that employers locally could have a dedicated foundry apprentice programme for young people entering the industry. After all, she noted, “The Institute had invested significantly in the writing of the standard with employers, as well as establishing ICME as the End-point Assessment Organisation for the standard so that all those ‘on programme’ could complete.” Indeed, it was agreed that it was vital for the future of the industry that there was a route to funded training. The Institute was also “focussed on developing and delivering a range of technical and management short courses to the industry and its customers, as well as accredited courses such as the EAL Diploma in casting,” she added.
It was notable that all of the apprentices said how much they enjoyed being part of the castings industry, making precision engineered, near-net-shape parts for a wide range of sectors, and being part of the circular economy for metals – it being an industry that they had previously known little about or had not considered joining.
Following the presentations, all the speakers were commended and the organisers of the event thanked by incoming Branch President Trevor Ayre FICME – it really had been an inspiring evening, he noted with the future of the industry in safe hands.
Attendees were then able to relax and enjoy the camaraderie and community of colleagues over a drink and supper, kindly sponsored by Alucast Ltd.
