On February 10, 2023, SGL Carbon welcomed a US delegation in Meitingen to learn about the dual training program in Germany. The delegation, a total of 19 manufacturing professionals from various regions of the United States, visited several companies around Munich and Augsburg, including SGL Carbon's site in Meitingen.
The study trip was organized by the two partners "American Council on Germany" and "America Works". Under the project "Stronger Together Manufacturing Workforce Missions", which is supported by the Transatlantic Program of the Federal Republic of Germany with funds from the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the experts from the US were able to get an idea of the German training system.
As an employer with a long tradition in Meitingen, SGL can look back on many years of experience in training. Year after year, the site trains apprentices in several professions and dual courses of study. “Dual training" in Germany, as a combination of theory in vocational school and practice in the company, was unique for a long time and has now been adopted by many countries. In order to promote exchange on this topic and report on decades of experience, the Meitingen site agreed to host the experts. The delegation was given a tour of SGL's own training facility and received insights into the company and its training system. At the end of the tour, the visitors had the chance to talk to the apprentices to get first-hand information about the advantages and disadvantages of "dual training".
Rüdiger Krieger, SGL site manager in Meitingen, is proud of the training program at the site: "I know from my own experience that people in the US are very interested in our dual training system, so it was a great pleasure for me to welcome the delegation to our site and share our experiences with them."
"We are delighted that we could visit the site as part of our study trip which gave us some interesting insights into the German training system. In particular, being able to speak directly with the trainees about their motivation and experiences was really fascinating for us," said Robert Fenstermacher, American Council on Germany, who led the delegation.
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