Training course in China
I have been working as application engineer for WEICON since 2012. I am responsible for the technical customer service and I also support our field staff colleagues at home and abroad in application-related questions regarding our products. That requires a lot of experience and detailed knowledge of each of our products. In addition to that, building demonstration samples and performing adhesion tests for customer projects are also part of my job.
At WEICON, the service concept is very strong. We support our customers as well as our business partners to ensure that our products are used in the best possible way in different applications and production processes.
For that reason, I do not only work at our headquarters in Muenster, but I regularly travel around Germany and Europe together with my colleagues.
Sometimes, we are also allowed to report about applications of our products. In those cases, two colleagues from our advertising department join me in order to take photos and shoot videos on site.
The footage helps us to demonstrate the handling of our products and how to use them correctly in practice.
Service means passing on know-how
For many of our products, correct handling is essential, for example for ensuring that an adhesive bond resists certain strains or that a coating protects effectively against corrosion.
That is the reason why, at WEICON, we have been passing on our extensive know-how in internal as well as external training courses for decades. That way, we want to ensure that our high-quality products are used in the right way all over the world and that our customers are satisfied with our company as well as with our products.
One of our customers in China did not use one of our metal sprays the way we recommend it, so it was necessary to provide on-site training for the users on the correct handling of the product and on the subject of corrosion protection.
Six days of extensive program
For me, that meant: Off to China! In late June, I set out on the journey to the Far East along with my colleague Weiwei Goddinger from the international sales department.
Weiwei is in charge of advising our distributors in mainland China, in Hong Kong and in Taiwan. She is Chinese and, unlike me, also speaks the language.
We had planned six days of training and advice for the users. With the help of our many documented examples and self-produced videos, we wanted to specifically demonstrate the correct use of our products.
After our arrival in Beijing, we first visited our local distribution partner. On this occasion, we could inform the team in the Chinese capital about the latest news from WEICON and give an overview of new products and projects.
The next day, we went on a seven-hour train ride covering 1,000 kilometres to the provincial city Jilin. The city has more than 1.5 million inhabitants and is a fast-growing industrial metropolis. Many companies processing iron and steel are located in Jilin. In addition to metal processing, the chemical industry and food production play an important role in the city.
On our first day in Jilin, we went to a refinery. There, we provided training for the department managers on the subject of corrosion protection and on the use of WEICON Zinc Paint. The participants were very interested and asked many questions. That way, training really is a lot of fun!
On the second day, the focus was on hands-on applications. With the help of our product videos, the application of zinc dust spray was made subject of discussion.
During the following days, the users were trained on how to apply our paint on a cooling tower, on coating a pump housing and on the spray application on a maintenance access to a floor tank.
On our way back to Beijing, we travelled with a high-speed train at an average speed of 250 kilometres per hour – a very special experience.
As the last stop of our journey, we visited a coal-fired power plant located about two hours by car outside of Beijing. The power plant runs on sea water and has a sea water desalination system. Because of the heavy corrosion due to salty air, we presented several suggestions to our partners how to prevent corrosion.
Bringing back unique photos and experiences
From Beijing, we travelled back to Germany. The exchange of experience was very useful for both our Chinese partner and for us. We brought back some impressive photos, which were taken during our visits on site and which we can use very well for demonstrating different applications.
But it is not only this footage that I took home to Muenster. The many impressions and experiences were very special for me. My colleague Weiwei was born in China – for me, however, it was the first trip to the People’s Republic and I am very grateful for the many new experiences.
A lot of things are different in China in comparison to Germany: the extreme differences between rich and poor people, the traffic, which seems highly chaotic to Europeans, the many skyscrapers with more than 20 floors, and the Chinese food, of course, like duck feet or chicken feet, rooster heads, or tomatoes with sugar – the latter actually being very tasty.
However, there are also many things that are similar, like the employees‘ high commitment and a very high expectation in terms of the quality of products.
All in all, it was a great trip that I would not have wanted to miss out on!
