Bournemouth & Poole College apprentices Stuart Mole and Ben Mosley have fast tracked their way to becoming qualified design engineers with Ishida Europe, a leading supplier of food packaging machines & equipment.
Both young men have raced through their Level 1 Engineering courses and are now about to complete Level 3 before transferring to their HNC qualifications.
If they keep up the good work they should be fully qualified two years ahead of the normal timeframe.
The two 18 year-olds have experienced many aspects of life at the Ishida Europe plant in Poole, from fabrication and parts manufacture, to computer aided design and office administration.
Ishida Europe has a global reputation for building complex packaging equipment for use in the food processing industry.
Millions of ready-meals, made and packaged in the UK every year, are processed into sealed plastic trays on machines built by its Poole based engineering team. The skills required to build the machines are many, varied and constantly evolving.
Recently the company has begun constructing X-ray machines for quality control checking of all packaged food.
The company has a solid reputation for training apprentices and has forged a close link with Bournemouth & Poole College for recruitment. This is great news for college students as the economy and Ishida's market share improves.
Stuart, who lives in Ferndown, is on a Part-Time HNC in Engineering and Mechanical Design. He said: “What’s been great about our training is that the company takes us through all aspects of its operations and working practices.
“Every day is different. We get to know about the machines, how they’re built, how to design parts and how the office side operates.”
Ben, from Broadstone, Dorset, is on the Part-Time FdEng/HNC Engineering (Manufacturing Management) course. He said the college tutors have been very supportive and encouraging. "They’ve helped me in more than just the studies. They’ve given me an appetite for the profession and Ishida, and the people I work with have made it a great experience.”
“The College's Engineering Apprenticeship scheme has been right for me. It’s a challenge but the course structure and Ishida management have allowed me to work at a pace that suits me.”
Ishida Production Manager Chris Witheford said: "Ishida Europe and the Engineering Team at Bournemouth & Poole College have established a close working relationship. Ben and Stuart have been model apprentices for us. They began here in September 2013 and went to the college for ‘off-the-job’ training for the first year, returning to work at the end of each term.
“The course allowed both to progress back into the business within different disciplines, Fabrication, Machineshop and Assembly. This gives them valuable knowledge within Engineering.
“Ishida operates a useful Log Book system and sets objectives within each area that have to be signed off by their team-leaders.They passed their Sub Diplomas this year with Distinctions."
Ishida Europe has already selected a new Engineering apprentice from Bournemouth & Poole College who starts the programme next month.
