Apprenticeships at Tribosonics play a huge roll in our company’s growth and development

Here we have some of our apprentices speaking on Tribosonics’ Future Leader Development programme. How it has proved instrumental in the business’ response to the current pandemic.  The Manufacturing Apprenticeships scheme grows and equips young talent in the Sheffield City Region for industrial leadership roles in engineering, production, commercial, and strategic functions.  Amidst a challenging economic backdrop, Tribosonics’ Future Leaders have shown their value more than ever. Recently, their hard work was recognised by two BBC News pieces.

Mark Wallace, Tribosonics’ Chief Operations Officer, is an avid supporter of Apprenticeships. And he provides this insight into the value they bring to the business below:

“Our Future Leaders, have not only adapted to this new business environment, but they’ve been essential in helping the rest of the team to innovate around the challenges we face.  It’s great to see the local and national press recognising our talented young people.” 

Tribosonics’ Chief Operations Officer, Mark Wallace

Adapting to Working From Home 

With the ongoing support of the AMRC Training Centre, the Future Leaders have been able to transition to online learning and working from home.  One Future Leader, Joe Burns, who has become Tribosonics’ engineering design specialist, installed a CAD station at home and work has continued with little interruption. In addition, Jacob Houlden, who was working on product testing, has been able to set up a remote work area from which to continue his testing. 

While adapting to remote studies and exams through the AMRC Training Centre, Luke Dawson, Louis Scholes, Ben Wright, Will Morton, and Jacob Houlden have supported each other in continuing to learn and develop their skillset.  

Adapting to Working On-site 

Will Morton and Ben Wright have maintained an on-site presence within government guidelines which has allowed our machining work to carry on.  They have adapted Tribosonics’ policies and procedures to ensure our site remains safe and are now preparing our facility for a phased return of further staff. Will has led an initiative to put together and deliver to all staff an Employee Care Package. Its aim is to help maintain physical and mental wellbeing through this challenging time. 

Will previously demonstrated his adaptability when he solved a significant challenge in a production environment on a customer site. It is has led to him being shortlisted for Degree Apprentice of the Year by the AMRC Training Centre. Will’s determination and hard work reinforce our vision to invest in young people and skills.

Diversifying and Innovating

Normally, under normal circumstances, the Future Leaders would be designing, testing, prototyping, machining or conducting electronic assembly in our laboratory or workshop. However, they have mastered their transition by adopting new practices, new tasks, and developing new skills. 

Luke and Louis have turned their skills towards business development. They are supporting Tribosonics’ Head of Strategic Partnerships, Christina King, by conducting market research. 

Reece Turner, who is usually in our laboratory assembling the electronics within our monitoring systems, transitioned to remote working. He is focussing on enhancing Tribosonics’ SharePoint site to aid communication and document sharing for the rest of the team.  

Studying remotely 

AMRC Training Centre staff are equally proud of Tribosonics’ achievements:

“It’s wonderful to know that our apprentices are continuing to add value to their employers even in such difficult times. Will, Ben, Luke, Louis, Reece, Joe and Jacob are a great example of turning adversity into an opportunity to develop. I know there are other instances of apprentices doing similarly sterling work for their employers over the past few months. Moreover, the training centre moved swiftly to ensure teaching has continued throughout the lockdown period. Consequently, we are incredibly proud of how our apprentices have adapted to a new way of learning. We are also extremely grateful for the continued support of our fantastic employers throughout this difficult time.” 

Nikki Jones, Director of the University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre

In conclusion, our Future Leaders bring a lot of energy to the business. Whether in our weekly company briefing or checking in with a colleague through the buddy system, their ‘can do’ attitude is contagious.