TWI (India) - A Decade of Progress
When TWI (India) Ltd was registered as a company in Chennai, India in 2011, it was not a totally unknown entity in the country. TWI, through its CSWIP courses, had already made a mark in industry circles. The opening of the office for Indian operations was to augment these efforts and utilise the locally available resources and talents to further the work of TWI in India. Chennai, a city in southern India, connected well nationally and internationally, happens to be one of the oldest Indian metropolitan areas and a lot of welding related activities happen in and around this region. A lot of people working abroad are from the southern portion of India.
Nearly a decade has passed since its inception and it can now be said with certainty that TWI (India) has more than achieved its objectives. What started in 2011 as a very humble office in the regional manager’s house has now grown bigger and better, occupying three floors in a building and including classrooms, NDT laboratories, office space and more in the heart of Chennai city. The employee numbers have also grown from 5 to 30.
The decade gone by has seen TWI (India) grow progressively through an increasing number and variety of courses, an increasing number of candidates and locations and, last but not least, an increasing number of locally trained and qualified faculty members. The development of faculty members locally for our various courses in welding, painting and NDT was clearly a winning strategy and, with such a qualified and well-trained team, TWI (India) was more than eager to conduct CSWIP courses on a regular basis at various vantage locations in India.
Candidates and their customers were able to choose a location of their choice and do the courses comfortably. Most of the courses were scheduled well ahead, with meticulous planning, including logistics, enabling the candidates to plan their desired training programme. It is worth mentioning that these faculty members, apart from conducting courses in India, also supported neighbouring regions like the Middle East and Malaysia by conducting not only CSWIP courses but also diploma courses in their regions. Today, TWI (India) offers CSWIP Visual, Welding and Senior Inspector ( 3.0, 3.1, 3.2), ATC88, ATC89, and NDT courses like PT, MT, RT, UT, RI, ECT, 3.4U, ToFD, AUT, and PAUT on a regular basis.
Conducting special and tailor-made courses to suit customer needs has been a unique speciality of TWI (India). The last decade has seen several such programmes in welding, painting and NDT. Through these programmes, TWI (India) has served the needs of customers in the general engineering, thermal power, oil and gas, petroleum, and steel sectors. The future will see more such activities delivered to customers of other sectors. TWI (India) has also been a regular participant and sponsor of technical exhibitions and has thus contributed to the growth and development of technology at large.
SEASEP programmes offered another unique opportunity to develop the skill of Indians and TWI (India) did not miss out this opportunity. Over the last two years, more than 2000 candidates from industry and engineering colleges have been trained and certified as part of this initiative.
Throughout this period, TWI (India) had the unstinted support of TWI (UK), be it in the form of technical personnel visits, technical inputs, cutting edge R & D support, data support, reference support and guidance and TWI (India) owes a substantial portion of their success to TWI (UK) without which TWI (India) will not be where they are today.
While everything seemed to be working well, all of a sudden the situation turned worst with the appearance of COVID 19. The whole world suffered and TWI (India) was no exception. But with grit and determination they fought the circumstances and internet based courses were developed, planned and offered. It was the most welcome move and the customers lapped it up enthusiastically. Though there were some disruptions in the beginning, over a period of time market accepted these modes of delivery and once again TWI (India) were back on track.
The future has a lot in store for TWI (India). India is a huge and growing market. Having established as a training and certification company, TWI (India) has now plans to embark on another ambitious programme. They are in the process of enhancing their service activities, research and development activities for specific customers. This will strengthen their product portfolio and help them reach a wider range of customers and industries. Though the opportunities are plenty, the competition is also severe but TWI (India) are confident that with their dedicated team and with support from TWI (UK), they will be able to win over their clients.