Countering the shortfall

I think everyone across the materials handling industry is aware that we have an ageing workforce, and as this workforce retires there is a huge – and widening – shortfall in the numbers of new engineers entering the sector. For this reason the role of training and apprenticeships has never been more important.

Add into this scenario the economic uncertainties the nation faces as we prepare to leave the European Union in around 18 months’ time and we have a number of potential challenges ahead – not least that we need to attract the brightest and best into our industry to ensure we are fit to face the future.

All of this means that F-TEC, the forklift industry’s dedicated training centre for apprentices, has a crucial role to play.

Historically training for the materials handling and forklift industry had been delivered by a range of individuals and organisations, with the industry not really having control over what was delivered, or the standard of training.

F-TEC, which rebranded in 2016 and has just celebrated its first anniversary, was established by the industry for the industry to address these issues, and is supported by ourselves and the Fork Lift Truck Association (FLTA). Under the stewardship of Managing Director Karl Baum, F-TEC is going from strength to strength, and has already had to increase the number of training rooms to accommodate the growth in training groups from two initially to three currently.

The resources at the centre are exceptional including a truly representative range of fully operational fork lift trucks ranging from hand and electric-powered pallet trucks, reach trucks and electric trucks, to LPG and diesel powered counterbalance trucks.

The number of apprentices joining F-TEC continues to grow steadily and it is anticipated this will continue as larger employers begin to take advantage of the new Apprenticeship Levy scheme. Importantly. F-TEC is now able to deliver apprentice training under the Levy, having recently been included on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP), which is administered by the Skills Funding Agency. 

Based in Swindon, the F-TEC training centre is a modern 5000 sq ft state-of-the-art commercial training environment comprising technical training suites for theory tuition, and a fully equipped workshop for practical sessions.

And the completion and pass rate among its trainee engineers, currently running at 87% compared to the national average across all industries of 62%, speaks volumes for the success F-TEC’s approach.

Our members have been very impressed by the new set-up, which is reflected in strong levels of support for the centre with 90% of those BITA members for whom apprenticeships are appropriate now signed up to F-TEC.    

F-TEC has also added to its wide range of development courses for experienced engineers by including a Customer Service package that acknowledges the key role of the service engineer in both retaining customers and generating new business.

With the support of BITA and the FLTA, a newly formed working group also met recently with representatives from DfE (Department of Education) to review the Forklift Engineer Trailblazer standard where it received a positive response. This group is co-chaired by Howard Gunstock of Linde MH and Kevin Sowerby of Crown with strong support from F-TEC.

F-TEC has played a leading role in developing this standard, including putting it out for industry-wide consultation to FTLA and BITA members. As a result of that exercise the standard was expanded and enhanced to include behavioural skills – encouraging trainee engineers to act as a goodwill ambassadors for their company.

The working group is committed to driving through the new standard to the benefit of the whole industry and is fully engaged with the IMI – the awarding body – and as a result of this joined-up action, it is anticipated that the standard will be accepted and operation in a very short time frame.  

Alongside apprentice programmes, F-TEC is also responsible for delivering the 21 engineers’ development courses (including six TVH courses) offered by the FLTA to its members, including those for Thorough Examination for Consolidated Fork Truck Services Ltd (CFTS). These are reviewed and updated regularly, typically every six to 12 months. In addition to traditional Level 2-3 courses, F-TEC has also recently added a Level 4 course, also accredited by the IMI, which focuses on diagnostics – and these courses are available to everyone, not just members of BITA or the FLTA. 

So, while being far from complacent, we in BITA feel that when it comes to forklift training things are very much going in the right direction, and as an industry we are preparing well to meet the challenges of the future – whatever they may be.

For more information on fork lift truck apprenticeships contact F-TEC on 01793 686182 or email [email protected]