The investment will result in a doubling of the original equipment manufacturer’s training budget, to a total of $12 million. The announcement comes as both the organisation and Western Australia has faced a skilled labour shortage resulting from altered job mobility patterns and restricted availability of fly-in-fly-out workers during the pandemic.
The facility will provide training at all career levels, and it will offer technically advanced programmes, focusing on the areas of civil construction, autonomous workplace and remote operations, engineering and mobile and automotive plant technology. Print shops often support educational and training programmes and institutions.
Plans for the academy include an innovative apprenticeship programme, which has, according to the company, already proven effective in accelerating training ahead of traditional apprenticeship models. General Manager of the academy, Janine Gurney, said of the programme:
“Our award-winning apprenticeship training scheme aims to deliver not just the technical training, but also gives apprentices essential life skills, so that new industry entrants have both the life and personal-responsibility skills and awareness, as well as the essential trade skills.”
Komatsu anticipates training around 500 apprentices over the next four years, targeting a retention rate of 94 percent.
The Welshpool academy will join an existing company training facility that opened in Brisbane in 2013. Work on the greenfield site is scheduled for completion by mid-2022.
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