'Training is not an asset, it is an overhead' has become a statement of the past and with the South African job market on a pioneering and rocky road in these times, skills development is a vital tool for its stable navigation. The structure of labour is being increasingly modelled around the Taiwanese system, where smaller companies of up to 20 employees, each having their own know-how and ability to add to the team total, are being out-sourced to manufacture or service the various engineering industries.
Labour law in South Africa and the risk of strikes and minimal-effort work ethics has led to the need for skilled individuals who deliver good workmanship and will get paid accordingly, as opposed to fixed employees who get a cheque at the end of the month no matter what they accomplish. We need a new work force, one that sees the direct economic implication of their working efforts and adjusts their attitude accordingly. We need independent, skilled and competitive workers in order to compete with the world market - for cheap labour you are better off in China.
PLC training
It is with this philosophy, that Flexible Electronic Systems has opened a certified training centre, with the vision of creating a one-stop training shop where all the necessary skills for up-and-coming control systems engineers can be acquired in a flexible environment. From DC to PLC, the students will be able to enter at their own level and go at their own pace to the level they need to reach for their particular job specification.
It begins with the heart of control system instrumentation, the PLC - the processor. The first courses have been structured around the Bosch CL150 Micro PLC, as the company has found it to be the most generic of the PLCs. It encompasses all four major IEC standard programming languages: instruction list, ladder, function block diagram and sequential function chart. It is also nearly identical to the Siemens PLC, which is said to have the greater portion of the market. Since the software for the Bosch PLC comes for free, the students can take their work home with them and carry on developing their skills. Hands-on is the order of the day and course attendants must come to grips with the PLC in a practical environment and write their own program at the end of the first 16-hour course.
Flexible Electronic Systems is finding that electricians, tech students, maintenance managers and those who are just tired of their old jobs are filling the training room during the day and after hours. These students are shaping their future and that of a country, which is sure to lead the way on this continent in the shaping of tomorrow.
For more information contact: Pascal Schmitz, Flexible Electronic Systems, tel: 011 975 7000.
| Tel: | +27 11 974 7744/7755 |
| Fax: | +27 11 974 2288 |
| Email: | guenter@flexelec.co.za |
| www: | www.flexelec.com |
| Articles: | More information and articles about Flexible Electronic Systems |
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