Welding Expertise Joins the World

When joining semi-finished products, the quality of the joints is usually critical for the product. At the SKZ Plastics Centre in Würzburg, specialist personnel are trained for these tasks. Education made in Germany in this field is also attracting increasing international interest. 

The joining of plastics has a number of special features that need to be taken into account. At the same time, the processes are often used in sensitive areas such as critical infrastructure, e. g., when welding pipes. And this is where education made in Germany is a real export hit. For many years, companies worldwide have been drawing on the expertise of the SKZ Plastics Centre in Würzburg.

The SKZ has been actively involved in training plastics welders for decades. In Germany, several thousand participants complete a course at the institute every year, ensuring high-quality welds in pipeline and container construction. This specialist knowledge is also increasingly in demand internationally. “We regularly receive enquiries from abroad asking us to conduct training courses on site. In some countries, we offer annual training courses in collaboration with a partner. But we also offer courses to unskilled workers on large construction sites to prepare them for the job before they start work,” explains André Lazovic, Deputy Group Leader for Education in Joining and Surface Technology.

SKZ trainers travel far and wide – training courses in the USA or the Middle East are now standard. But course participants also enjoy coming to Germany. “We now frequently teach courses in English at our training locations in Germany. This allows us to respond to growing demand and also enables companies that only have a few participants and cannot afford to bring a trainer to their premises to participate,“ says Lazovic.

(Source: FSKZ e. V.)