Rapid knowledge transfer is a basic prerequisite for agile management

The Würzburg institute has been a popular and reliable partner for industrial research projects for many years. At the same time, it is Europe’s largest provider of further training in the field of plastics and their processing. In recent years, the SKZ has linked these two activities ever more closely together.

“Developments have shown that, in addition to the ever faster pace of technological progress and the challenge of keeping up, the training of employees in the application of technology is becoming increasingly important. Best practices must be shared and the requirements and implementation of new standards must be communicated. This is why we attach great importance to a permanent exchange between research and education. This is the only way our trainers can always pass on the latest knowledge, including an outlook on future developments,” says Matthias Ruff, Sales Manager Education and Research at SKZ. This close internal interlinking not only leads to regular updates of existing courses, but also to the development of completely new courses or entire areas of further training. For example, the research group in the field of additive manufacturing, which has already been active for several years, has created an entire educational program on design, technologies and materials for processing technology.

“Research and education also benefit equally from feedback from training participants; we regularly receive feedback on the difficulties that really concern companies. For example, the alternative materials course, which was immediately very well received and continues to be so, arose from the situation of increasingly uncertain supply chains,” explains Andreas Büttner, Group Manager Education Materials, Compounding and Extrusion at SKZ.

The examples of success are numerous and range from current courses on rheology and new measurement methods to workshops on the current status of the effects and alternatives in the event of a PFAS ban. “The decisive factor for the optimum benefit for our partners and customers is the shortest possible time to market for the knowledge generated. It is thanks to the employees in the various departments that this is always achieved so agilely and efficiently at the SKZ,” says Ruff.

The Plastics Center aims to continue and intensify this close interlinking of knowledge creation and transfer. In addition to a modular degree in additive manufacturing, courses on chemical recycling and various special injection molding processes are also planned.

Further information on SKZ courses