Getting to know each other in a virtual world
Packaging Solutions: Positive About Print
At the beginning of July, Optima gave a ‘digital welcome’ to the new apprentices and students at the Digital Innovation Centre. The Covid-19 pandemic meant that it was not possible for the customary afternoon of getting to known each other to take place in person. Some 45 trainees and students starting at Optima in September and October respectively, and their parents followed the virtual event. The concept was very well received by the professionals of the future.
The digital welcome ran for an hour. Sebastian Henke, director human resources, welcomed the trainees on behalf of the Optima management, and gave a short presentation of the company with the aid of a corporate film.
Volker Freisinger, the head of Optima manufacturing GmbH, provided information about the training centre and gave some interesting facts about the company. An informative video offered interesting insights into the vocational training.
The webinar was made more accessible and personalised with interviews with trainers and apprentices, with humorous anecdotes and stories from daily training, and information about their professional careers.
Trainees Erik Wurst, Niklas Bareiss, Florian Bruder and Leon Simon presented their apprenticeships as a mechatronics technician, an industrial mechanic, a cutting machine operator and an automation electronics technician. The trainees demonstrated standard work processes to show what is awaiting their future co-workers.
Of course, it was also a vital chance to gain an insight into Optima's hotbeds of innovation – the Digital Innovation Centre and the Additive Innovation Centre.
Verena Konz from Optima human resources development and a project team made up of trainees, who working together had built a miniature trade show machine using Lego-Technic, self-designed 3D printed parts and stainless steel elements using the Scrum method, demonstrated the level of responsibility that can be taken on in the training phase at Optima.
The new apprentices can find lots of useful information in the cloud to help them prepare for their arrival in September. A chat function during the livestream made it possible to communicate with the viewing public. To conclude, there was an opportunity to clarify any outstanding questions and to download a link to a recording of the event.
‘We wanted to present Optima to the new trainees and students using modern technology, despite the restrictions on contact imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic,’ said Sebastian Henke. ‘For us, just cancelling the event was never an option.’
