“Greater effort is needed to accelerate employment growth. Government will work with business and organised labour to protect work opportunities and accelerate skills development over the period ahead.” National Budget Speech 2009
Lita’s story
It is easy to see why Lita Mpahlwa can be considered the poster child for Endress+Hauser’s approach to education and training. After completing his matric, Lita studied towards a National Diploma in Electrical Engineering at the Witwatersrand Technikon to fulfil his dream of becoming an engineer. Being one, Lita believed, would provide him with endless opportunities to better people’s lives.
It also offered him the opportunity to cross paths with Endress+Hauser. Lita became one of the first successful trainees to complete his internship at Endress+Hauser. In 2004, Lita kick-started his career as an outbound field services technician at Endress+Hauser, with a trip to Germany to work and gain more experience at the different Endress+Hauser production facilities.
“I returned from this expedition with more knowledge and confidence to start commissioning huge projects like the Kansanshi mine project in Zambia and the Mondi-Merebank PM31 project, both plants being Profibus,” relates Lita. “During all of this I also obtained a B. Tech in Instrumentation from the Tshwane University of Technology, and was instrumental in setting up and developing the 4th Dr Georg Endress Training Facility at the University of Johannesburg.”
Currently, Lita is employed as Endress+Hauser’s level and communications specialist technician at its Sandton offices. Lita is also one of the presenters at the Endress+Hauser Training Academy at the Process Expo 2009. And he is but one beneficiary of Endress+Hauser’s commitment to the development of scarce skills in a comprehensive, put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is, people-focused manner.
Scarce skills equal opportunity
Process automation engineering is officially recognised as a scarce skill in South Africa. As such, Endress+Hauser’s investment in the training of people to acquire these skills are aligned with the vision and goals of government and major developmental organisations and initiatives, such as NEPAD, AsgiSA and JIPSA.
Ironically, despite its scarce skills status, there is not yet any formal learner-ship available for instrumentation. Fortunately, through its Training Facilities at educational institutions, as well as the training courses presented to in- and external employees, Endress+Hauser is making a substantial contribution towards filling this gap. It is also raising awareness about process automation as a viable and desirable career option.
From students to employees
Illustrating their belief in the power of partnerships, Endress+Hauser collaborated with Siemens Southern Africa and Bürkert Contromatic to open the first Dr Georg Endress Training Facility in February 2004. Situated at the Pretoria West Campus of the Tshwane South College for Further Education and Training (FET), which plays a major role in supplying training in various trade areas to learners in the Gauteng area, the Training Facility has contributed to an increase in student enrolment.
In February this year, Endress+Hauser together with industry partners Rockwell Automation and Metso Automation opened the fourth Training Facility at the University of Johannesburg. This followed the success of the second and third facilities at the Thekwini FET College and the Namibia Institute of Mining and Technology respectively.
The initial impetus behind these projects started with the identification of a shortage in not only skilled people in the industry, but also a shortage of people with the relevant experience to back up the students’ theoretical knowledge. Each training facility is equipped with state-of-the-art technology that provides process instrumentation training and covers the whole field of automation.
In addition, Endress+Hauser rewards top students with bursaries to further their studies either locally or abroad, as well as offering students a six-month internship at Endress+Hauser. Once the students have completed their internship, many of them are offered employment at Endress+Hauser. Currently, about 64% of Endress+Hauser’s staff in its service department are graduates of the Training Facilities, with more former students employed throughout the company!
Students are also often retained as temporary staff until Endress+Hauser can find employment for them at key customer or competitor companies. In fact, Endress+Hauser has been approached by customers and competitors on numerous occasions to recommend students for vacancies.
Training courses for in- and external employees
The field of process automation is characterised by its rapid pace of technological development. Therefore, Endress+Hauser provides continuous training to its own staff, as well as employees from other companies.
This training provides the ideal platform for companies to improve the level of skills available in an organisation, as well as the country at large, thus cultivating an environment of success and growth. In addition, up-to-date training provides employees with the ability to combat plant outages, save money and improve the efficiency of equipment.
The training courses offered by Endress+Hauser provide participants with the necessary skills to understand and improve measurement solutions facilitated by the company in the industrial process marketplace. The training encompasses pressure, temperature, flow, level, liquid analysis and digital communication instruments. Training is presented on three levels of competence, namely: Basic Product Training offering theoretical explanations; Advanced Product Training to provide hands-on training and Expert Product Training that specialises in in-depth practical training. Companies can also approach Endress+Hauser to undertake a GAP analysis of their skill set and to design a specific course accordingly.
All the courses adhere to international training standards, with participants being exposed to course content on a global knowledge level. Competitor products are also covered. Successful candidates receive certificates in recognition of their training, and their companies can claim the cost of the training back from the skills development levy of the SETA to which they belong.
Certainly the most exciting ‘training course’ devised by the company, is the Endress+Hauser Training Tour that takes place every second year. The tour is planned and executed to perfection, offering customers an inside view into Endress+Hauser through factory tours, site visits and interacting with peers from across the globe. The tour culminates in a visit to Interkama, the world’s leading process automation specialists’ exhibition.
Despite the highly technological field in which Endress+Hauser operates, the company never loses sight of the people behind the technology. Because technology is only as good as the skills, the enthusiasm and the commitment of the people who develop and use it. That is why Endress+Hauser will continue to invest in skills training… they are, after all, the people for process automation.
[Note]: Be sure to drop in at the Endress+Hauser Training Academy @ Process Expo 2009! Subject specialists from Endress+Hauser, Rockwell Automation and Metso Automation will present seven, 45-minute sessions per day, covering the basic principles of Fieldbus, Flow, Analysis, Level, Gamma, Valves and Drives. Visit process-expo.co.za for the details.
For more information contact Colin Malan, Endress+Hauser, +27 (0)11 262 8000, [email protected], www.za.endress.com
| Tel: | +27 11 262 8000 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.endress.com |
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