Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Hub

Improving skills and employability in Stoke-on-Trent and

Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Hub

The Advanced Manufacturing and apprenticeships and traineeships Engineering Hub is a network of col-  Reskilling and upskilling the cur- leges, private training providers and rent workforce to improve produc- sector bodies under the umbrella of tivity the Stoke-on-Trent and -  Upskilling and retraining the un- shire Local Enterprise Partnership. employed and NEET young people to gain employment The Hub provides world-class voca-  Providing specialist facilities and tional environments in the manufac- training to meet employer needs turing and engineering sector. It has  Promoting AME career pathways in been developed in two phases schools. through £14m of LEP Growth Deal funding and private investment in The Phase 1 spokes offer specialist facilities at six spokes. Each spoke provision in automotive and hybrid has a lead specialism, world-class technologies in Newcastle-under- equipment and trains to the latest Lyme, delivered by Martec Training, industry standards, enabling the renewable pneumatics and hydrau- delivery of high quality training to lics in Stoke-on-Trent, delivered by support sector growth. The Hub is a Stoke-on-Trent College, and con- centre of good practice and acts as struction, electrical installation, mo- a mechanism for sharing industry- tor vehicle and engineering provi- standard training and technologies sion in Tamworth, delivered by to improve the capacity of the sec- College. tor to respond to employer needs. The Hub increases the LEP’s ability The Phase 2 spokes offer specialist to deliver the talent pipeline of skills provision in agricultural engineering required by local industry. The Hub and technology in Rodbaston, deliv- is delivering these key activities: ered by South Staffordshire College, advanced manufacturing, technical  Promoting the AME Hub as a cen- design and scientific engineering in tre of good practice and sharing Stafford, delivered by Newcastle industry-standard training to im- and Stafford Colleges Group, and prove the capacity to respond to engineering, mechatronics, comput- employer needs er aided design and metrology in  Growing and developing advanced Rocester, Uttoxeter, delivered by manufacturing and engineering the JCB Academy.

Improving skills and employability Case Study - Stoke-on-Trent College Chris Banks: Level 3 Apprenticeship, Engineering and manufacturing

Chris, aged 20, joined the college at and patience when introducing new the age of 14 on a two-year school equipment into the company. This link course as a young apprentice in has made a significant impact on the Construction. The course gave Chris company’s production effectiveness the opportunity to work with em- and costs. ployers in various aspects of the Chris’s interest in the job and pas- construction industry. As well as sion for learning have rubbed off on gaining valuable life skills Chris was colleagues, and he is now involved put forward by his tutors for an ap- in training senior staff members on prenticeship opportunity which he modern work methods using the successfully achieved with Morgan new technology. Despite a football Sindall. injury setback in his first year, Since joining the company in 2014 Chris’s determination has enabled Chris’s enthusiasm and appetite to him to catch back up and achieve learn has shone through. He works his apprenticeship units with distinc- within a small manufacturing team tion. He is now well on his way to and has shown great perseverance becoming a great engineer. Technology Hub - Stoke-on-Trent College

Stoke-on-Trent College is a hub for The new Technology Hub has seen engineering and motor vehicle existing engineering equipment up- specialisms, and also has specialist graded with MIG welding plants, facilities for all building services welding simulators, hydraulic and professions. pneumatic rigs, laser cutting ma- chine and sheet metal forming The motor vehicle department sup- machine. ports full and part-time learners, as well as an extensive range of Building Services are based in the apprenticeships and commercial industry-leading John Seddon Build- training, to meet local employers’ ing, where investment in renewable requirements. technology includes a solar power laboratory, heat pump, solar water This includes light and heavy vehicle heating and photovoltaic panels, maintenance, paint and body repair, along with electricity generator utilising the latest water-based paint bikes, to enable the full range of spray-booth and mixing room, and renewable technologies to be an advanced vehicle body repair jig. taught.

Hybrid Technology Centre - Martec Training

Martec Training, leading on the nology for those students who have spoke at Newcastle-under-Lyme, completed Level 2/3 Vehicle Mainte- has set up a dedicated area within nance. its existing training facilities to de- liver hybrid and electrical training. Martec Training has recently en- gaged with two large employers to Its new equipment includes an elec- deliver more than 300 qualifications tric car and a hybrid car, specialised to their employees. tools and interactive white boards. Courses offered at Martec Training Approximately 20 further companies include an ‘Introduction to Alterna- have been engaged and successfully tive Energy Cars’ which is a special- completed training following the ised course developed by the launch of the centre and approxi- training organisation and IMI Level mately 500 training courses have 2 and 3 in electric and hybrid tech- been delivered to date. Case Study - Martec Training Police forces - hybrid and electric vehicles

Martec has delivered training to ards of high energy systems, per- Staffordshire and sonal protection, health and safety, Police on awareness in the mainte- identification of dangerous compo- nance and repair of hybrid and elec- nents, operating procedures, com- tric vehicles. The courses are IMI- ponent design and construction, accredited and candidates received isolating procedure, tools and equip- IMI recognised qualifications. ment, and system faults.

The candidates were from the acci- With the increasing popularity of dent investigation departments of these vehicles, it is inevitable that both forces. With the number of they will be involved in road acci- hybrid and electric vehicles increas- dents at some point. The potential ing on Britain’s roads it has become of further damage, injury or even essential to train technicians and death due to insufficient training is emergency services in how to work also increasing. with these vehicles, and the poten- Additionally lack of the correct train- tial issues that they may present. ing could leave vehicles unsuitable The training ranges from basic for the road, leaving technicians and operating procedures to more in- companies liable. As vehicles and depth system diagnostics. With in- industry change companies are dustry professionals and modern looking to future-proof operations. resources all of the candidates re- The police are preparing for the ceived the best tuition on offer and changing environment and many all candidates achieved outstanding more professional sectors are fol- results. Areas covered included haz- lowing suit. Tamworth Automotive & Engineering Hub

The Tamworth spoke has been set includes hydraulics and pneumatics up by South Staffordshire College at rigs, MIG welding plants, welding the Torc Professional & Technical simulators, paint booth and mixing Centre (the former Torc Vocational room and a vehicle body repair rig. Centre) and at the college’s campus South Staffordshire College has in the town. The college received a revised its study programmes in £2m investment for equipment and Engineering and delivers EAL in refurbishment works and offers pro- Engineering Technology levels 1-3 vision in construction, electrical en- alongside a BTEC level 3 route. gineering and other sectors.

The Tamworth campus offers provi- It introduced a new Electrical Instal- sion in motor vehicle (petrol and lation Apprenticeship standard deliv- diesel), welding, welding simulators, ered at Torc and an entry level 3 robotics, CNC milling, 3D printing/ study programmes to provide pro- rapid prototyping and mechanical gression opportunities in motor ve- engineering. The new equipment hicle and construction. Case Study - Tamworth campus Jack Watts: Level 3 Apprenticeship, Advanced engineering

The South Staffordshire College Tamworth spoke of the AME Hub is already achieving outstanding results. Apprentice Jack Watts commented: “The experience that I am gaining during my Level 3 Ad- vanced Engineering Apprenticeship is amazing.

“I attend Tamworth campus on a day release basis, and we do a 50/50 mix of practical and theory work which links in well with my job at Digbits Ltd. Both the teaching support from the college and sup- port from my employer have made it a great experience and I am look- ing forward to starting my Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship in Manage- ment.”

Dove Engineering Centre AgriSTEM Academy - South Staffordshire College

The £5.4m AgriSTEM Academy at  CAD/CAM classrooms the college’s Rodbaston Campus  Multi-occupation construction area delivers industry relevant training  Renewables workshop for solar for the advanced manufacturing and thermal, solar PV, air & ground engineering and agricultural engi- Source heat pump technologies. neering and technology sectors in  Gas heating and unvented hot wa- the region. ter assessment areas  Digitally connected classrooms This state-of-the-art facility was  Digitally connected independent created by repurposing a derelict study/collaboration areas farm building and transforming ex-  Energy dashboard linked to solar isting workspaces. It comprises: panels and wind energy scheme.  An advanced mechatronic lab  Agricultural engineering and auto- South Staffordshire College has re- motive/hybrid engineering work- cently introduced new apprentice- shops ships in the following areas: L4 agri-  AgriTech/precision farming simula- culture, L2/L3 land based engineer- tion lab ing, L2 Animal care - dog grooming,  Performing manufacturing opera- new apprenticeship standards in tions (PMO) training/assessment green keeping (golf courses) and area sports turf (football pitches). Science & Technology Centre - NSCG Stafford Campus

The LEP has part-funded the crea- activities at key stage 3 and 4 tion of a £3.5m STEM Centre based where pupils from local schools visit on the Stafford campus of the New- the Centre for a day and experience castle & Stafford Colleges Group. on the sciences, Lego and compu- The centre has the primary focus of ting. The plan is to inspire the stu- developing STEM-related curriculum dents of the future to consider STEM at levels 3, 4 and 5. The centre when making their career choic- boasts fantastic science and engi- es. The college’s specialisms are: neering facilities, plus a Lego inno-  Computer aided design/ vation hub focusing on the technical manufacturing aspects of learning through the me-  3D design, scanning and printing dium of Lego. The Centre also has  Robotics, mechatronics and pro- its own robot to help computing stu- grammable logic controls dents develop their programming  Building information modelling skills and incorporate the emerging  Design for manufacturing technology of artificial intelligence.  Building energy management sys- The curriculum is focused on level 3, tems with the delivery of A Level scienc-  Construction design, architecture, es, engineering and computing. The surveying and civil engineering centre also hosts level 4 full time,  Technical construction manage- part time and apprenticeship pro- ment grammes along with level 2 and  Mechanical, electrical and elec- level 3 engineering apprenticeship tronic design, implementation and activity. The college offers a series servicing of primary and secondary taster  Applied maths.

Prof Brian Cox and Christ Church Academy pupils at the Lego hub Dove Engineering Centre - JCB Academy

The JCB Academy has refurbished the former Dove First School in Rocester and equipped it with state of the art specialist equipment, with the help of a £1m contribution from the LEP.

The centre has the capability to de- velop technical skills across a varie- ty of engineering disciplines.

The JCB Academy has worked with the JCB technical and professional development apprenticeship manager to develop a new standard programme.

The programme is to be used as a “standard” for other often smaller firms to sign up for through the ap- prenticeship matching service, in- creasing the number of starts in  Computer Aided Design Training small businesses. Room– equipment to enable learn- The centre includes: ers to model and test engineering solutions through both virtual real-  Engineering Science Lab – isation, element analysis, and also equipped to teach learners the mathematically through MATLAB. science related to mechanical and The equipment will also include a electronic principles with the laser scanner to enable parts to be technology for learners to carry scanned, imported into software, out experiments relating to struc- adapted dimensionally and then tures, statics and electrical theory. prepared for modelling.

 Mechatronics Training Room–  Metrology Lab – to aid learners in equipment includes Festo units the analysis of the properties of that include Siemens PLCs that materials. The room has a require the integration of electron- tensometer, hardness tester, im- ic control and mechanical systems. pact tester, microscopes and sec- Each unit will be stand alone and tioning machine used to destruc- can be brought together to repli- tively test and examine materials. cate a manufacturing cell. Contacts:

David Poole, Skills & Further Learning Manager, Staffordshire County Council [email protected]

Peter Walters, Head of Faculty, Stoke-on-Trent College Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire LEP [email protected] Judges’ Chambers, County Buildings Martin Street Julie Sizer, Principal, Rodbaston Campus, South Staffordshire College Stafford [email protected] ST16 2LH

Tracey Marson, Director Martec Training t: +44(0) 1785 719000 [email protected] e: [email protected]

www.stokestaffslep.org.uk Craig Hodgson, Vice Principal Newcastle & Stafford Colleges Group [email protected]

John Cox, Director of Finance & Operations, JCB Academy [email protected]