Product category:
Engineering Recruitment and Employment
News Release from: Shrewsbury College
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 18 May 2007
Company upgrades staff and machinery
William A Lewis Engineering believes apprenticeships are cost-effective for companies as well as for individuals.
Apprentice Ben Jones is seeing out the old and seeing in the new at Shrewsbury Manufacturing Engineering firm William A Lewis The company is currently investing heavily in the latest generation of welding robotics and computerised turning machinery to help it keep pace with the exacting requirements of its marketplace
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 28 Sep 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
CAE technology conference attracts big guns
This year's Altair Technology Conference will take place on 2nd November at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon.
Jargon buster cuts through the ATEX jungle
ABB has published an "ATEX jargon buster" that helps motor users cut through the jungle of terms and definitions that make up the new ATEX Directives.
At the same time, the company is keeping up its tradition of investing in its staff.
Ben Jones is just one of the apprentices William A Lewis Engineering employs as part of its training relationship with the School of Engineering at Shrewsbury College.
The two things go together as far as the company is concerned - high-tech equipment requires highly skilled people who have learned the disciplines needed for successful engineering.
Ben Jones is training to use the firm's latest addition, a CNC lathe, both through in-house training and going on a manufacturer's course.
William A Lewis Engineering believes he is a good example of just how cost-effective apprenticeships are for companies as well as for individuals.
Eighteen-year-old Ben, of Sundorne in Shrewsbury, has been with the company more than a year.
He spends one day a week at the London Road campus of Shrewsbury College and four days at the Harlescott base of William A Lewis Engineering, where he has been assigned a mentor who guides his work.
His mentor is Peter Yeomans, who has worked in engineering for 34 years.
"Ben gets the best of both worlds - the theory at College and the practical here".
"It's a good system".
"I was an apprentice myself back in the early sixties and it took six years".
"Things are different now but apprenticeships are still a good way to learn a trade".
Ben's apprenticeship will last two years, after which he can continue on to do an additional year.
• Shrewsbury College: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Engineeringtalk email newsletter
• Engineeringtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
