May 20, 2011

Appointment set to help industry mitigate for maintenance knowledge and skills shortage

~ New CP Automation business development manager has a passion for sustainable growth ~


Business development specialist John Mitchell has joined electrical supply, repair and field service provider CP Automation from Rockwell’s customer support and maintenance division. Mitchell’s objective at CP Automation is to help companies mitigate for a skills gap and labour shortage that he believes is costing European industry millions every year.

European manufacturers are estimated to spend over €400 billion on maintenance activities per annum. However, approximately 30% of failed items can be repaired at half the cost of buying replacements, creating a potential 15% saving.

Furthermore, only five new appointments are made for every ten maintenance workers who retire. This leaves maintenance teams over burdened and creates an ever increasing skills gap, as knowledgeable and experienced workers leave industry.

The new business development manager says, “The average age of the maintenance workforce is 48 so the pace of retirement is likely to increase in the mid-term future.”

Thanks to his apprenticeship at Texas Instruments, Mitchell understands how vital it is to keep plant downtime to a minimum. “Manufacturers spend 40% of their time on reactive maintenance with little left to get to the root cause of the problem. The irony is that 60% of preventative maintenance activities are actually unnecessary, so getting the right plan in place is essential.”

Mitchell, who is expecting a baby girl in summer 2011, enjoys cycling and other sports. He spends much of his spare time on the family’s allotment where he grows vegetables and passionately believes that quality energy sources are crucial for a healthy lifestyle.

Mitchell believes that CP Automation is in a mode of growth and that his experience in engineering, marketing and sales, across all major industry sectors will bring additional
know-how to an already established team.

Ends: 312 words

Editor’s note: The statistics in this document are sourced from Maintenance Technology, Plant Services and ARC Advisory Group.

For further information contact:
Tony Young, CP Automation
Unit 8, Ashley Industrial Estate, Exmoor Avenue,
Scunthorpe, DN15 8NJ
Telephone: +44 (0)1724 851 515
Fax: +44 (0)1724 851516
www: http://www.cpaltd.net/ and http://www.euroservltd.net/
e-mail: tony.young@cpaltd.net

Press enquiries: Richard Stone or Oana Baetica
Business Innovation Centre, Staffordshire Technology Park,
Beaconside, Stafford, Staffordshire, ST18 0AR
Telephone: +44 (0) 1785 225416
e-mail: richards@stonejunction.co.uk or oana@stonejunction.co.uk
www: http://www.stonejunction.co.uk/ 
Blog: http://www.stone-junction.blogspot.com/
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LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/technicalpragency

About CP Automation: CP Automation is a specialist in the repair and replacement of automation equipment including electronic boards, PLCs and Ac and DC drives. It was established to provide an independent maintenance service, without exclusive ties to any manufacturer. However, it does have strong relationships with the principal inverter, encoder, resistors and motor manufacturers.

Ref: CPA048/05/11


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