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Waterside News

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Due to continued business growth, we are looking for an experienced Electrical Assessor to join our team!  Waterside specialises in Electrical and Mechanical engineering for industry, working with some of the biggest names in food, drink, plastics, pharmaceuticals and chemicals in the North West.  Our team has in-depth expertise of industrial plant and processes, and we set a high standard of training for our growing base of apprentices and workforce learners.

The role is flexible and we are looking for either a part time or full time person to join our team.

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Finding faults on complex electrical control systems can be a real challenge, especially when there is a production manager breathing down your neck wanting to know how soon the line will be fixed.

So what approaches can maintenance staff take to get the bottom of the issue quickly?

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ABB ACS150 drives on Electrical Maintenance course
Waterside's Electrical Maintenance course now includes setup and commissioning of ABB ACS 150 drives to demonstrate the principles of using inverters.  Delegates are first taken through core concepts such as the benefits and disadvantages of using drives, as well as an overview of Pulse Width Modulation.  Delegates then move onto practical exercises, including wiring up a drive system by following industrial standard circuit drawings, reading and understanding motor and drive nameplates, safe initial power up, and basic parameterisation.  All the practical work is done on Waterside's training rigs, which are designed and built to the same standard as typical industrial control panels.

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Year 10 student creating an electromagnet
A group of Year 10 students from Ormiston Chadwick Academy in Widnes recently attended at an engineering taster day at Waterside Training.  The students gained first hand experience of practical mechanical and electrical engineering activities.  These included stripping and rebuilding pneumatic cylinders, correctly re-assembling a bolt arrangement, wiring up electrical plugs and creating basic electromagnets.  Manufacturing topics were also covered through a lean manufacturing game.

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Kathryn Kirby (l) presents the Young Engineer/Scientist award to Tegan McCann (r)
Waterside Training was proud to sponsor the recent Wigan and Leigh Education awards held on June 27th.  Our congratulations go to Tegan McCann who won the Young Engineer/Scientist of the Year prize sponsored by Waterside.  Tegan has gained a scholarship with NASA and will be heading to the University of Arizona this summer.  We wish her the very best of luck, she has an exciting future ahead!

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Major changes are due to take place this year in apprenticeships, with new levy funding arrangements for employers and the introduction of apprenticeship "standards".  Waterside is happy to help with queries, and some frequently asked questions are outlined below.
 

How will these changes affect employers?

Starting in May 2017, any employer paying an annual wage bill of more than £3m will automatically have to pay a levy which can then be used for training apprentices.  The levy will be charged at 0.5% on the portion of the paybill above £3m.
Employers will have to pay the levy monthly, and will have 24 months to use it before it expires.  They will be able to spend it on programmes via a new Digital Apprenticeship Service, which will hold details of training providers and what programmes are available.  Waterside is currently updating its details ready for when this new service is introduced.
For smaller employers who won't pay the levy, the government will pay 90% of the training costs of an apprenticeship, with the employer contributing 10%.  Businesses with less than 50 employees may get 100% funding if taking on a 16-18 year old apprentice. 
The cost of an apprenticeship will be negotiable with the training provider, and will be capped at a maximum depending on the funding band for the apprenticeship.
 
For more information regarding the levy, take a look at the government website at:
 
  1. Vacancy - Electrical Assessor (Full Time or Part Time)
  2. Congratulations to our first year apprentices
  3. Engineering and manufacturing apprenticeships - Open Evening 16th March
  4. Waterside raises money for Text Santa appeal