Tue, 20 February, 2024
TWI Principal Technician, Tony Kraus took the short journey from England to County Tipperary in Ireland to deliver training at the premises of RTC Innovative Drainage Solutions.
RTC are specialists in drainage solutions, offering a range of stainless steel products, from floor gullies and channels to manhole covers. Often working to bespoke requirements, they offer design assistance including flow rates, loading capacity and testing capabilities. They also design and supply above-ground siphonic rainwater systems, which can be used on buildings with large roof areas and in those where the amount of rainwater needs to be minimised. They have been working with the pharmaceutical, food and industrial sectors for nearly 40 years, using materials ranging from polyethylene to polypropylene to GRE (Glass Reinforced Epoxy) both in single and double contained systems.
RTC chose to take bespoke plastic welding training and certification course for butt fusion, electrofusion, hot gas and extrusion with us, as explained by their Contracts Manager, Seán Kennedy.
Seán explained, “TWI has a highly recognised presence as trainers in our industry and the company was mentioned to me in this regard by numerous contacts. Having done initial research on the suitability of the courses offered, we engaged with Scott Andrews and his team and were able to tailor the proposed training to be specific to our work.”
Having worked out the most suitable training, Principal Project Leader, Scott Andrews passed the training over to Tony Kraus to undertake, as Seán revealed, “Tony Kraus was our trainer and assessor. He is passionate about his work and was keen from the outset to get to know the course participants and made distinct efforts to ensure that every trainee was comfortable with the module of the training that they were involved in at any given time.”
Seán continued, “Tony was very observant and on point with his commentary when the trainees were completing their various workpieces. No fuss was made over the assessment processes, which kept everybody within their comfort zone and, as a result of this, all of our operatives were successful in the assessments and it is our understanding that they all achieved high standards.”
As for the course itself, Seán noted, “We found the course content to be absolutely relevant to the work we do. The course was not overly weighted towards the theory side, which was hugely beneficial in keeping our trainees engaged.”
The training was completed over three days, with Seán describing it as “both interesting and informative.” The emphasis on practical tasks allowed RTC to “demonstrate the high standards that our installers are capable of,” with Seán noting, “We are proud, as a company to be in a position to demonstrate and showcase our employee qualifications and training to our clients and the highly regarded consultants that we work with.”
While the staff training met the needs of RTC, Seán told us that he now hopes to head over the Irish Sea to attend the TWI Manager / Welding Inspector course at our premises in Middlesbrough, before concluding, “I would say that, based on our experience, the training offered by TWI is extremely relevant to anybody involved in the welding and joining of thermoplastics.”