BMPCA Chairman urges Manufacturing Companies to Grasp the Value inherent in membership

Kevin Parkin the Chairman of the BMPCA addressed the guests at the third annual Sheffield Dinner at the Cutlers Hall in Sheffield urging companies and individuals in manufacturing, research and academia to join the organisation on the back of a recovering global economy. In particular our association promotes the building of relationships through networking and by widening the scope of the organisation the transfer of technologies across sectors is made easier. To this extent the BMPCA were pleased to announce that they had formed a strategic partnership with the National Metals Technology Centre (NAMTEC). They have also introduced a more flexible approach to membership fees to encourage new members. It was important that industrialists build bridges with Academia so that pure research activities can be translated into advanced manufacturing capabilities and the AMP in Sheffield optimised this concept. The key to the future is innovation and grasping the opportunities afforded by these advanced manufacturing techniques.

To emphasise the improvements seen in manufacturing output in 2010 he said that the demand for steel related products was returning back to acceptable levels although it is still below the peak seen in 2008. But to be able to grow business’s we need a supply of well trained young people. In fact we should stop sending pupils to universities in the hope of finding jobs on graduation. Instead we should be sponsoring our own employees and apprentices to study at university on 46 week part time courses. There is a huge supply of unskilled engineers throughout the UK and we need to look at ways of training these people to become highly skilled technicians.
Unfortunately there are few pupils who consider a career in manufacturing as their first choice and we need to engage with parents, teachers and other advisors to explain the benefits of a career in manufacturing.

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