Processing the Future: The Skills Gap and Our Commitment

There is a growing realisation that the lack of investment spanning decades of the late 20th and early 21st century has resulted in a workforce that is largely unskilled, especially when it comes to engineering trades such as fabrication, welding, and piping.

The result of this has created a shortage of skilled manpower able to travel to wherever required, to build the infrastructure we need. These artisans still exist but are in short supply and cost a lot more due to their now rare skills.

This is driving costs up. It also creates delays in projects getting started/finished. Whole projects are stalling because sites can’t get hold of correctly qualified welders, pipe fitters or electricians. And then what happens? The tradespeople on site still need to be paid, despite the fact they are waiting because a trade is missing. Not paying them risks losing them and the consequential knock-on effects of further delay.

Carbis Loadtec understands. that customers want solutions, not just products. There was a realisation in the early ’90s that many process plants across the broad spectrum of industry were suffering from a lack of investment due to spiralling project costs, rendering them unviable. This combined with the retirement of the post-war, time served, long service and skilled workforce, who knew their process plants and their detailed intricacies. In came highly qualified and ambitious graduates, keen to progress, hardworking and sometimes lacking maturity and respect. But they quickly recognised and embraced that they did not have the luxury of engineering departments and legions of experienced workers at their disposal.

The outcome of this has been the growth of specialist supply companies, employing, training and developing engineers from all disciplines to design, fabricate, test and install pre-packaged systems. These systems are specifically designed to meet each user’s needs and geographical constraints. There usually isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.

For the last twenty-eight years, Carbis Loadtec has been packaging solutions for clients globally. Bulk liquid transfer via articulated ‘arms’, safe access for operators working at height, measurement and control systems, along with necessary safety Interlocks. All of these make the client’s project engineer very happy indeed. They no longer have to find an appropriate component supplier, investigate which item in the range works best in their scenario, set up an account, purchase the widget, install and test – along with all the other detailed components usually involved in a packaged solution. These could be in the hundreds, if not thousands. Instead, the Project Engineer requests a solution, nominates an appropriate and experienced provider, then sits back and waits for delivery. The appointed provider does everything.

But what about the cost? I hear you cry. Well, the employment costs are gone. The provider of the packaged system carries that, along with the ongoing qualification and certification of their specialist tradespeople. The cost of workshops, material stock, machines and validated test equipment are all carried by the chosen supplier.

Of course, that supplier needs to make a profit. Process Plant fabrication companies holding charitable status don’t tend to last very long. Profit is good. It is greed that is bad. Profit promotes investment. Investment is good for people, as it funds training and creates skills. Skills make people wealthier. Wealthier tradespeople encourage young people to aspire to learn and develop those skills for themselves. Going back to the late 1960s and ’70s, it was the lack or misuse of profits within companies that strangled the training and investment in people that largely persists now. Larger public corporations bought out family businesses, and profits went to shareholders. It all inadvertently conspired to create a generational lack of aspiration in its youth because of the lack of prospects.

Carbis Loadtec Group and its partner companies are family businesses, and they are in it for the long haul, providing customer solutions for clients all over the world. We know our unique and innovative solutions improve the quality and safety of our clients’ workforces. This, in turn, improves productivity and helps our clients meet their commercial, logistical, and social obligations.
We are using our clients’ faith and money to grow our team, strengthen our skills, and build future teams so that we can always exceed their expectations.

This news article was written by Alec Keeler, Carbis Loadtec Managing Director.