Michelin rolls out European MH tyre training

Michelin has launched a dedicated training programme for tyre technicians responsible for keeping fleets of forklift trucks and other materials handling equipment on the move.

The Michelin Training and Information Centre (MTIC) in Stoke-on-Trent is running the new materials handling tyre fitting course, which also embraces management of solid wheels. Michelin says the course lays the foundation for training excellence internationally and is hoping to roll it out across Europe.

Formalised through the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) Accreditation scheme and recognised by City & Guilds, the Licensed Commercial Tyre Technician Category 2 – Specialist & Multi-Wheel course, places a big emphasis on practical training, with nine assessments for each attendee to pass.

MTIC Training Instructor, Dave Womble, says: “We had previously only trained technicians to work on pneumatic materials handling tyres, but we needed to include the removal and fitting of solid elastic resilient tyres as well, including divided and multi-piece wheels that require a hydraulic press. This is a new area for us in terms of training, and we have risen to the challenge.”

The decision to launch the programme follows the complete integration of speciality tyre and wheel business Camso into the Michelin Group.

Womble adds: “We have developed a training syllabus which is significantly improving the expertise of Camso’s Solideal On-Site Service Division – the team responsible for keeping large fleets of materials handling equipment on the move – and has much wider appeal to the industry too.”

The three-day course focuses on a number of key areas: tyre construction and sidewall markings, types of materials handling tyre, wheel recognition and measurement, safe inflation procedures of pneumatic tyres, practical assessments of all tyre and wheel combinations, as well as hydraulic trailer press safety checks, and health & safety.

Michelin has built a specialist ‘press room’ within MTIC to support the new training, providing a bespoke practical learning environment for visiting technicians, including a mock forklift chassis. It has also invested in specialist tooling technology and the centre’s own tyre press.

MTIC is running the course for Camso technicians and offering separate courses for technicians from outside the Michelin Group.

Wayne Mapson, EU Service Development Manager for Camso, says: “The course really serves to differentiate us from the competition and allows us to demonstrate that we’ve taken our health and safety focus to a whole new level.

“On occasions in the past, the Solideal On-Site Service Division had been unable to operate at certain big blue-chip sites – but with our NTDA-recognised training, we can now prove we’re following the very highest industry standards.”

The new course replaces a previous Camso training programme which had been validated by the British Industrial Truck Association (BITA), but which was only available to the company’s own tyre technicians.