Welding World Magazine Dec/Jan 2017-2018_V8lo

14
NEWS
EEF EMBRACES THE VR
REVOLUTION WITH WELDABILITY SIF
Education is vital to the future of UK
manufacturing, and leading the drive to
plug the skills gap is UK welding
products company Weldability Sif, who
over the past four years have been
diligently working to increase the
number of welder training facilities
available across the UK. Over the last
year, Weldability Sif managed to
decrease the deficit of available welders
even further, when they joined forces
with the manufacturers’ organisation
EEF for the expansion of EEF’s weldertraining
facility.
Based within Aston, Birmingham, is the
EEF Technology Training Centre TTC, part
of EEF’s Aston Training Campus since
2013. This September saw the centre’s
welder training suite get a major revamp,
thanks to Weldability Sif.
Newly fitted-out with 24 welding bays
and state-of-the-art industrial equipment,
the brand new dedicated welder training
suite is now at the heart of EEF’s Aston
TTC, with the project completed just in
time for the start of the new education
year. The centre also houses cutting-edge,
fully-immersive virtual welder-training
equipment from Weldability Sif, providing
a complete 'Virtual Learning
Environment', which allows students to
train digitally and safely before trying
their hand at welding for real.
Speaking about the launch in
September, Aston TTC Centre Manager
Christine Chapman remarked that
Weldability Sif’s “high-tech equipment
for virtual welding has been a fantastic
investment for EEF.” Commenting
further on the centre’s virtual welding
tools, Chapman believes VirtuWeld
technology “compliments the traditional
welding facility and allows us to offer
our apprentices and other learners an
engaging taster for the skills and
techniques needed in a real welding
environment.”
Thanks to Weldability Sif, students at
EEF can now also enjoy “a breadth of
welding technology learning, ranging
from basic skills to coded welding in a
safe and innovative environment, easing
learners into the skills they require before
using traditional welding equipment,
saving both time and cost”, she
continued. Discussing their partnership
with the UK’s leading independent
welding products company, Chapman was
“delighted with the service and support
that we have received from Weldability
Sif and their fume extraction division
Extractability.”
Weldability Sif Managing Director,
Gareth Hawkins, commented “The new
welding centre will support EEF’s existing
courses and apprenticeships, and marks
yet another successful deployment of a
Weldability Sif training centre within a
prestigious industrial educator. We are
proud to work with EEF on this venture.”
The company has now provided facilities
across 35 education locations in the UK
which are actively engaged in having
issued more than 10,000 qualifications
since embarking upon their mission to
ensure welders are trained to high
standards in the UK. The company
provides vocational welder training
facilities around the UK, further tackling
British manufacturing’s current shortage
of skilled welders.
WELDING WORLD MAGAZINE | ISSUE 06 | DECEMBER 2017