Job Information Day

Voith has built a small hydropower plant on its factory premises in Heidenheim, Germany.

A compact, environmentally friendly turbine-generator unit was installed in the river Brenz. The innovative concept will not only generate electricity for the production facilities, but will also serve as a demonstration plant for customers, employees and the interested public.

A special aspect of the “Alte Bleiche” project was the extensive involvement of Voith technical apprentices, who participated for example in the design, manufacture and installation of the turbine and also took care of the control cabinet assembly. Furthermore, students from the Cooperative State University Baden-Württemberg were deployed on project management and engineering tasks. “The small hydropower plant “Alte Bleiche” is a major interdisciplinary project for our apprentices, who made a substantial contribution to the project's success. It also reinforces our reputation nationwide as an attractive training company,” says Erwin Krajewski, Head of Voith Apprenticeship.

Foto: Klaus Walz Fotografie

"Passionate, emotional, unique!" - this is how the Business Division "Training" presented itself at the Voith Arena on Saturday 18 July 2015. This was the day when Heidenheim FC introduced their new second-division team and played against the first-division club Eintracht Frakfurt for the Liebhaber Cup. Frank Schmid's Heidenheim eleven won the cup with 2:1, after trailing behind with 0:1 at half time.

Points were also scored by the Voith apprentices. Accompanied by Gerd Zimmermann, Erwin Krajewski and Matthias Lindemann, CFO of Voith Turbo, the apprentices introduced their latest "baby": The presentation of a white-blue-red (the club colors of FCH) Buggy was one of the highlights for the thousands of spectators at the soccer match. Gerd Zimmermann drove to the Voith Arena with three apprentices and the little racer. The sound of its engine even drowned out the ambient noise at the stadium - not really surprising, because all silencing components had been removed.

In his dual function as Member of the FCH Supervisory Board and CFO of Voith Turbo, Matthias Lindemann said a few introductory words about the Buggy project: "Under the expert supervision of their trainers, our apprentices have built a fully functional Buggy, which they dedicated to the FC Heidenheim. I am here today, because I am proud of this achievement of our Job Training Division."

The Voith Buggy puts 90 HP onto the soccer pitch. As a drive the apprentices used a VW-Bus engine, which had been tuned from 70 to 90 HP with Weber dual carburetors. With a weight of just 600 kg, the white-blue-red speedster therefore has enough power to be moved around in a very lively manner. To ensure that everything is safe, the Buggy has disc instead of drum brakes, hard stabilizers, a drop axle and harder shock absorbers.

Gerd Zimmermann described his motivation and thus made it clear how he and his team managed to master this project: "I am a great Buggy fan myself and a passionate hobby builder. And I thought, if this interests me so much, it might perhaps also grab our technology-loving apprentices - and this is precisely what happened. The Buggy met with great interest and my young colleagues joined in with enormous enthusiasm. We are all proud of the result and the fact that we are able to present it today in this fantastic setting."

The apprentices participating in the project (industrial mechanics, construction mechanics, cutting mechanics, mechatronics technicians, technical product designers and industrial clerks) built the car more or less from scratch. The basis of the Buggy is a VW Beetle chassis from the late 1960s. The end result is a stylish vehicle to represent Voith over the next few months in and around Heidenheim and at a number of away matches of the Second Bundesliga Division. But before we can see it on the road, it has to be approved by the TÜV. The aim is to get it registered as a vintage car and then drive around without hassle.

Matthias Wahl, second-year industrial mechanics apprentice, talked about his experiences: "All of us had enormous fun with the Buggy project and we have learned a lot. All we needed was a sponsor to whom we could dedicate the Buggy. And because the FCH is really a permanent conversation topic for the apprentices and trainers at the Voith Training Center, and many of us are great fans, we decided to build an FCH Buggy. And this served as an extra incentive to create a top-of-the-league Buggy."

For Erwin Krajewski, the project fits perfectly into the new Training Concept 2020. "The Buggy is a wonderful symbiosis of the four pillars of our job training: conveying technical competency, social competency, performance competency and emotional competency."

Vibrant red in front of fresh greenery: on Whit Sunday a new cross was inaugurated in the church garden of the Brenzpark. The four-meter-high and over 400-kilogram-heavy cross was designed and produced by VODG apprentices from several occupations.

It all started in autumn 2015, when Mayor Bernhard Ilg approached the training center with the request of building a new wooden cross for the church garden in the Brenzpark. The old cross, artistically designed by Sieger Köder, had fallen into disrepair and had to be removed.

In winter 2013 Erwin Krajewski and the officials of the ecumenical working group "Kirche im Brenzpark" had their first contact. In two meetings, a mental concept for a new cross made from steel gradually took shape. Light and delicate in its structural from, the work was meant to incorporate itself into the ambience of the State Horticultural Show grounds despite its size and its material

Due to the move of the training center in spring 2014, the initially requested completion date of May 2014 could not be met. Together, the participants then agreed on a new date in mid May 2015, the inauguration of the "Kirche im Brenzpark-Sommer/Church in the Brenzpark Summer 2015“.

Under the guidance of our trainer Eugen Kolb, various groups of apprentices worked on the object from autumn 2014. In coordination with the Schmiechen-based sculptor Ute Heimberger, drawings and models were created. Afterwards, on-site measurements were taken, in order to define the right dimensions together with our "customers" from the churches. The height of four meters corresponds with the canvas cover of the church garden and continues the line to Hellenstein Castle.

The cross was made from construction steel. A negative shape was cut out from two steel plates, lined with steel strip and thermally formed with a welding seam of about 30 meters. The result is a structure that looks massive but weighs less than half a ton due to its construction. The foundation could therefore be easily manufactured by the Town of Heidenheim, measuring 1.20 x 1.20 x 0.8 meters.

The project participants were not just apprentices from various industrial occupations, but also trainees with different religious, cultural and ethnical backgrounds - an analogy of the collective utilization of the church garden by different denominations.

In cooperation with the SBK the 2014 training schedule, for the first time, includes the prevention program for apprentices "Fit for the Future."

With their entry into working life the apprentices start a new phase in life. Apart from the changing daily routines, everyday working life also presents new tasks or unfamiliar pressures. Jobs have to be done standing up; others might have to spend most of their day in front of a PC screen. How the young people cope with these stresses is highly individual.

The goal of the health program is to make the apprentices aware of work-related health risks at an early stage and also teach them how to handle personal risk factors sensibly. With the help of the program, the apprentices learn how to manage individual pressures and to take responsibility for maintaining their health. The entry into working life is the optimum point in time for this, as it makes setting up positive behavioral patterns much easier.

The implementation of industrial health management was carried out by Motio GmbH in Munich. Over the next five months, our apprentices received practice-oriented lessons by the trainer Mr. Claire Dorn in the following five modules:

• Health care
• Analysis and ergometry
• Physical strength
• Nutrition
• Sport programs

The apprentices now have an in-depth knowledge on how to deal with pressures at the workplace. This is the result of a conclusive assessment of the program by the participants.

As last year, Voith is once again delighted about an outstanding exam result of an apprentice in 2014: Linus Ruf has completed his Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) exam on production technology with the best marks nationwide. For this result, Linus Ruf received an award from DIHK General Manager Dr. Martin Wansleben at a ceremony of the German Industry and Trade Federation in Berlin on 8 December 2014.

For the ninth time running, the IHK awarded Germany's most successful apprentices in IHK occupations. Over 200 top apprentices - and thus also their training companies - were honored for their enormous achievements on 8 October 2014.

All of the winning apprentices passed their exams with at least "Very Good".
At a festive ceremony at the Maritim Hotel Berlin, they received their certificates and trophies. The celebrations were once again moderated by Barbara Schöneberger. The keynote speaker was Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy Sigmar Gabriel.

DIHK President Eric Schweitzer praised the winners in his welcoming speech: "You have achieved maximum points in your final exams and you are now the best apprentices in your occupation - and all this among more than 320,000 participants. Please accept my warmest congratulations and my sincerest recognition."

Linus Ruf was successful at the IHK on chamber, state and national level. Bevor he travelled to Berlin, the 23-year-old had already been awarded for his achievements on state level in Reutlingen on 19 November 2014. Alongside Linus Ruf, 10 Voith apprentices passed their final exams with the mark "Very Good" this year, and another 17 young people finished their training with results between 1.5 and 1.9.

"I have a job that I really enjoy. My trainers at Voith gave me fantastic support at all times. The fact that I completed my training with such a good mark is of course another highlight for me," says Ruf about his time as an apprentice. Werner Klein, Workshop Manager for technical job training at Voith in Heidenheim, adds: "Our team is proud of Linus's success, but we are also pleased about the other apprentices with excellent exam results. This success clearly points out that we are on the right path with our education philosophy geared towards sustainable all-inclusive job training of young people."

Production technicians such as Linus Ruf plan and set up production and manufacturing lines and commission them. They test product samples and define process parameters. Production technicians operate and monitor ongoing production procedures, secure them and optimize production processes. To do this they are utilizing programs for simulating and steering industrial processes.

Since October 2014 Linus Ruf has been studying process technology at Stuttgart University with the goal of taking on a career challenge at Voith after his studies.

On 1 September 2015, 42 new apprentices for eleven different jobs started their training at Voith. After their first day at the Voith Training Center, the apprentices and their trainers spent a week in Kempten for the start-up days. Immediately afterwards our new young colleagues began their joint basic training at the Training Center.

The training concept, which came into force in 2011, includes an "orientation window for talents." Over a period of four months, apprentices from all occupations get to know the most important disciplines. Commercial apprentices work with technical/industrial apprentices and learn together and from each other. The collective basic training allows a joint start for all apprentices in our central training workshop. In an integrated concept, the apprentices experience a multitude of learning impulses.

The apprentices are introduced to the occupational areas mechanical and electric engineering, welding technology and technical documentation. In addition they gain an insight into business subjects such as the organizational structure of Voith, procurement processes, legal basics or corporate design. In the corporate map exercise "Beer Game", the apprentices acquire information on warehousing and materials management.

Another element of the collective basic training are various seminars and courses. Mr. Born lectures on Operational Excellence (OpEx) or underlines the importance of health and safety in a presentation, while Mr. Hlubek discusses the subject "compliance" with the apprentices.

In the seminar "Just in Time“ the fundamental philosophy on the subject OpEx is being intensified together with the apprentices. They learn about the different types of waste, and how waste (e. g. inventories, the search for tools, etc.) can be reduced. In a map exercise, industrial processes and operating procedures are carried out and gradually optimized - through own ideas. Afterwards, the OpEx process is continued in the training workshops. In seminars on the subject "respect", the apprentices and their trainer Mr. Walter develop positive aspects of team work, how to "give and receive respectful and constructive feedback" and how to present their personal opinion on the subject.

Other contents of the collective basic training are: Voith - yesterday, today and tomorrow, Corporate Divisions and Product Areas, intercultural competencies as well as data protection. In the seminar "Customers and Service Orientation" our apprentices learn valuable facts about communications.

Needless to say that the entire program also includes a guided tour. On 9 September our 42 newbies were out and about on the works premises.

Job Information Day

On Saturday 29 June 2013 we will be holding our annual Job Information Day from 09:00 to 13:00 hours. Visitors can learn everything about our job training schemes and our offers of dual study courses. Our apprentices and trainees will show practical exercises at their workplaces and will be happy to answer any queries you might have.

We are looking for young people who are keen to achieve results and prepared to meet new challenges. Our apprentices and trainees are encouraged to play an active part in our company by demonstrating responsibility, creativity and enthusiasm. Are you interested? In this case we would love to get to know you and invite you to our Job Information Day.

Quotation of a school student:
„I though the Job Information Day was fabulous. It gave me an opportunity to talk directly to the apprentices about the contents of the range of careers on offer. I'll find it now much easier to decide for a career path, because I know what is behind the individual jobs.“

Program:
• Tour of the workshops
• First insights into the world of training
• Opportunities to talk to trainers and apprentices
• Focal points of the individual areas
Erwin Krajewski (Technical Training Manager):
„Our employees are deeply committed towards innovative products and efficient processes. A large proportion of our workforce has been trained in-house. In-house training has been a tradition at Voith for more than 100 years, and we are very proud of this record. At the moment we are building an innovative training center right in the middle of Heidenheim, which meets our expectations on vocational training methods of the future. At this center, apprentices and dual students are being prepared for the vocational challenges that lie ahead in a wide range of apprenticeships and study courses.“

Our Job Information Day will be held at the Haintal Vocational Training Center, Giengener Str. 151, 89522 Heidenheim.

We look forward to welcoming you!