April-May 2021

NEWS Duplomatic has resumed the activities of the corporate Academy for partners, customers, and associates through an extensive programme of digital courses, designed to offer excellent training for transferring the skills required by the evolution of hydraulics and the new frontiers of innovation. The courses are aimed at operators in the industry who need basic training or specific in-depth updates. The first initiative is the Advanced Hydraulics course, held by a qualified team of Duplomatic trainers and experts, that was launched last January, and it will be proposed again in the next few months. Duplomatic Academy is the heart of the company for human resources training, professional development and knowledge sharing. It is a meeting and discussion place that plays a decisive role in ensuring the competitive capacity of Duplomatic. The Academy promotes free training courses, with the aim of making methodologies and operational solutions immediately applicable in the field of motion control. An answer to the skills gap Giancarlo Scagliotti, head of Duplomatic Academy, comments: “Our customers today find in the Duplomatic Academy an answer to the skills gap: hydraulics is not Duplomatic Academy restarts with digital training 12 HYDRAULICS & PNEUMATICS April/May 2021 www.hpmag.co.uk taught in high schools and, often, adequate professional skills are lacking. For Duplomatic, people are the main asset and so it is for our client companies. For this reason, training is one of the levers on which we have focused, in a scenario completely transformed by the current Webtec, the Cambridgeshire-based specialist manufacturer of hydraulic measurement and control products, has achieved the Investors In People Silver award standard. The company has been working hard to achieve the high standards set for this prestigious global award since it gained IIP accreditation in 2017. The Investors in People accreditation has been developed and refined over nearly 30 years to help companies, leaders and employees work together to create better, more productive workplaces. Webtec’s company values and dedication to increasing the knowledge and skills of its employees, customers and its vision to ‘inspire others to enjoy the challenges that engineering brings’ through engaging with the wider community are very much in-line with the IiP’s ‘Leading, Supporting and Improving’ standards. Internal initiatives The company was commended for engaging with colleagues developing internal initiatives such as the Place to Work Group and Webtec Wellbeing, as well as the emphasis on innovation and continuous improvement. Jo Middleton, Webtec’s HR business partner, comments: “Achieving IiP Silver is a fantastic step forward for us. There is great commitment amongst our staff, and we are always seeking ways to improve and develop. I am looking forward to the next phase in our IiP journey.” Martin Cuthbert, Webtec’s managing director, adds: “Especially during the really challenging conditions we are all currently facing, we are really proud that the hard work of the Webtec team to continuously improve and of the managers to delegate and empower more people in the company to lead change has been recognised by this year’s IiP assessment.” Inspiring Nicholas Smith, the IiP Practitioner who conducted the assessment, says: “It has been inspiring to see the progress that the team at Webtec have made in the development of their culture and management practices and the benefits that these have delivered for the business. Webtec’s attainment of the Silver award level is well-deserved, and I look forward to working with them as they continue their journey.” Since 1991 Investors in People have accredited more than 50,000 organisations and the IiP accreditation is recognised in 66 countries around the world, making it the global benchmark when it comes to people management. Webtec achieves Silver Investors in People Award complex situation. Our goal is to support our customers starting from the Group’s expertise in the fields of hydraulics, electromechanics and IO-Link.” As the IO-Link Competence Centre for Italy, Duplomatic also continues its dissemination activity on the protocol for Industry 4.0, through webinars and speeches, also in thematic events, in close collaboration with the Profibus Profinet Consortium. In the coming months, more Academy initiatives will start, in collaboration with qualified partners such as Federtec – Assofluid – the Italian association of manufacturers and operators in the hydraulic and pneumatic sector – with the aim of addressing the specific needs of professionals in the industry and offering companies the opportunity to improve the quality of their human resources. Duplomatic Academy in figures Over 400 participants Over 300 companies More than 1600 training hours delivered. Information and registration on the site: https://www.duplomatic.com/en/duplo maticacademy-2.html (at this stage training is only available in Italian). Giancarlo Scagliotti: “For Duplomatic, people are the main asset and so it is for our client companies. For this reason, training is one of the levers on which we have focused, in a scenario completely transformed by the current complex situation.”