During the second year of the scheme all Reliance apprentices visit our manufacturing facility in Ireland – Reliance Precision Manufacturing (Ireland) Limited (RPMI). The second year of the apprenticeship is designed around completing a rotation around the different departments at Reliance to help build a full picture of the business and provide a taste of what happens in each area. The week-long trip to Ireland was added as an extension of this. Robert Farrell (Training School Manager) takes two apprentices at a time and this week, it was my turn.
I got up early and we travelled to the airport together. We flew from Manchester Airport into Cork and then travelled to Bandon, where RPMI is based. During the trip we were able to tour the business to see each department.
My two favourite things about the trip were getting to see how RPMI operates and how what they do fits into the wider business. It was also a great opportunity to meet my Irish colleagues who were all very welcoming and willing to answer our questions. I had met some of them before when they have visited our Huddersfield site, but there were many people I’d never spoken to.
Overall, this visit has added another layer to what I’ve already learned during our rotation around the business. Although I didn’t spend as much time at RPMI as I have in some departments in the UK, I think it was a great experience and we had a lot of fun during the trip.
