Ian Conyers, Technical Trainer at Daltons Wadkin, a leading UK multi-material machine solution supplier
“In March, I will retire after 43 years in the manufacturing industry.
My career began in 1983, straight out of school, as a machining apprentice. Like many of my generation, I learned my trade the traditional way: hands-on, on the shop floor, surrounded by experienced machinists who passed knowledge down through repetition, observation, and correction.
Over the decades that followed, I worked across specialist manufacturing environments, the Ministry of Defence, the prison service, point-of-sale production, and eventually into training roles that would take me across the UK, Ireland, and beyond.
Now, as I prepare to step away, it feels like I’ve come full circle — from apprentice to trainer — at a time when the industry is facing one of its biggest challenges: the loss of skills.
The moment training stopped being optional
I didn’t set out to work in training. That shift came later in my career, during an unexpected chapter in the prison service. I joined initially as a discipline officer before moving into workshop instruction, where the focus was on delivering technical qualifications to offenders preparing for release.
It was a challenging environment, but also an eye-opening one. You quickly learn that training isn’t about manuals or checklists. It’s about communication, patience, adaptability, and understanding how different people learn, particularly those with additional needs or low confidence.
That experience sparked something in me. It showed me that teaching practical skills, done properly, can genuinely change outcomes. When I later moved into industrial training roles within metal processing and machine operation, those lessons came with me — and they still shape how I approach training today.
The skills gap isn’t coming. It’s already here
One of the biggest changes I’ve seen over four decades is the disappearance of structured, workshop-based technical training routes. When I started, formal machining and engineering courses were common. Today, there are far fewer pathways that produce job-ready operators for high-value machinery such as CNC routers, fibre lasers, press brakes, and other metal forming equipment.
Funding pressures on further education providers, alongside a documented fall in engineering and manufacturing apprenticeships, have made it increasingly difficult to sustain machinery-intensive training environments.
That means manufacturers can no longer rely on “ready-made” operators arriving with baseline skills. At the same time, sheet metal processing equipment has become more advanced, more automated, and — crucially — higher risk if used incorrectly.
Training is no longer just about compliance. It’s about productivity, safety, retention, and protecting significant capital investment. In my experience, done well, it becomes a competitive advantage.
The decline in formal education routes is only part of the picture. Even where businesses recognise the need to train, there are real pressures holding them back. A 2025 “Skills for Success” report for engineering and manufacturing notes that average employer spending on training has dropped by around 27% since 2011, while public funding for adult skills fell by about 31% from its early-2000s peak. Government data also highlights a “notable decrease in participation rates and expenditure” on formal training, with employers citing cost pressures and difficulties releasing staff.
The sheet metal sector isn’t immune to these realities. Production targets are tight, energy costs remain volatile, margins are under pressure, and training is still too often viewed as downtime rather than strategic investment.
The result? Training becomes reactive rather than proactive — delivered after an incident, near miss, or performance issue, rather than before it occurs.
What hundreds of site visits teach you
Over the years, I’ve delivered training to hundreds of businesses — from small fabrication workshops to expansive operations behind global names.
Spending years on the road gives you a unique perspective on what really happens on shop floors.
One thing leaders often underestimate is how quickly bad habits creep in when training is treated as a one-off event.
I’ve seen high-spec fibre lasers underperform because only one person truly understands the programming logic. I’ve seen press brake productivity suffer because tooling setups aren’t consistent across shifts. And I’ve seen safety risks increase when experience is assumed rather than refreshed.
One of the most common assumptions I encounter is that experience automatically equals competence. Operators are expected to “pick things up” because they’ve been around machinery for years. But without structured reinforcement, habits form quietly. Knowledge becomes siloed with one individual, and when that person is absent, productivity and safety both suffer.
Good training doesn’t remove responsibility from operators — it gives them clarity, consistency, and confidence in what’s expected.
The best fabrication shops aren’t necessarily the biggest or the most automated. They’re the ones where training is ongoing, standards are reinforced, and operators feel supported rather than rushed.
Why training in the real environment matters
One of the biggest misconceptions I still see is the belief that classroom training alone is enough. In theory, it sounds efficient. In practice, it often falls short.
Metal fabrication machinery varies hugely. Different control systems, different nesting software, different press brake interfaces, different safety interlocks. Training someone on a machine they’ll never see again doesn’t prepare them for real-world operation.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard operators say, “Where’s the function you showed us?” or “That’s not how this control works.”
That’s why on-site, machine-specific training is so effective. Operators learn on their own fibre laser, their own press brake, their own cutting system — in their environment, with their materials, their workflow, and their risks.
It builds confidence faster, embeds safe habits, and reduces costly mistakes.
If there’s one message I’d share with metal fabricators, it’s this: stop training people on the wrong machine.
Skills that transfer across metal processes
While technologies evolve, the fundamentals don’t.
Safe setting, safe operation, understanding machine behaviour, respecting guarding and interlocks, accurate referencing and measurement — these principles apply whether you’re operating a fibre laser, programming a CNC router for metal composite panels, or setting up a press brake for precision bending.
The surface technology changes — the interface becomes smarter, the automation more advanced — but the responsibility of the operator remains the same.
That’s why transferable core skills are so important. A workforce trained to understand principles rather than just buttons is far more adaptable as machinery evolves.
Building training as a capability, not an add-on
Over the past few years, I’ve been proud to be part of Daltons Wadkin’s training team — known internally as the “Red Team”. What started as a small function has grown into a dedicated, five-strong team delivering PIABC-assured training across the UK, Ireland, and beyond.
That growth reflects what we’re seeing across the sector. Many manufacturers no longer have in-house maintenance or training capability, and demand for expert, practical support has increased as machinery becomes more technically advanced.
Training today isn’t a bolt-on service. It sits alongside service, maintenance, and technical support as part of a complete machinery solution.
What I’ve learned is that training works best when it’s treated as an ongoing capability rather than a tick-box exercise. When it’s embedded into how a business operates — alongside production planning and preventative maintenance — it becomes part of the culture rather than a one-off event.
A full-circle moment
As I look ahead to retirement, I feel incredibly fortunate. I’ve worked in an industry full of skilled, pragmatic people, and I’ve had the chance to pass knowledge on rather than just accumulate it.
Sheet metal machinery will continue to evolve. Automation will improve. AI-assisted programming and nesting will get smarter. But none of it works without people who understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.
The risk for manufacturers is assuming this problem will resolve itself. Skills don’t regenerate automatically, and neither does experience. Without deliberate investment, businesses risk owning increasingly sophisticated metal processing equipment without the in-house capability to run it safely, efficiently, or consistently.
Over time, that gap shows up in downtime, scrap rates, quality variation, and lost confidence on the shop floor.
After 43 years, that’s the lesson I’ll take with me:
The future of manufacturing won’t be defined by the machines we buy, but by the skills we invest in — and how seriously we take the responsibility of developing them.”
