The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI)
About The IMI
The IMI is the Sector Skills Council for the automotive retail industry, part of the Skills for Business network and the professional association for individuals working in the motor industry. The IMI is also the governing body for the Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) scheme.
There are 25,000 individual IMI members, from across all areas of the motor industry, who are recognised for their skills and experience. IMI Membership is awarded on the basis of an individual's qualifications, career history and motor industry experience.
In such a competitive and challenging environment, the IMI can be a valuable partner throughout a career in the motor industry, by assisting with professional development and giving you the appropriate recognition.
The Challenge
As the Sector Skills Council for the automotive retail industry, the IMI is committed to raising the skill set of employee’s in the sector and since August 2008 has been a Learning Skills Council contract holder.
Subsequently, the IMI has created a consortium of smaller, non government funded companies to help them increase employee skills by supporting, guiding and monitoring them through a Train to Gain initiative.
The consortium currently consists of six companies (delivery partners) and over 300 learners but, these figures are expected to increase significantly by summer 2009 to 10 delivery partners and over 1000 learners.
With numbers consistently increasing, the IMI needed a suitable platform to allow them to monitor both student learning and progression, as well of that of the delivery partners, to ensure that the Train to Gain initiatives where a success and employee skill sets risen.
The Solution
With the IMI monitoring and supporting multiple learners and delivery partners over a number of locations around the UK, Perspective recommended the implementation of Sunesis, adapted to suit the needs of the IMI in the Train to Gain environment, to provide a fast and accurate web interface for delivery partners to record learner progress and attendance as well as manage all information in a single location.
Sunesis is a unique Training Management System, providing the skills sector with the tools to support the management of learners for Train to Gain, Apprenticeships, Work Based Learning, NVQ’s and other work based learning, where learner progression management is key to achieving quality standards.
Sunesis is based on an online platform that easily tracks an individual’s progression throughout their learning programme. By utilizing unique access controls, the management of Train to Gain Contract can be effectively monitored and measured via a single system, enabling training partners to manage their own learners through effective learner-centric tracking of progression against qualifications, frameworks and milestones, as well as providing all the critical data required to manage funding.
The Results
Sunesis was integrated in August 2008 and used utilised from November when the first learners started. Although the learners are yet to complete their training, Sunesis has supported and monitored progression not only of the learners themselves, but also of the delivery partners who were all new to the train to gain initiative.
The information collected from data entry is available from a single location making the production of progression reports a quick and simple action for the delivery partners.
Andy Moore, Delivery Partnership Project Manager at the IMI, commented:
“Before opting for Perspective’s Sunesis we looked at and researched a number of options but no other monitoring platform had the structure and management options we were looking for. Sunesis is student led and ideal for keeping all data in one, easily accessible, place which, when working with six partners and hundreds of learners is an essential for us to meet the Framework for Excellence needed with the Train to Gain initiative.”
“Perspective themselves were enthusiastic and supportive from the outset and offered to adopt to current Sunesis platform to exactly suit the needs of IMI and our delivery partnerships. To meet our deadlines however, we needed an extremely quick turn round in the creation of the new platform and it was there, ready to go on time.”
“I would highly recommend Perspective and Sunesis to any company undertaking Train to Gain.”
The IMI are already in talks to expand usage of Sunesis into other areas of the consortium including apprenticeships, recruitment and also to keep track of finances.
