Industry

Firms target 350 trainees for employment

More than 350 students and technicians are set to be employed by Nairobi Bottlers Limited (NBL) and two other companies after undergoing training.

The manufacturer and distributor of Coca-Cola brands in partnership with Krones East Africa and Centurion Systems partnered to form the Technical Training Institute dubbed Centre of Excellence for Food and Beverage Industry, at NBL headquarters where the students were trained

The beneficiaries of the program will undergo a two year training to advance their practical engineering skills.

“We have since realized that a lot of graduates we are getting do not have the plug and play skills we are looking for. This program intends to bridge the gap in engineering within the workforce and avoid skills-mismatch, while providing employment to over 350 technicians after training,” said Duncan Kimani, NBL country manufacturing.

Pyramid effect

Mr Kimani said that they are targeting lecturers and students from technical colleges (and universities) in order to create a pyramid effect in uplifting technical training, while creating a “pipeline of talent” that corporates can draw from.

He said that the apprentice program is also opening its doors to all industry and private individuals seeking to enhance their practical engineering skills.

“We are looking forward to not only impact the Coke system but the nation in terms of the 2030 agenda and our doors are open to the public,” he said.

The managing director, Centurion Systems, Kevit Desai, said during they will offer technology transfer and training to the candidates to offer innovation in the manufacturing sector.

Mr Desai said that they will offer training in 11 modules to address a pertinent needs within the industry like maintenance of systems up to factory standards and to foretell possible failures. Krones will offer training on consumption-optimised lines and machines for processing, filling and packaging technology.