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Home / New Zealand

Public-private partnership to tackle skill shortage

13 Jan, 2005 11:14 PM4 mins to read

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Acting Head of Mechanical Engineering Perry Forman (centre) demonstrates Auckland University of Technology's practical approach to higher education with NCME’s General Manager Carmen Gray and AUT Science and Engineering Faculty Registrar Keith Ufton.

Acting Head of Mechanical Engineering Perry Forman (centre) demonstrates Auckland University of Technology's practical approach to higher education with NCME’s General Manager Carmen Gray and AUT Science and Engineering Faculty Registrar Keith Ufton.

Auckland University of Technology is partnering with business and government to help tackle the country's current shortage of highly skilled maintenance and reliability engineers.

Regional Development Minister the Hon Jim Anderton announced the establishment of the National Centre of Maintenance Excellence (NCME) recently in Kawerau.

"Lifting skill levels and addressing
the major shortage of maintenance staff in the region is an essential element in removing barriers to economic development for the Eastern Bay of Plenty," said Jim Anderton.

It is estimated that the centre has the potential to add $14 million in economic growth to the regional economy. The Eastern Bay of Plenty will receive $2 million from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's regional partnership programme.

The initiative was developed by the Kawerau Education Training Trust (KETT), a public-private partnership which includes Kawerau College, Fonterra, Norske-Skog Tasman, Carter Holt Harvey and the Engineers Union (EPMU).

KETT has solid industry backing with a commitment for contributions of intellectual property, premises, project management and support, and training coordinators to an estimated value of $2.51 million.

The NCME's General Manager Carmen Gray said the centre would impact positively on industry productivity and become a catalyst for achieving maintenance excellence. Focusing on training and education is the first step towards achieving productivity gains in New Zealand industry, she said.

"We aim to become the industry's one-stop shop for advancing maintenance
training, education and best practice facilitation by 2007." 

She said AUT differs from other universities because it is industry-driven, integrates theory with practice and the partnership will enable the centre to provide industry with relevant training based on best practice maintenance. 

The centre would also provide courses for tradespeople and
industry personnel to refresh and upskill technically, as well as facilitate preventative, proactive approaches for maintenance to help industry achieve excellence in operational efficiency.

AUT Science and Engineering Faculty Registrar Keith Ufton said AUT had provided curriculum development for the majority of papers in the new maintenance and reliability certificate and diploma programmes as well as overall quality assurance of the programmes.  A new major in maintenance and reliability engineering in the AUT bachelor of engineering programme had also been approved.

 Most students in the certificate and diploma programmes would train at the NCME in Kawerau. 

"Some graduates of the diploma programme will staircase to degree programmes at AUT where their prior learning will gain them advanced standing into the degrees.

 "The partnership with KETT means that AUT will have a direct training and educational link in the vital maintenance and reliability engineering field with a forward-thinking group of major New Zealand primary producers.  It offers AUT the opportunity for first-hand involvement in training maintenance and reliability engineers and also the opportunity to be involved in related research in the near future," Ufton says.

 Anderton says the centre will play a key role in future economic growth by helping to lift manufacturing productivity levels and filling skills gaps in the region's processing industries.

"Forestry and dairy processing are the biggest employers and export earners for this region. Their international competitiveness is closely linked to their ability to source appropriate skills that can add value to what the region produces. By training workers with those skills the NCME will enable the region to compete at the international level."

He said the partnership between the community, education and industry providers, the engineers' union as well as infrastructure stakeholders would enhance New Zealand's export base.

The centre will start training its first students, most of whom will already be working in the manufacturing industry, in March next year and its aim is to train between 500 and 800 students each year.

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