"Our expectations of the trade fair have been fulfilled!" Christoph Matheis Managing Director of the German Surface Technology Association (ZVO) Interview: Robert Piterek
240 exhibitors this year, a quarter of them at the joint ZVO stand. Are you satisfied with how the trade fair went?
Yes, we are. We had high expectations of the trade fair. These were fulfilled in terms of the quality of visitors and discussions, as well as the specific projects and investment plans, both by us and our co-exhibitors. We were also able to gain new members.
During the press tour, you spoke about the dramatic situation regarding personnel and employment, please outline the situation?
I see the dramatic situation in our basic training for surface coaters and even more so in technician training. The number of trainees has halved in the last ten years from around 900 to just under 450. There are many reasons for this. Surface coating is not a fashionable profession. Numerous training companies have also disappeared during this time. The employment agency is finding it difficult to place people in the profession. It is difficult to counteract this, but we have been intensifying our public relations work for the training occupation for a long time. We share a lot on the ZVO's social media channels and launched the new glanzvolle-karriere.de website last year. We also created a promotional video for surface coaters. But ultimately, recruiting trainees is the basic work of every company. This means that I have to make myself known as a company, use training fairs, approach potential schools in the region and present the profession. The situation is particularly dramatic when it comes to training electroplating technicians. There are three locations with full-time training: Schwäbisch Gmünd, Solingen and Nuremberg. There has been no class in Nuremberg for some time, in Solingen there are three students in one class and Schwäbisch-Gmünd has only managed to put together one class for the coming school year by the skin of its teeth. Here too, the reasons are manifold. It's a tough time for the budding technicians to go two years without a salary. Saving up early for these two years no longer seems to be as popular or possible as it was for the technician students of previous generations. In addition, BAföG is causing major problems for technical students. Applications are submitted in September and October. As a rule, the first payment is not made until May of the following year. This long period is simply unacceptable. We need to think about new ways of doing this. Companies that are looking for potential electroplating technicians for the future could provide their own scholarships, their own work-study places for technicians. Technicians could complete their training in peace and with the necessary diligence on a reduced salary. 13 technicians in training in Germany is too few. The situation is a little more relaxed for master craftsmen. However, it must be clearly stated that this is thanks to the DGO with its two-and-a-half-year part-time master craftsman courses.
Could the trade fair serve to improve the situation?
I think the trade fair is the wrong forum for the topic of training, at least in the area of basic training for surface coaters. This year, the TU Ilmenau presented its Master's degree course at the trade fair for the first time. It remains to be seen whether this presence will have a positive impact on the field of electrochemistry and electroplating. But let's not kid ourselves. We are a long way from our planned ten Master's students on the Master's degree course in electrochemistry and electroplating. The maximum number was five. As a rule, we have two to three new Master's students a year.
How important are automation technologies in this context?
Automation is advancing rapidly and is being accelerated by AI. It is the answer to a lack of personnel and skilled workers and affects every industry.
