|
 The Wilhelm-Maybach School in Stuttgart Bad-Cannstatt/Germany is an industrial occupational and technical school specializing in the fields of metal, vehicle and foundry technology. It offers many different types of courses for both career starters and professionals in search of further education, from vocational preparatory sessions right through to master classes.
For more than 15 years the Stuttgart school has had a friendly association with the Brazilian Centro de Educacao Profissional SENAI Lindolfo Collor. This initiative was created as a result of the desire of German companies to hire skilled, Brazilian-trained employees for their production plants. Located in Sao Leopoldo in the Rio Grande do Sul region, the Centro de Educacao offers young people
2-year training programmes to prepare them for careers in metal working.
 Jairo Valmir da Silva, head of the Brazilian partner school, and his colleague Cleumar Ferreira recently travelled to Bad-Cannstatt for a three-week exchange of information and experience in order to get a picture of German teaching methods and find new project ideas
that the Centro de Educacao could use.
The German team under OSD Hans Prommersberger organized an informative programme of visits to well-known Swabian companies, including the Schorndorf-Weiler-based manufacturer of hot and cold chamber die casting machines Oskar Frech GmbH + Co. KG. As market leader in this field Frech also operates in Brazil through its own subsidiary. In 2007, Frech expanded and strengthened its position further with the acquisition of the die casting division of Mller Weingarten AG. Frech's die casting specialists and teaching staff from the Wilhelm-Maybach School have been in close contact for many years and exchange information on new developments in the industry.
The two Brazilian teachers, together with three German colleagues, were warmly greeted at Frech's head office in Schorndorf-Weiler by Dr. Norbert Erhard, CEO of Oskar Frech GmbH + Co. KG. After a short introduction about the latest developments in die casting Martin Schlotterbeck, Training Director at Frech, explained the latest innovations in hot chamber machines that significantly contribute to processing stability and to the reduction of cycle times in the die casting process. The teachers were also able to form an impression of cold chamber die casting machines in Frech's new plant in Plderhausen, where the company builds machines with locking forces of up to 52,000 kN. For these series, mounting plates of 48 tons, assemblies of up to 66 tons and machine columns of up to 9,000 mm in length must be warehoused, transported and assembled. Impressive dimensions - even for the specialists from Brazil - which generated a multitude of different questions for Mr. Schlotterbeck.
|
|
Oskar Frech GmbH + Co. KG has succeeded in its application for re-certification in accordance with the quality standards of ISO 9001: 2000, just seven months after taking over the die casting business of Mueller Weingarten AG. This achievement follows a month-long team effort to analyse and optimise working processes and implement innovations - all without interrupting the company's day-to-day business.
 TÜV SÜD Management Service carried out a comprehensive audit at the beginning of July at Frech's headquarters in
Schorndorf-Weiler and at subsidiaries in Pluederhausen und Solingen (Germany). The audit was 100% successful;
no deviation was noted that could have postponed the issue of the certification. The re-certification is valid from
August 3rd, 2008 for the next three years. It covers divisions for Research & Development, Production and Assembling
of Hot and Cold Chamber Die Casting Machines, fully-automated Die Casting Cells, Tooling, Overhauling and After-Sales Service.
|
