eCom Scotland

Industry Opinion Survey

Skills and accreditation of HVM Technician training

Section 1: Introduction to the HVM Technician Consultation

“Manufacturing skills are critical to the Industries in the UK”. PwC Annual Manufacturing Report https://www.pwc.co.uk/industries/manufacturing/insights/annual-manufacturing-report.html

The Gatsby Foundation and assessment subject experts eCom Scotland wish to investigate the need for training in the context of Industry 4.0 (the digital transformation currently taking place) and the role you think accreditation and certification plays in your decisions about investments in training.

Currently, there is no generally accepted set of standards for digital manufacturing that could be used to inform the development of industry recognised credentials. Our hypothesis is that if there was a set of agreed standards, this would encourage more provision and uptake of the necessary training to introduce new technologies and processes associated with the revolution in digital manufacturing.

We are particularly interested in understanding how you develop your technicians to help drive innovation, including the need for short upskilling or reskilling courses. We also wish to explore whether there would be value in creating a set of standard or “vendor type” accredited training courses in digital manufacturing.

Your responses in this brief survey, which should take 10-15 minutes to complete, will be used specifically for the purposes of providing analysis and feedback to the Gatsby Foundation (https://www.gatsby.org.uk), a charitable organisation specialising in developing policy and initiatives in technical education, particularly for technicians.

The output of the survey will be to provide an aggregated summary of specific training trends and capabilities, described by HVM businesses as important.

Data protection

In addition to your opinion, we will also collect some personal information about you such as your name and email address to be able to contact you for follow-up if needed. We respect your trust and protect your privacy, and therefore will never sell or share this information with any third parties. By filling out this survey, you agree that we will process your data in line with our privacy policy.

https://www.ecomscotland.com/privacypolicy

eCom Scotland, as a data processor, is compliant with GDPR and takes great care in processing your data. Security of your information is a key priority for us and we will only retain your data for processing the survey and for the period of time to complete the report. There is a data retention period of 6 months, after which we will aggregate a summary of the data and your personal data will be deleted unless you have given us consent to hold your name, company and email.

You can view our Data Protection Policy here: https://www.ecomscotland.com/dataprotectionpolicy

If you wish to complain or contact us about your data, please contact eCom Scotland’s Data Protection Officer, Linda Steedman: connect@ecomscotland.com

The Gatsby Foundation would also like to contact you, to discuss the survey results in more depth and have requested that we share your name, company name and email address with them for this purpose. Please tick the box if you do not wish to be contacted by The Gatsby Foundation.

About you

Please provide your name, company name and email address below:

1. Which of the following best describes your organisation's primary area of manufacturing?
2. What is your primary job role within your organisation?
3. How many employees does your organisation have?
4. Which region is your primary organisation located?

Survey Questions

1. Please select the most appropriate response to this statement:

"My organisation makes effective use of available, external training opportunities for technician level staff"

2. Please select the most appropriate response to this statement:

"My organisation makes effective use of available, internal training opportunities for technician level staff"

3. How important is technician level staff training to your organisation?

Please select all that apply.

4. What challenges do you face with internal technician training in your organisation?

Please select all that apply.

5. What are the biggest barries for software or hardware installation?

Please select all that apply.

6. What challenges fo you face with external technician training in your organisation?

Please select all that apply.

7. Please select the most appropriate response to this statement:

"My organisation would consider offering certificated training for technical level staff"

8. What would be the key drivers for you to offer accredited technician training?

"Please select your top 3 from the options below."

9. What would be the benefits for your organisation of having an effective technician training process?

Please select all that apply.

10. When do you think your organisation would realise the benefits of offering accreditation against an Industry Standard?
11. Which of the following would you consider key to success when implementing an accreditation scheme for existing staff moving into new roles?

Please select all that apply.

12. Which of the following personal skills (meta skills) do you see as important to include in technician training?

Please select all that apply.

13. Where is your organisation on its digital journey (Industry 4.0)? Do you have a plan in place for your journey?
14. Which of the following digital skills do you believe are important for your organisation?

Indicate top 5 skills in each section

Current skills

Includes Digital Skills

Emerging Digital Skills

Current Training provided

Programming software

Mechatronics

Processing of data

Material and production skills

Process skills

Electrical engineering/systems

Electronics

Maintenance, servicing and further development of the system (robotics)

Mechanical and plant engineering

Product design

PLC programming

Specify, install and setup control systems hardware

Value steam mapping and LEAN principles

Computer network skills

Data science

Rapid prototyping - CAD software,3D printing, advanced injection moulding

Robotics - software and programming skills and engineering ability

Data Interpretation/mining - plus making use of big data and informatics

Optimisation, monitoring and controlling of processes

Industrial networks control systems (HMIs/SCADA/etc.)

Proportional hydraulics (PLC controlled)

Systems engineering

Data management/leadership

Computer security software skills

Artifical intelligence

Using virtual and augmented reality

Predictive analytics

Automation technology

Microsystems technology

Appreciation of digital technologies

Intelligent application of digital technologies

Digital leadership

Interface management/leadership

Any other that apply

15. What is the main barrier your business faces in embracing digital training?
16. Which of the following National Qualifications does your organisation support employees to undertake?

Please select all that apply.

17. Do you use any 3rd party training providers for technician training?
18. If yes, are these training organisations?

Please select all that apply.

19. Please indicate who you mainly use for technician training and the level of qualification or certification:

Please list providers

What specific skills

Certificated training

20. Have you engaged with others in your supply chain to take part in joint training initiatives?

As part of this research we are interested to understand how your organisation delivers technical training to your employees.

21. In this question, please consider the percentage of your organisational learning in each category and how this is likely to change over the next 2 years.

Proportion (%)

Please enter a percentage for each option, making sure the total adds up to 100%

In the next 2 years, we expect this proportion to

Please select the most appropriate response

What proportion of your learning is entirely face-to-face?

What proportion is a blend of face-to-face and online learning?

What proportion is entirely online?

During the workshop we introduced you to the concept of digital badges as an approach to measure and rewards employees training activities. We would like to understand how digital badges could support your technical training programmes.

22. What value do digital badges offer?

Please select all that apply.

23. Do you believe that digital badge systems will become more popular in the future?
24. Does your organisation use digital badges in any form?
Thank you for taking the time to fill out our survey.
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