Training – Why It Pays To Raise Industry Standards

Around 25 years ago, the Altro Contractor Training School was born. Conditions were Spartan and we were desperately short of space. We were sure that interest would dwindle and the school would close due to lack of support. How wrong we were. A quarter of a century on, the training facility at Altro’s head office in Letchworth is state of the art and run by highly skilled ex-fitters. 5,000 trainees later and we're still going strong.

It’s never too late to learn, and even the most experienced flooring professionals can reap the rewards of brushing up their skills. Less formal, tailored training sessions at contractors’ or distributors’ premises are now increasingly in demand. Forming and welding mitres are popular topics; it's the fine detailing that has the greatest potential for going wrong and spoiling an otherwise good job. With continuing technological advances, it certainly pays to keep up to speed with new techniques and materials.

But it’s also worth remembering that training can benefit manufacturers. It gives us the opportunity to talk to fitters, exchange ideas and find out what life is like at the sharp end. 
For companies like Altro who export to many countries, this means training overseas and gaining an international insight.

Recently I was in Oslo teaching coving and mitring. A quick module in 2mm safety flooring, I thought, and on the next flight out, right? Wrong. I too had something to learn. The trainees were waiting in a wet warehouse with the temperature just above freezing and the planned modules were too complicated for the Krypton Factor. They only use water-based adhesives and the flooring for the demonstration was, by coincidence, Altro's 4mm safety flooring, which had been stored at sub zero temperatures for two weeks.

I wrestled with the roll of flooring, chipping off a metre then "persuading" it into the first set of internal mitres. Chipboard would have been more flexible. Eventually, my one candlepower hot air gun made it something like workable and the modules were completed to everyone's amazement.  Joking aside, the water-based adhesive was excellent and, even in cold conditions, dried quickly and held the cove detail solidly, enabling hot welding to take place within the hour.

Talking to the fitters later over a well-earned beer, it was clear that their problems on site reflect ours - too cold, poor lighting, other trades jostling for the same workspace and they felt that the money could be better. I hope they found the training session as valuable as I did, reminding me as it did of the challenges faced by contractors. It is by keeping in touch with all aspects of the industry that we can work together to raise product, service and skill standards. Ultimately, that will be good for all of us - and our bottom lines.

This article first appeared in the May 2006 edition of the CFJ.