Longbridge passport to raise work standards. Check it out:
(The Birmingham Post Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Nanjing Automobile has signed up to a "skills passport" scheme for workers it employs to build cars at Longbridge.
Accreditation under a project run by the Birmingham-based Automotive Academy and the associated Skills4Auto will be the minimum standard expected of production workers at the former MG Rover factory.
The Chinese company, which took Longbridge over after MG Rover crashed last year, aims to start producing MG cars at the site next year.
The so-called Skills Passport guarantees that holders have been trained in modern manufacturing techniques and was developed by the Automotive Academy in response to the end of MG Rover production.
The 15-week training programme 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.
Nanjing's decision to make the Skills Passport a condition of employment for production staff follows a successful pilot programme that resulted in every trainee who passed the course being taken on at BMW's engine plant at Hams Hall.
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."
Nanjing 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 Nanjing's foresight in demanding only the best trained people for their new enterprise and congratulate S4A in pulling this together.
"I also call upon others in our industry to recognise that globally competitive skills are essential if we are to compete effectively."
Copyright 2006 Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd.
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