The surfboard industry gets qualified
"Some guys had been working in the industry for twenty or thirty years, sometimes longer, and when they lost their jobs they had nothing. No qualifications at all. It was heartbreaking to see."
Michelle Blauw recalls the many setbacks the Australian surfboard industry has taken in the past decade and the effect it's had on workers. From a skyrocketing Aussie dollar to the GFC, the surfboard industry, and subsequently those who worked in the industry, have been knocked around in a big way.
"When the dollar rose it killed off exports overnight. For some labels that was a third of their output gone," says Michelle. And the reason the dollar rose as sharply as it did? Australia's great mining boom. Yet when retrenched surfboard workers sought work in the mines they were told a lifetime in a board factory counted for nothing.
All that is set to change.
Around three years ago Michelle, who's the wife of Gold Coast shaper Stuart D'Arcy, began a quest to get trade qualififcations recognised in the industry. She worked hard for two years but made little headway encountering disinterest and resistance along the way. The idea was placed in the too hard basket and Michelle moved onto other projects.
Today, however, she awoke to news that the seed she planted many years ago had finally sprouted. The NSW Department of Industry has announced a trade qualification for the surfboard industry - Certificate III in Engineering Composite Trade.
The certificate already exists in NSW and Victoria, the difference is that it's now being rolled out nationally and packaged for the surf industry. On the 14th of this month a forum will be held on the Gold Coast (see image below) so the industry can ask questions and provide input on the course. Feedback and interest will also determine the success of the course.
Still buzzing from the news, Michelle said there were three positive outcomes from the news: "Firstly, people who work in surfboard factories can now get trade qualifications that can be used elsewhere. Secondly, older workers can get RPL's [Recognition of Prior Learning. In short: old fellas can sit a few basic tests and those years of factory work will be formally recognised]. Thirdly, factories can hire apprentices and begin to teach the younger generation the skill of handcrafting surfboards."
The last point is salient; the lack of formal qualifications has deterred younger workers from entering the industry and "carrying the torch", as Michelle puts it. "The surfboard industry is getting old and skills aren't getting passed onto the young."
Today's news means a career in the surfboard indstry is a more attractive proposition. Young workers can leave school and work in a surfboard factory secure in the knowledge that their skils can count elsewhere should the industry not work out.
Also, with an apprenticeship scheme in place factory owners can get government assistance of the type offered to almost every other industry. To date they've had zero access to any of that.
"Maybe it's all come too late," says Michelle referring to the drastic changes of the last decade and how they could've been avoided. Yet today's announcement is welcome news to those already in the industry, those thinking about joining it, and it may just herald a resurgence of Australia's surfboard industry.
See info below for the forum on the Gold Coast that will address all questions about the new qualififications. RSVP is crucial.
Comments
Given the Chinese influx to the market I would be quite reluctant to encourage my son or daughter in this path but each to their own. (I don't use Chinese personally)
I would enjoy reading the feedback from some of the industry stalwarts so bring it on!!
There is always going to be a cottage industry Tarz, guys that just love surfboards and surf whenever(well nearly) they want.
Shapers/glassers/etc. make trades type wages if they are good, this will mean that employers will get the subsidies for taking on an apprentice and will give the kid a bit of workplace protection.
Back on subject there could be some upside to this such as an award rate of pay for shapers and those who shape for employers like JS, DHD etc. But the end of the day a trade certificate is only a piece of paper unless theres legislation to protect if like there is for electricians or plumbers and gas fitters.
Surfboard construction skills are transferrable to other industries. A recognized trade based qualification makes that more readily applied. Great option for many young kids.
I'd happily support my kid down this path.
I think a lot of you underestimate the coin that can, and is, being made by many in the industry. Plenty of grizzlers perpetrating the old myths, but, all in all, a LOT are earning typical trade incomes.
Economic models prove that it pays to shop local and support cottage industry which is one of the reasons I choose to pay higher prices for proven high quality products from my shaper.
Wharfie, as long as the award rate of pay is reflected in the pay packet and not the profit margin I would whole heartedly agree but there will always be some sort of trade off there when it comes to competing with our Chinese friends.
One question I would pose is whether conditions such as superannuation, sick pay, workers comp, long service leave and annual leave are being met. I know a lot of industries (i.e. building and maintenance ) increase their hourly rates to compensate workers for this but the bottom line in the purchase price of a surfboard will need to increase to accommodate labor costs once again making Chinese imports more attractive to the masses.
Damned if ya do, damned if ya don't.
Thats the downside but they would all ready be competing with our Chinese counterparts. Like all manufacturing if the government doesn't support the industry by restricting imports via tariffs it makes it harder to compete. What a lot of Australian shapers have though that a ford, holden or a bluescope steel have is a relationship with returning clients purchasing custom boards.
What shapers can do and some are doing to reduce their labour time is use a CNC machine to pre shape blanks although I imagine the costs of the machine wouldn't be feasible for smaller businesses.
I've made cnc feasible. Needs a bit of IT skills and ozy can do.
PC operating system, cad, modelling, cam, cnc controller, all free open source.
Build your own router, there are lots of ways to do it.
I've put my router out on openbuilds, there's many there to learn from (and elsewhere).
These links might give you a start
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop
http://boardcad.com/
http://finfoil.io/s/r/xbxeyi
http://qcad.org/en/
http://www.openscad.org/
http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/
http://pycam.sourceforge.net/
https://github.com/grbl/grbl/wiki
http://www.openbuilds.com/
https://www.arduino.cc/
I hope that the Surf Industry will demand that the work place becomes clean and is regulated away from the current Toxic materials and will replace current practices with non-toxic legal working spaces!
Young people don't want to work in a dirty toxic environment , as we are all aware now of the carcinogenic properties of current mass production technology , lets hope the Govt does the right thing !
In a way it would be nice to have the skills learned to be 'backed' by a certificate of some sorts, it would make all the routers/planers/spokeshaves/sander polishers on my shelf a bit more "official" haha. In other lines of work the amount of certs you get for training or OH&S tends to pile up in the CV (and your skill base) so I'd welcome this one.
As for toxicity sharkman, I believe epoxy can reduce VOCs substantially; however after that you're looking at wood of some form, complete with substantial hours in the production process. No worries if the worldwide oil economy drastically changes in the future, we will still have surfboards, it will just be a completely different sales landscape to today's mass manufacturing and offshore dumping. Also note UCSD has created blanks from a base source of algal crude oil, so this may ensure PU blanks well into the future (complete with their chemical composition).
Toxicity is a big issue , not just the resins , but the acetones , catalysts , styrene 's , thinners .
the algae base blanks are interesting but are still made with the same process as current PU foams , the real interest is water based epoxies , no catalyst , and or bio resins that can be reused for injection molding , or the arrival of plant based fiberglasses .
One would hope that any new courses or certification would be pushing as the new frontier in Surfboard making, to be continued!
I have always laughed about the double standards of environmental activist pro surfers who use dozens of boards a year and fly around in Jumbo jets that have a carbon footprint bigger than most of the islands they compete at. Those same blokes piss and moan about people involved in other industries struggling to feed and house our families not giving enough of our time.
yes , the hypocrisy of all of us , including any and all Surf Co's , that claim to be green, but ride old toxic cocktail surfboards!
This would be good because it can incorporate new technologies into the course. Getting young blokes well versed with CAD and C and C machines for examples will boost the local surf manufacturing industry and allow for locals to compete on price. That combined with the Australian 'brand' of surfboard manufacture and this adds up to a good deal.
Was speaking to the organisers, Dunc, and if all goes to plan they'd like to set up a pathway to learning that leads from Cert III (the qualification above) to Cert IV that includes CAD and CNC programming. The idea being that someone who completes both can do every aspect of the craft from fixing dings, hand shaping, glassing, and CAD designing.
Not sure having a piece of paper is going to be of much comfort if the cause(s) are so diverse. Didn't do me much good as a graphic designer and now seemingly everyone with a computer IS a designer, go figure?
Read a piece written by Knicknack Carroll yesterday whilst he is visiting a trade show in the USofA, 30% downturn in the industry. One industry source saying the punters are confused, spoiled by choice. Well maybe. Stop sitting on your wallets guys, you have 50% chance of making the right decision. There aren’t bad boards, just ones that tell YOU what you don’t like.
I now work in the surfboard industry and am lucky enough to have the skills to slot in just about anywhere after a hobby went wrong… or right. Some good mentoring from an industry lifer certainly helped a long the way.
From what I have witnessed first hand, invariably people end up with their own way of doing things. As long as the end result clears QC, all is good. The only thing I can tell those who might not be familiar, it’s an industry based primarily on piece rates… if you are fast, indifferent or other, you may make reasonable money, but the peril is noise, dust, fumes, rabbit warrens and politics. If that sounds like you, go for it.
Making a board or two from start to finish is undeniably rewarding, doing the same thing 6-10 times a day, day in day out, gets you thinking perhaps there might be a better way to make a living. That said, every board seems to have a personality, whether they are off a machine or not. Many grubby hands have probably touched your pride and joy.
Have said all of that, yes, it would be good to see some support for people wanting to get into the industry.
Thanks for your input RV. Hope you got a few waves in Indonesia (also hope there was a happy ending to the lost board story!)
Yes and yes… didn’t you get my email re the board?
Whats the cost and servicing requirements of CNC machines?
once the setup on CNC machines is smoothed out and the commissioning complete the maintenance costs are minimal if they are kept clean. The router blades will need periodic replacement and moving parts need to be lubricated but the actual PLC that communicates with the design computer should be trouble free if good ventilation and dust removal is maintained.
The initial outlay will reflect the reliability of any machine if its maintained to OEM specs. The poor man will always pay twice.