Painting technology training: Gottlieb Daimler School 1 cooperates with Wagner

The Gottlieb Daimler School 1 cooperates with J. Wagner GmbH in the vocational training of painting and coating technology. The company has now provided the school with a new powder coating booth.

The close integration of theory and practice has always been at the heart of vocational training. For this reason, the teaching staff at the Gottlieb Daimler School 1 (GDS1) attach great importance to close cooperation with companies. This is the only way to ensure that teaching content is always at the cutting edge of technology - a decisive advantage not only for the trainees, but also for the companies that are urgently looking for qualified specialists. When schools and businesses pull together, everyone involved benefits in the end. A successful example of this is the cooperation between GDS1 and the Wagner Group in the field of coating technology.

It is common knowledge that car parts are painted. What is less well known, however, is that certain components are better coated with powder than with liquid paint, so-called wet paint. In order to be able to teach the entire coating process in a practical way, the "Process mechanic for coating technology" training course was launched at GDS1 over 20 years ago. Whether manually or with the help of robots, the trainees learn how to professionally coat workpieces with wet paint or powder and what to look out for in the process.

Modern, industry-oriented equipment is essential to ensure that this can be done to a high standard. Only those who are trained on the latest machines will later be in demand as specialists - and there are currently a lot of them in demand. So if a powder coating booth is no longer state of the art, it needs to be replaced quickly. The teachers at GDS1 examine what is currently available on the market at "PaintExpo", the leading trade fair for industrial painting technology, which takes place every two years in Karlsruhe. Conveniently, GDS1 is also represented at the trade fair with its own stand. This not only serves to present the training course, but is also a point of contact for interested companies wishing to approach potential junior staff.

For Andreas Badt, a visit to the trade fair is always a reunion with his old teachers: he himself graduated in coating technology from GDS1 in 2011 and, after successfully completing technical school, found a job at J. Wagner GmbH in Markdorf. The company is a leading manufacturer of equipment and systems for surface coating and offers the entire range of technologies for a wide variety of applications. Together with his colleague Daniel De Marco, they found out at the last trade fair that GDS1 wanted to purchase a new powder coating booth and was also interested in one from Wagner. As apprentices at Wagner complete their school-based part of their training at GDS1, it quickly became clear to Badt and De Marco that this opportunity to intensify the collaboration should be used. Without further ado, the manufacturer donated a modern coating booth to the school.

The new system has now been in operation since the start of this school year. Fittingly, the subject of powder coating is on the curriculum in May. Subject teacher Markus Single therefore invited Badt and De Marco to a joint viewing appointment. For him, one thing is certain: "Collaboration like this is great and important. Together with committed companies like Wagner, GDS1 remains a leader in the national comparison and can continue to provide its lessons at the highest level." It shows once again that when schools and industry work closely together, synergies are created that benefit the entire industry - today and in the future. (OM-7/25)