20 May 2015 ■ IndustrialHeating.com
I
have just completed writing a chapter for
a new Heat Treat ment of Iron and Steel
Encyclopedia on the subject of nitriding.
During the writing of that chapter and
subsequent research, I started to think about the
content of the technical papers I had received and
who could read them.
The content of the papers (a lbeit on the subject
of nitriding) contained an absolute wealth of
academic information. But who, on the shop f loor,
can apply this information to general process
work? This is a common problem for all heat-
treatment processing methods and understanding
the thermal activities that are taking place when
the steel is heated.
The lesson I learned many years ago was
that the heat treater – the person on the shop
f loor – can literally make or break the product
that is being treated. I have long believed in
the education of those who do the work of
heat treating and have made a conscious effort
to break down a scientific subject into a more
understandable language.
While there is a great need for academic
research and understanding of the metallurgical
events that happen during the thermal treatment
of any metal, there is an even greater need for
that understanding to be given to the person on
the shop f loor. Here in the United Kingdom,
general election is approaching, and one of the
platforms that each of the political parties seems
to be riding on is the need for the introduction
of apprenticeship schemes to enable the youth of
today to become the technicians and experts of
tomorrow.
In 1955 when I started work at a well-known
aircraft company as an indentured apprentice,
we were expected to serve five full years of
learning. That company took a very bold step and
recognized that there were no apprentices being
trained in the science of metallurgy or thermal-
processing techniques. My friend and I were
the first to apprentice to enter the field of heat
treatment. This industry is where I have remained
since then. Like my mentors, I have been an
advocate of apprenticeships for heat treatment and
metallurgical processing over the years.
Not everyone has the opportunity or the
ability to attend college or university to obtaina degree in meta l lurg y. It is my belief that some
of the technical schools/technical colleges or
even industrial organizations should seriously
consider the need for apprentices within the heat-
treatment industry.
Lecturers/instructors should have good, sound
industrial thermal-processing knowledge and the
ability to translate a highly scientific subject into
a language of general understanding. When I first
started my own company, a well-known retired
professor once told me, “If your students are not
getting it, then it is not their fault but yours!” That
comment has stuck with me throughout the years.
I carried this torch with me during my tenure
in South Africa, and one company finally
listened to me – the local aircraft company. As
a result, they started seven apprentices in the
heat-treatment department for heat treating and
surface treating. Each apprentice had to engage in
a minimum of 2,000 hours of classroom training
and a minimum of 2,000 hours of practical
training on the shop f loor.
It does require the commitment of
industrialists to persevere with apprenticeship
training, particularly in the field of thermal
processing. Industry takes a risk that the
apprentice will not complete the course or will
be poached away by competition. This means
the company has trained someone for another
company at their expense. That is a risk that any
industrial company will have to take, however, no
matter what the industry. From a personal point
of vie w, I believe I got it right the first time.
It will now be up to the new and incoming
U.K. government as to how serious and
committed they will be to the promotion of
apprenticeship programs and not to use it just as a
vote-catching promise. It is my fervent hope that
the incoming government will support a program
of metallurgical process apprenticeships and
training.
Who knows, maybe the incoming government
will take thermal-processing apprenticeships and
utilize it within the European communit y. Maybe
they can even start a worldwide trend.See David Pye's blog posts at
http://www.industrialheating.com/blogsTraining for Heat Treaters and Technicians
INTERNATIONAL
DAVID PYE
Consultant
[email protected]“If your
students
are not
getting it,
then it is not
their fault
but yours!”