148 new apprentices at Tognum

• 108 apprentices in Friedrichshafen, 26 at German subsidiaries and 14 at locations abroad
• Tognum exports German training concept to America
• Career training now offered at mtu South Africa and Tognum Asia

Friedrichshafen, September 3, 2012. A total of 148 young people started an apprenticeship or a cooperative education program at the specialist for propulsion and power solutions Tognum and its subsidiaries in Germany and at foreign locations. Tognum has taken the German version of cooperative education to the U.S. for the first time and is applying it at its subsidiary, Tognum America. It has even received accolades from the White House.

”We develop, produce and maintain state-of-the-art engines and energy systems, and to do this, we need qualified staff. With this investment in the future, the company is making an important contribution to counteract the lack of specialists,” explained Ingo Metzer, Head of HR at Tognum.

“In addition to the specialist instruction they receive during training, our intention is also to give these young people the ability to act independently and to be creative. They also learn to assume responsibility and to work with other apprentices in a team,“ said Steffen Besserer, Head of Staff Development, explaining the company’s philosophy.

Vocational training and dual study courses in Friedrichshafen

The vast majority of the career starters, amounting to 108 young people, will receive training at the lead plant in Friedrichshafen, which has increased the number of apprentice positions by 21 percent compared with the previous year 2011. The number of apprentices starting on a cooperative training program at Tognum and the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University in particular has increased. The Friedrichshafen location provides training for a total of 38 young people on nine study courses and for 70 trainees on eight different career paths. The group of industrial engineering students, with 40 young people on the course, is the largest.

A new addition to Tognum’s training program is the Bachelor of Engineering, with a specialization in Production & Management and the Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science with a specialization in Telecommunications.

Vocational training at other Tognum locations in Germany

New recruits are also starting their career training at other Tognum subsidiaries. Eleven young people at L’Orange, the specialists for injection systems in Glatten (Black Forest), are now training to become industrial engineers, one is enlisted on a program to become a precision metalworker. In Augsburg, at mtu Onsite Energy Gas Power Systems, two young people are on mechatronics programs and two girls are studying industrial management. In Magdeburg, at SKL Motor, four trainees started a training program on August 1 as warehouse logistics specialists. In addition, four future mechatronics specialists and two future industrial engineers began their training programs.

Vocational training at Tognum sites abroad

Young people at foreign locations of the Tognum Group also entered a new phase of their lives. For the first time, Tognum America is providing training in industrial engineering for six new recruits at its Aiken County, South Carolina location. The program, which has been prepared in collaboration with the Aiken County School District, the Aiken County Career and Technology Center and the Aiken Technical College, combines High School education, engineering courses in class and practical training in the MTU Aiken Plant, and is based on the standard cooperative education concept in use in Germany. It impressed U.S. educators so much that representatives of Tognum America were invited to the White House to present the concept.

And since the beginning of 2012, five apprentices at mtu South Africa have been learning the finer points of engine assembly and engine service. Three young people have started on their professional career at Tognum Asia.