IPS International Uses Totalkare Lifts to Train Apprentices

Independent training provider IPS International have taken lifting and testing equipment from the workshop equipment experts Totalkare to help train the future generation of HGV engineers.

The Rochester-based training centre will now include a set of S6CF mobile column lifts and an Air Conditioning Service unit accompanied by F-GAS Training.

The pre-owned heavy duty lifts will be used at IPS’s Rochester training centre as part of the Heavy Vehicle Service and Maintenance Technician apprenticeships. Participants will be learning the skills needed to join the HGV workforce as an engineer in a course developed with help from key employers in the sector including Arriva, Renault Trucks UK, Stagecoach Group and SCANIA. The Level 3 Apprenticeship focuses on diagnostic and inspection methods, maintenance techniques and hands-on experience with lifting systems and ancillaries, essential to training the future workforce and combatting the HGV skills shortage.

The S6CF mobile column lifts offer a wireless solution for lifting heavy commercial vehicles, with each column providing a lifting capacity of 7,500kg. IPS International has taken a fully refurbished set of four columns, suitable for twin-axle buses, HGVs, and other commercial vehicles such as bin wagons and fire engines.

The second addition was a triple-certified (R134a, R1234yf and R513A) Air Conditioning Service unit, designed for reliable operation and efficiency, producing accurate measurements safely and in line with EU legislation. To supplement this addition, IPS International also opted to take F-Gas certification training from Totalkare to ensure legal requirements for training and assessments were met with minimal disruption, since as all teaching and testing elements were carried out on site at the Rochester training centre.

Graham Price, Business Skills Section Manager – Automotive and Construction at IPS International, commented, “The new mobile column lifts will provide apprentices with essential practical experience in both the safe use of lifting equipment and the repairs and maintenance carried out on the underside of a vehicle, whilst the air conditioning service unit will form an integral part of ancillary equipment training.”

John Ray, Area Sales Manager for Totalkare added, “IPS International are working to train up future HGV engineers to a high standard and combat the skills shortage in the UK. With many Totalkare lifting, testing and ancillary products in the workshops of leading employers across the UK, such equipment is likely to be encountered by this cohort of future engineers in their careers across the commercial transport industry – making Totalkare the ideal supplier for those in the education sector.”

For information on pre-owned mobile column lifts and other products see Totalkare’s website: www.totalkare.co.uk

Interested in HGV apprenticeships? Contact Graham Price at IPS International – grahamprice@ips-international.com / 07825 309338