Delegates from across the world joined industrial lubricants manufacturer, ROCOL, at its Yorkshire manufacturing site last week to celebrate 20 years of the ROCOL University programme.
ROCOL University was developed by the company to provide in-depth training to ROCOL distributors across the globe. The five-day course is delivered by the ROCOL technical team, who are experts in their respective fields. It covers products across the company’s food, industrial, metalworking, marine and offshore and aerospace ranges and combines classroom learning with practical elements to raise levels of best practice.
Now in its 20th year, this annual event has been a great success for ROCOL, who have seen demand for places increase year on year. This has led to similar courses being run remotely in countries such as China and Mexico as distributors look to take their knowledge to the next level.
Gunnar Rustard, general manager of Ing Yngve Ege, travelled from Norway to attend the 2019 ROCOL University. He said of the week, “I’ve been in the industry for 35 years and the training that ROCOL provides is the most detailed and thorough. It’s a great course and unusual that you get so much time being trained by a company.
“My colleague and I will pass on what we have learnt to the rest of the team when we are back in Norway. The idea is that we can then deliver a better service than our competitors.”
It’s not all serious work though. Outside the classroom, delegates are shown the sights and culinary delights of ROCOL’s home county, Yorkshire. “This year we took everyone to the Jorvik Viking Centre in York as well as for fish and chips,” commented ROCOL marketing communications manager, Shaun Heys.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for people who work in the same industry without being in competition with one another to get together, discuss business and network,” he added.
“With nearly 50% of ROCOL products now being exported, the annual university is an important means of ensuring that our distributors have extensive product knowledge and that best practices are being followed so that customers get the most out of the products they invest in.”
