Two companies from Northern Ireland have been working closely with the Institution to ensure talented employees are gaining professional registration. CDE Global has supported the professional registration of a number of employees, while Schrader Electronics has recently gained Institution approval for its EngTech scheme. Here, we find out more about them.
CDE engineers gain professional registration
CDE Global, an SME from Northern Ireland, has enjoyed notable success with the recent progression of a number of its engineers to Chartered Engineer (CEng), Incorporated Engineer (IEng) and Fellowship of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Over the last 20 years, CDE Global, which is based in Cookstown, County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, has grown to be recognised as the leading supplier of washing equipment for quarries and mines on the global market.
The Monitored Professional Development Scheme (MPDS) in place at CDE was accredited by the Institution in 2009 and the company now has three CEng Fellows, six Chartered Engineers and three Incorporated Engineers in place.
One of these recent Fellows, Brian McCullough, was responsible for securing the accreditation of the MPDS by the Institution in the first instance. As Head of Talent & Organisational Development at CDE Global – a role developed to manage the recruitment and progression of all CDE employees and born out of the success in building the engineering team when he joined CDE in 2007 – Brian is well placed to comment on the significance of the Institution-accredited MPDS for the company.
He said: “Over the last 4 years we have recognised that through our association with the Institution we are able to ensure we maintain our reputation for innovation and engineering excellence. Our commitment to the Institution can be seen in the results we have achieved in such a short space of time and is also testament to the quality and commitment of the engineering team we have in place at headquarters.”
Through the MPDS scheme all new recruits to the CDE engineering team are put on the path towards Chartered Engineer status. “This is hugely significant for us at the recruitment stage” explained Brian. “We want to ensure that we can attract the highest calibre of engineers from our local universities so that we can continue to be successful in developing new products and entering new markets and sectors. Institution accreditation is the vehicle for doing this.”
This opinion is echoed by recent entrants to the scheme. Glenn Sloan is Senior R&D Engineer with CDE and has recently achieved Chartered Engineer status. He said: “The fact that CDE was able to offer a potential route to Chartership was very significant at the recruitment stage as it ensured that I had the opportunity to continue to develop my engineering skills and knowledge to a point where I would be recognised as being at the top of the engineering profession,” explained Glenn. “IMechE is an internationally recognised institution which only increases its appeal.”
The benefits to the individual are obvious but what does the company get from all of this? Tony Convery is the founder and Chairman of CDE, and a Fellow of the Institution. He outlined the benefits: “Through our involvement with the Institution we’re investing in our future: building future leaders, safeguarding future product development initiatives. We aspire to be the number one washing equipment company in every country in the world – that’s our company vision. That level of ambition requires a very high standard when it comes to the people we employ and the Institution helps us to deliver this standard.”
The benefits of the association with the Institution have not been restricted to the engineering team at CDE. The company has introduced a competence review and performance management process which has developed from what has been learned since accreditation was secured in 2009.
“The MPDS process has benefits for everyone in the company as it provides a very effective way of measuring competencies, managing performance and setting development goals,” explained Brian McCullough. “We have learned a lot through our association with the Institution and will continue to develop the relationship over the coming months and years.”
EngTech scheme approved at Schrader Electronics
Another company from Northern Ireland has also been working closely with the Institution to ensure a pipeline of talented engineering personnel for future growth.
Schrader Electronics, with a global market share of 55%, is the market leader in the design and manufacture of tyre pressure monitoring (TPMS) products. The company’s customer base is made up of leading automotive manufacturers including General Motors, Ford, Mercedes, BMW, Subaru and Hyundai. In addition to its core business of tyre pressure monitoring systems, the company is also actively developing new products using further applications of their sensing and wireless technologies.
The company, which has headquarters in Northern Ireland, two manufacturing facilities in Carrick and Antrim (Northern Ireland) and one in Tennessee (United States), has over 1,100 employees. Of these, over 400 are engineering staff consisting of apprentices, technicians, graduate engineers and experienced engineers.
The success of Schrader Electronics is largely contingent on continual product and process innovation and in order to ensure this is sustained the company is focusing on the further development of its engineering staff. Recognising that further improvements in the attraction, retention and ongoing development of their engineering staff is critical to the future of the organisation, Schrader Electronics, has invested heavily in the development of their engineering personnel. Investment too date, has included specific development programmes for apprentices, undergraduates, graduates as well as a variety of training and development programmes for their experienced engineering staff.
The recognition that the company needed to build further on its engineering employees capabilities, guided the decision to launch the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ professional registration scheme in 2013. Schrader Electronics was excited by the Institution’s offering as it allowed the company to launch a development pathway for its engineering employees including: EngTech for apprentices and technicians, Incorporated Engineer (IEng) and Chartered Engineer (CEng) pathways for graduates and more experienced engineering employees.
Schrader Electronics successfully launched its professional registration initiative with support from Farah Baksh, the Institution’s Business Development Manager who supports members and companies in Northern Ireland. She said: “I facilitated several presentations, briefing sessions and advisory sessions for engineering employees and managers onsite. This onsite support has enabled Schrader Electronics to pursue an initiative tailored to the needs of their business.”
Whilst, Schrader Electronics is still in Institution launch mode it has already seen excellent levels of interest from its workforce and has successfully achieved EngTech scheme approval for its apprentice development programme. The company’s engineering personnel see this initiative as developing their competency and at the same time raising the profile and professionalism of engineering as a whole.
Paul Gardner, Manufacturing Director, said: “We have a breadth of engineering disciplines that our critical to sustaining the successful development of our organisation. Partnering with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers allows our engineering employees to initially build their competency and to align to this engineering body, developing mutual respect amongst our engineering skill base.”
“Schrader Electronics, operates globally; in particular, we have several customers and suppliers across Europe. As the Institution is a worldwide organisation, professional registration of our employees will help build trust and respect.”
Want to set up or gain accreditation for an MPDS or EngTech scheme in your company?
Please contact an Institution Business Development Manager in your area: bdm@imeche.org or visit: http://www.imeche.org/engineeringexcellence