Training Center opened at Freudenberg Group / Digital learning and state-of-the-art technology
What will the job market look like in 2030? Robots, 3D printers and self-driving cars will simplify processes in production and logistics. Digitalization is also creating professions that require new skills. Training courses will be interdisciplinary and more complex: employees will need self-management, be willing to engage in lifelong learning and acquire technology expertise. Process management and computer skills will be as much in demand as digital learning, according to a recent study by the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The Freudenberg Group has invested some 8.5 million euros in the construction of a new training center at its Weinheim site. "We want to offer trainees a modern learning environment to get them ready for the digital workplace of tomorrow," says Dr. Tilman Krauch, Member of the Freudenberg Group Board of Management.
In the welding department, training takes place in eight modern welding cabins.
Around 100 visitors attended the opening of the training center. The guests included Joachim Bauer, Deputy District Administrator and Heiner Bernhard, Mayor of Weinheim. Klaus Zimmermann, Head of Festo Training and Consulting and an expert for digital transformation in training and further education, gave a speech about success factors in modern training.
The new training center shows how modern training methods and education works: trainees learn using a high-tech, fully automated four-module training system. The system replicates a complete miniature production line with a high-bay warehouse, drill stations and quality control, making digitalization tangible.
Understanding machines and how they work is vital to interacting with and intervening in technical processes. In the future, machines will even be able to perform their own maintenance work. At the same time, all processes such as ordering, purchasing and production will be linked with each other. This is the workplace of tomorrow.
Trainees write programs for computer-controlled production facilities; they program systems and operate them using design and production software. This expertise is becoming increasingly important in many apprenticeships and degree courses. Controlling modern processes will thus be an integral part of training and education in the future. In the training center, all training areas use digital devices such as touchscreen monitors or tablets. Teaching islands, a media library and an area for free study and presentations allow for interactive learning. The trainees learn together in interdisciplinary teams, create independent learning maps and solve tasks in teamwork. "Our main goal is to develop trainees to act independently and think innovatively - and be successful at work and in life," says Dr. Tilman Krauch.
