Selected guests and partner companies were given insights into the history and development of apprenticeship programmes in the company. A look into the future was also part of the event: for 2023, the company is planning the start of construction for a new training centre in Bielefeld, the Böllhoff Education Campus.
Managing directors Michael W. and Wilhelm A. Böllhoff opened the event together with their father Dr. Wolfgang W. Böllhoff, honorary chairman of the advisory board. In a panel, they spoke about the development of technical apprenticeship in their family business over two generations.
Michael said: “A lot has changed in technical apprenticeship over the years. Simply put, vocational training has evolved from pure mechanics alone to electronics. Many years ago, we then entered the world of digitalisation. All of this continues to have a big impact on apprenticeship at Böllhoff: We have been able to take on many new specialisations over this long period of time.“
Afterwards Hubert Romoth, head of training, looked back on the 30-year history of the company's own training workshop in Bielefeld.Since its establishment in 1992, it has been the centre of technical training at Böllhoff. Here, the technical apprentices acquire the necessary skills for their everyday work: on modern machines and always in close exchange with their trainers and fellow apprentices.
“Every year, we mentor around 30 of our own apprentices and 70 apprentices from cooperating companies in our training workshop in Bielefeld. In 12 different technical professions. And we have been doing that for 30 years now,“ Romoth said.
In addition, there are more than 25 Böllhoff apprentices every year in the commercial area, in logistics and in IT.
Today, these apprentices are still learning their job outside of the training workshop. In future, however, there should be synergies: through an open training and further education concept all apprentices, students and employees will benefit from. Hubert Romoth then presented this concept: “People meeting and creatively exchanging ideas, that’s the ideal foundation for learning. We will therefore increasingly focus on exchange and on joint projects. Between apprentices of all disciplines, students and employees - but also with cooperating companies, start-ups and educational institutions.“
A new training centre in Bielefeld, the Böllhoff Education Campus, will provide the ideal setting for this open training and further education concept in the future. On approximately 1,600m2, the new building will combine technical workshops, modern exchange and training rooms as well as a smart factory laboratory for topics such as networking and robotics. A forum for joining and fastening technology is also planned: here, Böllhoff products can be experienced by pupils, students and guests, for example in hands-on events and product training.
The start of construction of the Eur5m facility is planned for March-April 2023. The Education Campus is scheduled to open in 2024.
Wilhelm Böllhoff added: “With this new building, we are investing in the most important building block for a successful future: in the training and further education of our workforce. This way we are not only creating sufficient capacity to meet the steadily increasing demand for skilled workers, but also gaining space for new approaches. Space that we can use, for example, to expand existing cooperation with educational institutions and partner companies or to try out new event formats.“
