Girls Day at Schlötter: The exciting world of electroplating and surface technology
On "GirlsDay", Emma, Lena and both Luisas sought a direct line to the electroplating experts at Dr.-Ing. Max Schlötter GmbH & Co. KG in Geislingen. It was not difficult for the girls from the Realschule Steinheim and the Helfenstein Gymnasium in Geislingen to get involved in the not everyday, even exotic job of a surface coater.
In a highly engineered world, technical and decorative surfaces, from eyeglass frames and chrome-plated water fixtures to electronic components in smartphones and automobiles, are used everywhere. Electroplating is therefore found in almost every industry in our modern world, making it one of the most diverse professions there is. Surface coaters deal with the application of these surfaces, which are applied precisely for later use, but also with the development of new surfaces and the way they can be produced by electrochemical processes. The young visitors on GirlsDay at Schlötter quickly understood that this profession requires a high level of technical understanding of chemistry and technology to ensure that you end up with the surface properties you want.
Lena and Emma were very interested in the different types of surface processes such as surfaces made of copper, nickel, tin, silver, gold and chrome that are used for different applications. They were particularly impressed by an immersion bath in the experimental electroplating facility, which can turn a matte workpiece into a shiny gold piece. "The multitude of possibilities in coating technology and especially the exciting insight into the large research and development department at Schlötter" enthused Emma. During lunch together with some of the eight Schlötter trainees, the GirlsDay participants learned that Schlötter offers training in seven areas and that there is also the opportunity to go to an English-speaking, foreign Schlötter location for a few weeks during the company training. The fact that one of this year's "finishers" completed the surface coater apprenticeship at Schlötter as the best in the year is testimony to the quality of the apprenticeship at Dr.-Ing. Max Schlötter GmbH & Co. KG in Geislingen.