On Monday, September 3, 2018, six trainees, four cooperative students and one dual student started their training at Dieffenbacher. Axel Dieffenbacher, member of the Dieffenbacher family, and the team of Dr. Ralph Weber, Head of Human Resources, welcomed the new training cohorts at the Dieffenbacher Group headquarters in Eppingen. In the coming years, the next generation of employees at the machine and plant manufacturer will complete the Dieffenbacher training program and become experts in fields such as electronics, industrial mechanics, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering.
Dieffenbacher offers the new trainees an extensive program during their introductory week to ensure a perfect start to their training. In addition to a tour of the company, product training and seminars on topics such as occupational safety, time is allotted for the trainees to get to know the trainers and the other trainees. After a two-day introduction to the Dieffenbacher company, the group will travel to a team workshop in Althütte in the Rems-Murr district for the following days. They will be accompanied by trainers Nicola Bräumer, Matthias Höfle and Hauke Schmidt. During the workshop, the new trainees will undertake various team-building exercises. These include an orienteering run through the neighboring forest and various group work activities designed to strengthen team spirit. In addition, the young people learn to rely on each other.
After the introductory week, the training program for Dieffenbacher trainees is specially tailored to the chosen training occupation or course of study. This is made up of several modules over the duration of the program. First, trainees are taught theoretical subjects at the vocational school or college. Second, they receive practical training at the Dieffenbacher Training Center or in the specialist departments. During their training, the young people take part in a variety of internal training courses and workshops. These include participating in a business simulation exercise, seminars on the topics of project management and presentation technology as well as monthly lessons about the company itself.
As a highlight of the training program, Dieffenbacher also gives trainees the opportunity to spend several weeks abroad. The young employees get to know one of the foreign production, sales or service sites or support an assembly team during the installation of a Dieffenbacher plant. This allows them to gain practical work experience abroad in parallel with their training or studies and to get to know other working cultures and mentalities. Constantin Mozer, a mechanical engineering cooperative student at Dieffenbacher, spent five weeks abroad with a customer in Thailand in August 2018. During this time, he supported two Dieffenbacher teams on various construction sites and facilities in the south of the country. He is enthusiastic about the experience: “In this short time I experienced, saw and learned an incredible amount. I was impressed by the enormous dimensions and complexity of the Dieffenbacher plants, the extensive rubber tree plantations and the diverse Thai cuisine. It is amazing what logistical work is required so that we could actually find and assign all the required parts during assembly of the Dieffenbacher plant.”
