Audi Employees Develop New Key Competencies
The path to e-mobility: Better together
The automobile industry is undergoing its biggest transformation since the invention of the car. Everything is changing: laws, technologies, products, processes, and customers. That’s why Audi has brought strong partners on board.
New powertrain types, autonomous driving, digital business models, new customer expectations – the challenges for the automobile industry are enormous. Each of them has the potential to fundamentally change the entire industry. This requires new key competencies and perspectives for the employees of a company such as AUDI AG and calls into question tried-and-tested structures and functions.
Strong partners help with the transformation process
Strong partners help with the transformation process
In terms of know-how transfer and diversity, Audi benefits from exchanges within the Group and in-house training centers. On the other hand, we also need strong external partners and partnerships, such as the Dieter Schwarz Stiftung’s Heilbronn Education Campus, the Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences (THI), and the Center for Advanced Studies at Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW CAS). In addition, there are training courses and qualifications at TU Munich and TÜV Süd.
Further training at Audi: Qualifying Vorsprung
How do I offer further training to someone who can develop powerful internal combustion engines, but will develop high-voltage storage systems in the future? This question was the starting point for a diverse advanced training program that Uwe-Wilhelm Heider and his colleagues at the Audi Academy in Neckarsulm initially developed together with THI in 2020. The background: Audi is expanding its development of high-voltage batteries for all-electric vehicles and
relying on the Neckarsulm site for it.
“New key competencies: High-voltage accumulator”
The qualification program is based on a detailed analysis of the target functions and the key skills required for them. “Our qualification program is aimed at employees who have never had any contact with electric drives or the systems, tools, and processes used on them,” explains Heider. The result is, among other things, a basic program of nine lectures at THI. Qualification for the “Basics of high-voltage storage technology” university certificate requires four hours, once a week plus self-study periods.
Continuing education in the region
Anyone who starts further training at the end of 2022 will complete a similar program at the Center for Advanced Studies at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University in Heilbronn. The program, which comprises a total of eight lectures, covers topics such as “Introduction to Electrochemistry” as well as the interaction of components within high-voltage energy storage modules and integration into the regulation of electric drives. “Regionality is a big advantage for us,” explains Heider. For example, in-person days could be offered in the university laboratory.
Personal transformation: Self-assessment needs to be learned
Personal transformation: Self-assessment needs to be learned
Individualized programs can also be developed depending on specific participants’ previous experience. Training components are selected based on an introductory interview with a realistic self-assessment by the participants. This involves creating a kind of mind map. “There is often a need for discussion,” reports Heider. “As a participant, you have to practice that first.” This type of consultation is held every three months to measure skills development and provide feedback.
Expertise in high-voltage storage: Job tandems between Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm
Job tandems were also established to further strengthen cooperation in high-voltage battery development at the Ingolstadt site and ensure the transfer of know-how across sites. Employees from Neckarsulm learn what is important in their new field of work together with their more experienced colleagues from Ingolstadt.
That is how Markus Zimmermann was also able to enter a new professional world.
That is how Markus Zimmermann was also able to enter a new professional world.
When battery development in Ingolstadt was looking for support at the end of 2019, Zimmermann was on hand. He studied vehicle and engine technology in Stuttgart and has worked at Audi in component development for internal combustion engines since 2012. “It has been apparent for some time now that electro mobility is the future,” the 37-year-old says succinctly. So he worked Tuesdays to Thursdays in Ingolstadt and Mondays and Fridays in Neckarsulm. He also went through the program specially tailored to him and completed the basic training at THI. “The increase in knowledge is enormous,” he summarizes.
Today, Zimmermann is responsible for modules in plug-in hybrids in Neckarsulm, thus acting as the interface between technology and project. He can only encourage his colleagues to take this step. “Now I can contribute and design. To do that, it’s much more important to know Audi and its processes and how the product is developed. You don’t have to know everything about the battery.” After all, what you don’t yet know is something you can work on.
