The greatest FANUC Challenge in Austria
The greatest FANUC Challenge in Austria took place a few days ago in the sterner training center. What was originally planned to be a minor event soon developed into a groundbreaking occasion that could shape the future of the robotics training in the entire country.
As Training Manager at starlim und sterner, Reinhard Koch has experienced a lot of things during apprenticeship training. Last year saw his protégés competing in AustrianSkills, the Austrian national championships for careers, in the area of robot system integration. The sad thing about this occasion is that only 3 teams competed.
Stefan Praschl, an engineer from IBW (the Austrian institute for research and development in vocational educational training) was also disappointed. “I regard the fact that only 3 teams competed in AustrianSkills to be a poor indication of the state of things. I expected to see at least 6 or 8 teams”.
Reinhard Koch also found the numbers too low, as he had identified the enormous potential in this discipline and strove to inspire and motivate his students and apprentices to embrace this technology. Which is how the idea of the greatest FANUC Challenge in Austria was born in the sterner training center, a starlim und sterner facility located in Wels, Upper Austria. With this objective in mind, Reinhard Koch succeeded in increasing the number of participants in this challenge to 21 groups.
The holiday break gave students from the surrounding schools the opportunity to participate in the FANUC Challenge. Apprentices then had their chance during the Easter holidays. It offered them all a unique opportunity to test and expand their skills and abilities in the field of robotics.
With a clear focus on the practical application, the team around Reinhard Koch and FANUC Austria imparted the fundamental principles of the FANUC control system to the students and apprentices in only three days – and this at the highest level. The ultimate test needed to be faced on the fourth day, with 21 groups being tasked with the correct programming of their robots. “You have all been part of a truly unique challenge. And the performance of each and every one of you was simply perfect!”, exclaimed Koch.
A variety of personalities, including from enterprises and schools, were then welcomed on the Challenge day during the Easter holidays. These included CAP., WIFI, TGW, Wacker Neuson, Plasser&Theurer, Teufelberger, Trodat, Tiger Coatings, the Austrian Armed Forces, Himmelfreundpointner, Geberit NÖ, Kremsmüller, Trumpf, Magna Steiermark, Roto Frank Steiermark, Knapp Steiermark, Siemens Steiermark, Festo, the Chamber of Commerce for Upper Austria (WKOÖ), the Chamber of Labour for Upper Austria (AKOÖ), the Department of Education for Upper Austria (Bildungsdirektion OÖ), WIFI Upper Austria (WIFI OÖ, z.l.ö.), Talents&Company, TIZ Kirchdorf, Poly Wels, Poly Lambach, NMS Hörsching, Poly Leonding, FANUC Deutschland, FANUC Austria, IBW and starlim und sterner CEO, Thomas Bründl (himself an engineer).
The participation of all apprentices present meant that a total of around 800 young people had gathered for the event.
Thomas Eder, CEO of FANUC Austria, believes the future lies in the hands of our young people. And the issue of automation, particularly with regard to robots, will secure our well-being. “Many people are still unaware that, when it comes to asking for automation, the answer is not yes or no, but much more how”, he emphasised. There is a desperate search underway for specialists who would like to tackle a job as interesting as this. This is why Thomas Eder would be delighted if as many as possible of the FANUC Challenge participants would also get involved in AustrianSkills, EuroSkills or WorldSkills.
The engineer Thomas Bründl, CEO of starlim und sterner, is also very impressed by the Challenge. “I think it’s fantastic that solutions can be approached in an almost playful manner against this backdrop. What is really exciting is the increasing variety of approaches that lead to solutions. Which is why a great deal of thanks is due to Thomas Eder and FANUC Austria for providing us with the required infrastructure”.
The Challenge ultimately culminated in a very close competition between the teams.
The following teams were delighted to receive their rankings during the holiday break:
- place: Greiner
- place: Wacker Neuson
- place: NMS Hörsching
During the Easter holidays, Siemens, Plasser & Theurer and Tiger Coatings gained the following rankings:
- place: Tiger Coatings
- place: Plasser & Theurer
- place: Siemens
Finally, enormous thanks is due to the FANUC trainer Martina, apprentice trainer Tobias and national vice-champions Vanessa and David who will represent Austria at EuroSkills in Denmark.
The response to and feedback from this initiative was, generally speaking, overwhelming. Through a combination of competition, cooperation and technological innovation, the Austrian FANUC Challenge has ushered in a new era in robotics training. Inquiries have already been received from interested companies who would like to host similar events, or who wish to participate in these. The prospects remain really exciting!
