The right information to the right person at the right time

Current travel restrictions mean it’s not always possible to deploy highly qualified staff to the places where they are needed. Has this changed the perceived importance of having qualified employees right there on the spot, both for clients and Krones alike? Does this affect the Academy’s activities?
Müller: No, not really; it’s rather a confirmation of something that was on our agenda anyway. As part of our internationalisation thrust, we’ve for quite some time now been working on enabling the larger ones of our global subsidiaries, for example in China, Thailand, the USA, Brazil, Kenya and South Africa, to cover a variety of training events for their respective regions autonomously. Nor has it so far been the case that we’ve kept the relevant information and options in just one location, here in Neutraubling. We’re aiming to have qualified associates all around the globe, offering equivalent trainings in their own right, in the near future. That was already our strategy.

Philipp: It’s only thanks to our international network, which we’ve purposefully reinforced over recent years, that we are now in a position to respond with such flexibility.

Müller: In the medium term, we won’t be holding online trainings exclusively from Neutraubling for the whole world. We set up a train-the-trainer concept some time ago, which we’re using to enable suitable staff in our locations worldwide to conduct online trainings themselves. That has quickly proved its worth because, for example, Chinese clients will generally not want to book English-language training.
So, the international training locations must be fully equivalent – because it can be expected that Neutraubling will not remain the only competence centre for all products and content. The obvious option will then be to hold initial training for a certain specialist field at a subsidiary, whose instructors then train the trainers at other locations.

How will you ensure that the instructors worldwide will teach the content at the same high level of quality?
Philipp: What’s crucially important here is mutual feedback and that the trainers maintain a close connection to their regional markets, and of course with each other. We’ve drawn up online trainer guidelines for client training events so as to guarantee comparable standards and a consistently high level of quality all around the globe. It’s essential that we give our trainers the technology and the methodologies they need – especially when it comes to digital communication of content. Only after we’ve checked and assured that is the case will we be able to guarantee a consistently high level of quality worldwide.

Müller: Speaking of consistency: this is a major issue for us all across the board, not just in regard to specific training content. For example, we’re currently working on standardising all German training locations and the entire portfolio of our courses to better effect. We want training design and structure to be seamlessly integrated, across all facilities and all technologies

So training competences are being expanded in the various regions. Does that go for the facilities themselves, too? Or to put it provocatively: how important are training centres and in-person training options at all in an increasingly digitalised world?
Philipp: There are limits to what sort of knowledge and techniques can be communicated online. For example, whenever interaction with machines is necessary, we’re currently managing quite well with learning films and the like, but when it comes to hands-on mechanical exercises for the training participants we have hardly any digital alternatives at all. Our wish for the future is to use appropriate digital learning methods more, for instance with the aid of augmented or virtual reality. But at present we’re only just beginning to explore the options available – and that goes for the requisite IT infrastructure as well.
Even the best digital training method cannot always fully match a true hands-on learning experience, which is why local training centres with in-person training options will continue to be necessary.