NFPC become official Shell trainers

Shell UK Oil Products Limited has announced the approval of the National Fluid Power Centre (NFPC) as one of its official trainers in the UK, in respect of its lubricants business.

The approval comes as a result of the close working relationship that Shell and the NFPC have developed over the past two years and follows a comprehensive audit process conducted by Peter Morrey, Lubricants Technical Manager for the UK and Nordics.

As a world leader for training in hydraulics, pneumatics, control and automation, the NFPC is recognised by the British Fluid Power Association and approved by many international companies. These companies support and resource the NFPC and provide mentorship to its staff, helping to fulfil one of its core aims of providing ‘excellence through partnership’.

The NFPC will provide training to Shell customers covering important areas such as fluid and contamination management, risk analysis, COSHH and health and safety.

“This is an excellent development for the NFPC because it allows us to reach out to customers that we haven’t been able to reach before,” explained John Savage, Director of the NFPC.

Based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, the NFPC has a satellite network of training facilities across the country and these will now include the Shell Technology Centre at Thornton near Chester.

NFPC staff will visit the laboratories at Thornton for further training and will be carrying out training needs analysis amongst Shell customers so that tailor-made training packages can be created.

“The NFPC commands great respect throughout the different engineering sectors that encompass the fluid power and motion control industry because of its unmatched ‘hands-on’ approach to training and we are delighted to be working in partnership with John and his team,” explained Peter Morrey.

“The NFPC also looks to help increase standards across the board, leading to improved efficiency and productivity levels and this is very much in line with the core aims of Shell.”

Looking to build on the themes of improving efficiency and productivity, the NFPC will also highlight the sustainability and environmental benefits that better machine performance can bring.

The NFPC will not only be looking at how hydraulics work, but also at what energy they use and how to improve this, through better maintenance, the use of low-gravity fluids, in addition to what effect the choice of pipework, pumps and other system services have on performance.

As electrical drives become more sophisticated the NFPC will also be conducting comparisons with variable speed drive motors, which are becoming more efficient as technological advances are made.

“The work of the NFPC is crucial in raising awareness of the important role that the right lubricants and fluids can play within hydraulic systems and the benefits that a complete examination of the whole process can bring,” added Peter Morrey.

“As a partner, the training offered by the NFPC fits perfectly with our core 6 ‘R’s’ philosophy, which looks to make training a central issue so that as an industry we can get and retain the ‘right’ people, fully qualified to use the right amount of the right product in the right part of a machine at the right time and using the right methods.”