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this level – with ever-changing materials, shapes and projects – requires a vast amount of experience. “Our training program is good,” says Raith, who has been with the company for 28 years. “But once it is completed, that’s when the learning really starts.” He estimates that journeymen need five years to master all procedures. Senior colleagues offer assistance by passing on their extensive knowledge. However, the best way to learn is on site under real-life conditions. The welders from Deggendorf are involved in installation projects around the world, often for periods lasting up to eight weeks. “Some colleagues have a permanent visa for China,” says König. If a customer in Asia calls requesting a specialist, a welder will be there the next day. Traveling the world is one of the aspects that Raith and Eberhard love about their jobs. “You visit so many countries and learn about so many cultures. We always face new challenges,” says Eberhard enthusiastically. Sporting three-day-old stubble and an earring, he is more often found at job sites abroad than at the Deggendorf plant. Wherever he goes, be it the US, Taiwan, Oman, Australia or Finland, he takes some time off to visit the sights.
TECHNOLOGY AND HANDICRAFT GO HAND IN HAND
His colleague Ludwig Kerschl currently works in the
relative comfort of an office, sitting just a few meters away, a laptop and monitors in front of him. He, too, is involved in the ITER project, but focuses on the engineering rather
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than the manual side of things. Together with a colleague, he must monitor a machine that his colleagues helped to improve. The device was developed to meet stringent geometric requirements in the production of certain components that could not be met manually. The welders are required to offer their expertise and advice for this task as well. “Helping to develop this type of machine represents ‘handicraft’ at the highest levels,” says König. Welding foreman Christian Kandler describes his employees’ abilities as somewhere between craftsmanship and high-tech engineering “because the machines keep getting more and
Most of our work consists of manual welding.” Werner König, Production Supervisor with MAN Diesel & Turbo in Deggendorf
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PHOTOS: Armin Smailovic
more complicated.”