An Automotive Academy/Skills4Auto Skills Passport will be the minimum standard expected of production workers, when Nanjing Automotive Corporation (NAC) re-launches car production at Longbridge.
The Skills Passport guarantees that holders have been trained in the skills for any 21st century production environment. It was developed by the Automotive Academy in response to the end of MG Rover production last year.
15 week’s training involves a package of engineering skills, incorporating the Academy’s Business Improvement Techniques course at NVQ Level 2. It also features live assembly simulations as well as visits to best practice companies.
NAC’s move follows the success of a pilot programme for the Skills Passport. Within 8 weeks of its completion, every Passport holder had won jobs at the BMW Engine Plant at Hams Hall near Birmingham. All were ex-MG Rover workers and NAC will now be the very first company to set this industry standard as a condition of employment for their production staff.
Skills4Auto(S4A), the Midlands spoke of the Automotive Academy, is a broker of training, funding and provider services and are working closely with industry to raise skills levels. They co-managed the pilot of the Academy Passport programme and worked closely with Job Centre Plus, Connexions, the LSC and Dudley and Sutton Coldfield Colleges to achieve a successful outcome. S4A will now assume central responsibility for developing the scheme, which will be supported through ESF funding, linked directly to the Job Guarantee Programme facilitated by the Learning and Skills Council.
Russell Jeans, Acting Managing Director of S4A said, “Firstly I am absolutely delighted that production will once again commence at the historic Longbridge site and secondly that NAC has recognised the necessity of a highly skilled workforce. That guarantee comes with the acquisition of an Academy Skills Passport developed in close cooperation with ourselves”.
NAC will be recruiting their initial employees for the start of production in early 2007.The passport will give NAC the building blocks to re-start production of MG TFs in the UK, and in preparation, have declared that every candidate must be trained to this ground-breaking industry standard.
Commenting on the announcement for NAC, Human Resources Manager Louise Lane said, “Nanjing executives are working to create a completely new manufacturing operation from scratch that will do justice to the wonderful heritage of the MG Brand. Not surprisingly they want to make sure that all their efforts are matched by the skills of their workforce as they know our reputation will stand on this. Possession of the Academy Skills Passport provides the guarantee that our people will be a credit to our company and the industry as a whole.”
Automotive Academy Chief Executive Alan Begg said, “I commend NAC’s foresight in demanding only the best trained people for their new enterprise and congratulate S4A in pulling all this together. I also call upon others in our industry to recognise that globally competitive skills in lean tools and techniques are essential if we are to compete effectively with the world.”
Application forms to be considered for the Passport training programme can be downloaded from the Skills 4 Auto website www.skills4auto.org
Former MG Rover workers and those made redundant from the supply chain who are yet to find new employment will be contacted directly from Job Centre Plus and will be invited to express their interest in this programme.
