Practice early
Getting to know the responsibility of one's own company – that is the overall goal of the Junior Company, the program for apprentices and dual students at Eberspächer. This year's project team focused on the future topic of hydrogen and developed a model car powered by this fuel. One of the many lessons learned was that you can't do anything without priorities.
24. July 2024 – Making business decisions, managing projects, keeping an eye on the overall goal: Apprentices and dual students at Eberspächer learn the basics of entrepreneurial activity at an early stage. The "Junior Company" program is designed to closely link theory and practice. In the second year of their apprenticeship or dual studies, the young talents assume responsibility for a program for one year, starting with the concept and ending with the successful completion of the project.
PROMOTING YOUNG TALENT
Stefanie Melzer, Head of Vocational Education, knows that both young people and companies benefit from the Junior Company: "Trainees and dual students often bring a breath of fresh air to existing processes and structures. This is just as important for the company, because only those who constantly question things can become better. At the same time, they gain a lot of experience. An important factor is the shared sense of accomplishment. "It makes me proud every year to see how the individual teams grow together and build up expertise," says Melzer.
It makes me proud every year to see how the individual teams grow together and build up expertise.
Stefanie Melzer, Head of Vocational Education
FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY
Each year, the teams determine the focus of their concepts themselves, with only sustainability and social responsibility as guidelines. The overarching theme for the ten-member working group was quickly established: hydrogen – as one of the key technologies for the decarbonization of industry and mobility. And it was clear to the engineers in the group that they wanted something tangible. So the idea of a hybrid, hydrogen-powered model car was born, based on the existing expertise of the Eberspächer Group, including the corresponding presentation concept.
A STRONG TEAM
The two project managers, Mascha Hennig and Lorenz Hackenberg, are particularly proud of the broad range of expertise in the team: from project management and technical understanding to IT knowledge, everything was available – or was developed "on the fly". Several hours were spent on the hardware and software. The apprentices and dual students learned a lot: about the relevant safety aspects of using hydrogen-based fuel cells, as well as the correct procurement process to ensure that all components were available at the right time. "We had to buy individual components and then adapt them to our needs. However, the entire vehicle control system via app and remote control was developed and programmed in-house. To do this, we collected a wide range of requirements and decided on the best intersection," explains Lorenz Hackenberg.
COMBINING THEORY AND PRACTICE
In addition to project management and an understanding of entrepreneurial thinking, the trainees and dual students deepened their knowledge of the future topic of hydrogen. They broadened their own horizons in accompanying training courses and in continuous exchange with various interfaces within the company. Mascha Hennig confirms this as a key success factor for the Junior Company: "We were able to develop the topic from scratch. This helped us to learn more about the complex processes of a company and to act on our own responsibility.”
The end result is really something to be proud of. The Eberspächer-designed model car will now be a permanent fixture at upcoming HR events and trade shows.