Erwitte. On Friday, 16 June 2023, the award ceremony for the in-house ‘KÖNNEN’ competition took place at Schlüter für Baumaschinen in Erwitte. The task for all technical trainees this year was to produce a puller during an exam simulation. For the award ceremony, 120 trainees travelled to the Schlüter headquarters from all over Germany together with their trainers from the respective locations. Among them were the new Schlüter trainees who will be completing their training as agricultural and construction machinery mechatronics technicians, wholesale and foreign trade management assistants and IT specialists in system integration at the family-owned company from 1 August 2023.
Schlüter's ‘KÖNNEN’ competition is an in-house project in which the trainees have to manufacture a product independently. This is not only a test of strength among the trainees, but also serves as preparation for the journeyman's examination.
Visit to the Wittekind quarry in Erwitte including blasting
During a trainer workshop, in which the trainers from all locations analysed the current training situation, the Schlüter trainees travelled to the Wittekind company in Erwitte to visit the quarry. Here, a WA600-6 wheel loader and a Komatsu PC1250-11 crawler excavator could be inspected directly in the quarry during the loading process and also viewed up close after the work was done. This was of course something very special, especially for the new trainees, who had not yet had any contact with Komatsu construction machinery. Prior to this, the entire process of cement production, from production to delivery, was explained during a tour of the quarry and the role Schlüter plays as a dealer and service provider for the customer. The highlight of the day was a blasting, which the trainees were able to watch live from a safe distance. Afterwards, they returned to the Schlüter headquarters for the award ceremony.
Award ceremony for the ‘KÖNNEN’ competition and welcoming the new trainees
The ‘KÖNNEN’ event is a firm fixture in the Schlüter calendar, which is why numerous colleagues from Erwit also came along to the award ceremony for the workpieces. The first three prizes were distributed according to the year of training. Dieke Ricklefs (Aurich) took first place in the first year of training, ahead of Niels Meyer (Georgsmarienhütte) and Karl Georg Schäfer (Elxleben). Lars Hense (Erwitte) won in the second year of training, closely followed by Vincent van Slageren (Estenfeld) and Jonas Gräbe (Dortmund). In the third year of training, Eric Jakobi (1st place, Erwitte), Noel Wollek (Kreuztal) and Jannik Lenniger (Erwitte) were successful in the subsequent places. The training team led by Ulrich Morth is very satisfied with the organisation of this year's KÖNNEN competition: "The annual KÖNNEN competition is the ideal way to prepare our trainees for the final exam at the end of their training, as we hold the competition with a theoretical and practical part under similar conditions. In addition, our trainees can see very clearly from their performance which things are already going well and where they still need to improve before the final exam."
In addition, 43 new trainees were able to get a taste of Schlüter and gain a first impression of their new company. They were introduced by name after the award ceremony and received a small welcome package for their start on 1 August. A total of around 120 trainees will be undergoing training at the same time from next month. This corresponds to a training rate of an incredible 11%. Thomas and Kaspar Heinrich Schlüter, Managing Directors: "We are delighted about the number of trainees in our company, because we need young people in our ranks! 120 trainees show that our motto ‘We grow with the youth’ is not just a slogan, but is also put into practice."
