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Providing Australian industry with a technology-led, workforce skills development solution
13 July 2023, Sydney, Australia: Intertek SAI Global has partnered with sister company Intertek Alchemy, a global leader in workforce training solutions, to provide Australian industries with a technology-led, workforce skills development solution.
Prompted by the need to fill the manpower gap faced by the manufacturing industry alongside other key verticals including healthcare and agriculture, Intertek Alchemy brings over 20 years of success in helping companies engage and retain their workforces, create safe and productive working environments, and maintain compliance.
“The manufacturing industry is at a critical point in time with their workforces, where training technology must be considered an essential tool for recruiting, educating, and advancing employees for the long-term,” said Darrin Harkness, President of People Assurance for Intertek Alchemy. “We look forward to working with Intertek SAI Global to provide the Australian market with a proven solution for ensuring their continued success, by investing in their greatest asset – their people.”
The manufacturing industry is a major employer in Australia, providing work for over 870,000 people across the country, with food product manufacturing the largest in the sector at 21.9% and a projected 11% year on year growth. Adding to this, in the five years to 2026, employment in food and drink factories is expected to grow 17.5% – emphasising a need for businesses operating in the industry to have scalable and comprehensive skills training systems in place. Furthermore, high turnover across manufacturing, currently at 19% , has challenged this industry to scale and retrain incoming employees without avoiding downtime and loss of productivity.
A recent study by Alchemy into Global Food Safety Training has shown the Australian market is primed for a tech-led skills training provider, with local food manufacturing businesses almost twice as likely (34%) to implement new training and technologies or delivery methods in the next year compared to global counterparts (17.5%).
Additionally, the study has shown a substantial majority of training in the sector is focused on “on-the-job training” (86%) and/or “read and understand learning of standard operating procedures” (77%), leading to a lack of standardisation and a high risk of non-compliance in food safety requirements which is business critical.
Intertek Alchemy offers many industries a comprehensive solution for efficiently and effectively providing critical workforce learning and development.
As world-leading, technology driven training and development system for manufacturers and food safety consulting, Alchemy is designed to deliver significant leaps in productivity and to improve efficiency for employers in the food and manufacturing industries.
The Alchemy Training System provides hundreds of industry-specific courses based on adult-learning best practices, with multiple delivery options and automated documentation to keep facilities audit-ready.
Ben Marshall, Commercial Director Asia Pacific at Intertek SAI Global said on an operational front, the uniformed training Alchemy will expedite on-boarding, ensure knowledge retention, and provide better use of man hours so as not to disrupt production in an industry that often experiences regular employee turnover.
“Australia has an incredibly strong food and beverage industry that contributes substantially to employment opportunities across the country, particularly in regional areas. With a robust training platform like Alchemy in place, food manufacturing businesses are well positioned for growth as they are supported by a skilled and competent workforce,” said Ben Marshall.
Lifestyle Bakery, Australia’s leader in the gluten-free market for over 20 years, is already utilising the benefits of Alchemy’s Training System to elevate the quality of training material and ensure consistency of training content.
“Before we implemented Alchemy, training was often last minute and left us with mountains of paperwork to fill out, rushing to meet audit requirements,” said Lifestyle Bakery Co-owner and HR Manager Karen Dela Pez.
“As an entirely gluten-free bakery, ensuring our staff are highly trained in food safety, is always at the forefront. Partnering with Alchemy gives us peace of mind knowing our staff have received high quality, very consistent, accessible, and measurable workplace training.”
“Alchemy’s systems mean training can be delivered in multiple languages at the same time. With a multilingual workforce, this is critical for our business,” said Karen.
Alchemy’s ability to provide industry-specific training via multiple delivery methods with automated documentation, offers significant potential across multiple sectors. The company is looking forward to accelerated expansion of its customer base in the Australian market.
[1] Labour Market Insights, Manufacturing – https://labourmarketinsights.gov.au/industries/industry-details?industryCode=C
[2] Victorian Food and Fibre Export Performance Report 2020-21, https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/849718/FF-Export-PerformanceReport_20-21_web.pdf
[3] Labour Market Insights, Food and Drink Factory Workers – https://labourmarketinsights.gov.au/occupation-profile/Food-and-Drink-Factory-Workers?occupationCode=8311