The Plastic Industry Awards has awarded a Malvern company Best Training & Development Programme, for its training work alongside UK injection moulding manufacturer TEX Plastics.
PIA award winners
Sierra 57 Consult are an Engineering Consultancy, a solution provider of added-value & cost-effective applications, offering specialist divisions within technical & engineering recruitment, onsite moulding training and tooling validation / trials.
Sierra 57 focus on sourcing the right skills match and culture-fit work seekers, helping develop & train the staff for work within the industry.
The training arm concentrates on upskilling and further development of existing staff members, promoting staff confidence, personal career recognition and better applications in their everyday machining operations.
Representatives of Sierra 57 Consult, led by Mark Lawson, Managing Director, Richard Brown, Projects Director and Neville Dudley, Training Manager collected the award at a well-attended annual gala dinner held at the London InterContinental on November 18th, 2022.
Sierra 57 Consult fought off industry competition to be named Best Training & Development Programme 2022, for their work at the TEX Plastics Barnstaple facility.
TEX Plastics Process Manager, Richard Bromley, said: “What is very apparent is the ineffectiveness of the normal offsite training routes. These courses are intensive for one week, however, when the trainee returns to site they may not have the support of regular effective mentoring and development.
“This shortcoming with traditional training, led to a strategic partnership with Sierra 57 Consult who were able to work with us in a flexible manner to deliver the career pathways we desired for our team members, being delivered alongside our established apprenticeship programme”.
This cohesive approach to training programmes has resulted in success stories like Sophie Hodgson who has completed her Quality Engineer Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma in Engineering and become a fully qualified TEX Plastics Quality Engineer.
Sophie took up the vocational apprenticeship with TEX Plastics straight from school. Whilst taking her apprenticeship she received in-house training & support provided by Sierra 57 Consult. She added: “A wider understanding of the part the plastic components play in their application made my studies more relevant and makes the job really interesting.”