KTR count on the subject of industry 4.0 with commercial training

KTR Systems GmbH manufacture coupling components on state-of-the-art machinery at their headquarters in Rheine. Every year three apprentices start with their apprenticeship as CNC cutting machine operators in the fields of turning and milling technology. In May 2018 the training department’s machinery was supplemented by a new turning lathe NEF 400 by the well-known manufacturer DMG MORI. Christian Fröse, foreman in industry and head of the production training department, explained the background.

Mr. Fröse, taking a tour through the production department we immediately realized the new machine located in the entrance area of the manufacturing hall. Was this your intention?

„It goes without saying that it makes a good impression on the visitors of our manufacturing hall to see the state-of-the-art machinery used for production here. The background of the new turning lathe, however, was different. Although we are one of the most popular employers in the region and we have never been concerned about finding qualified employees so far, we strongly feel the expectations and demands of the young applicants rising. Providing a sound and safe training place is no longer sufficient. It is vital for the young people to be trained according to the latest technology level. We consider as outdated placing old and scrapped machines from serial production in the training department when training highly qualified employees“.

What is special about the machine?

„The machine has all functionalities of a state-of-the-art CNC turning lathe. Only its size and power are slightly below that of a turning lathe we use in serial production.“

Thus, the apprentices are trained on a machine which almost complies with the future work in the production operation?

„In fact it is more than that. As an example, consider the control surface CELOS. Our new training machine has an operating panel with touchscreen surface. This makes operating easy and intuitive like with an iPad. In addition the machine can be perfectly incorporated in our business organization. Information on production orders, drawings and other documents is provided completely paper-free. This item was of special significance to us to give the subject of „Industry 4.0“ the priority it deserves already during the commercial training.“

That sounds interesting in fact. One final question: Are there any training positions vacant in 2018?

„Currently all training positions intended for the training year 2018 are assigned. But it goes without saying that we are open to unsolicited applications by top-level applicants at every time.