The expedited assimilation of apprentices into the production department of minerals processing technology supplier FLS’s Gauteng-based service centre in Chloorkop, Kempton Park, is a key reason why the company’s trainees are in demand globally, FLS Training Academy head Steve Parkinson tells Mining Weekly.

“We comply with the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations’ national standards for mechanical fitters and metal machinists. We ensure that our apprentices follow the official curriculum over the three-year qualification, with the first two weeks of training heavily focused on safety. After their basic first year of training, we expose them to the workshop floor, where they are involved in the production, repair and refurbishment of our technologies.”

Not only does this approach satisfy the minimum requirements for qualification, but also the advanced and evolving requirements of the mining industry and FLS’s technologies.

When graduating from the FLS Training Academy at the company’s Chloorkop facility, which services Africa and the Middle East, apprentices are more than qualified, they are artisans with the experience needed to immediately get to work.

“We have a unique approach to training. There’s no internship time needed. These apprentices are already fully qualified,” affirms FLS service centres director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Nico Erasmus.

Parkinson notes that this approach is also the reason behind the FLS Training Academy’s 100% first-time pass rate.

“It helps our trainees tremendously when they do their final trade tests, giving them the confidence to go out and conquer anything.”

The artisans produced by the FLS Training Academy are also ready for the global market, with FLS service centres in other countries seeing the value of South Africa’s apprentice training programme.

Apprentices from the FLS programme who have transitioned to become field service technicians are sought after globally, with the South African arm doing a significant amount of field work for customers based worldwide.

“Consequently, we are in the early stages of opening avenues to transfer qualified apprentices to other FLS sites globally. We are currently exploring opportunities involving service centres in Tucson, Arizona, in the US, and in Peru without apprentice training programmes of their own,” shares Parkinson, highlighting that the company started exploring this concept late last year.

Supporting Sustainability

The FLS training programmes are set up to support sustainability goals, as service centres enable the reuse, repurposing and refurbishment of equipment, says Erasmus.

“Our programmes support sustainability by ensuring that our apprentices are skilled at preventing the unnecessary replacement of equipment by employing advanced maintenance techniques, such as vibration analysis.”

This is not only done at the company’s service centre but also in the field, which further helps to extend the life cycle of equipment.

The company aims to maintain 53% female representation within the academy to contribute to the worldwide focus within FLS to promote women in mining, highlights Parkinson.

The apprenticeship intake at Chloorkop, therefore, includes five female and five male candidates, with the company receiving more than 2 000 applications.

FLS apprentices have also transitioned from being artisans into more comprehensive roles within the company.

FLS is well established in developing the previously disadvantaged community in terms of vocational studies and learnership programmes and is placing greater focus on the professional space.

For example, its technician programme is helping to categorise the experience levels of senior and junior technicians, which is not only to the benefit of the employee but also informs customers about the level of technician being sent to their sites.

“The academy also offers learnerships, transforming university graduates into professional engineers. A memorandum of understanding was recently signed with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) to promote professional engineers, and we’re in the process of becoming an ECSA-certified academy. This will make FLS the third company in South Africa with this certification, which is a massive achievement and step forward in promoting the engineering field,” explains Parkinson.