It’s vital that those responsible for the installation and maintenance of car manufacturing equipment stay on top of the rapid pace of new developments.
The value of education
A core value at Honda is continuous education and training for its staff, known
as associates. The company runs an advanced apprenticeship programme at Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd (HUM) in Swindon, covering a range of maintenance engineering subjects.
The four-year course is supported by one of the local technical colleges, which undertakes delivery of the programme.
Apprentices on the course are a mix of HUM associates and external candidates.
Many associates started their careers at Honda working on the production line and enrolled in the programme following a recruitment process.
Route to employment
Successful external candidates are employed on a fixed-term contract for 10 months, taking them through the programme’s first year. They then assume a permanent contract with Honda.
Among the 44 associates now on the programme are Scott, Steve and Clark. Clark applied as an external candidate and has just started his second year, while the other two are in their third year. He lives locally and admits to being a big fan of Honda cars.
‘I wanted a challenge and the opportunity came up to join the apprenticeship programme at Honda,’ he says enthusiastically. Simon, who is similarly pleased with his career choice, says: ‘My contract at my previous employer had ended and I was on the verge of retraining as an electrician when I was told about the apprenticeship. My wife was keen for me to train as a mechanical engineer, as it is a family trade.’ He is delighted with his choice of career.
Professional challenge
Scott spent four years working on the production line at Swindon. ‘To be honest,
I really wanted a new professional challenge. Looking at the equipment and machinery around me, I wanted to understand how it all worked and see what it might be like to work as a maintenance engineer,’ he says.
Asked about their best memories of the programme so far, Simon recalls a project
to make a car driving simulator using the outgoing Civic: ‘To see other associates driving the simulator and having fun with it gave me a real buzz.’ The three Honda associates are very content now in their new positions and are continuing their studies.
