Technical universities in Malaysia with German equipment
Dr.-Ing. Paul Christiani GmbH & Co. KG • Bespoke mechatronics training facilities
The Christiani Technical Institute for Vocational Training is one of the pioneers in the field of vocational training and continuing education. The company was founded in 1931 as Germany's first distance learning school for employees in technical occupations. Today, Christiani is one of the most important providers of documentation, materials and vocational education and training aids for vocational colleges and businesses providing vocational training.
Since the early 1970s, within the scope of their Examination Service business unit, the firm has been providing examination papers and practical examination materials for by now more than 150 trade and technical occupations. In addition, Christiani has become a household name on the merit of its consultancy services for workshop furnishing and curricula development as well as their train-the-trainer seminars. Moreover, in the past few years, the company branch Christiani Academy has provided the platform for the development of a comprehensive scope of continuing education programmes in the areas of technology and occupational education.
As a specialist for technical vocational training aids, the company attends industrial trade fairs both at home and abroad; this is where many co-operation projects have started. Many industry partners from Germany maintain international activities and expect Christiani to be likewise active well beyond national borders. This is why Christiani decided on the targeted opening-up of new markets abroad. The fact that in many places "Made in Germany" is a label for quality and technological innovation has significantly facilitated the market entry for the enterprise.
Today, Christiani supplies teaching materials to customers in more than 60 countries and steadily continues to expand its network of retailers. One of the milestones of this international business activity is the joint venture of establishing a training centre in Mumbai in India, which was officially inaugurated in summer 2008. The entry into the Indian market was facilitated by participation in a delegation trip organised by iMOVE.
The company's programme and products are increasingly designed for an international market and are available in various languages. The international business turnover increases each year and by now accounts for about ten per cent of the company's total turnover. Today, Christiani employs more than 140 members of staff and provides also vocational training for its own apprentices (training rate of ten per cent).
In Malaysia, Christiani co-operated with a Malaysian partner in the context of a public call for applications; this partner is likewise active in the provision of training and industry equipment for technical occupations. Together, they furnished five universities of applied sciences (polytechnics) in Malaysia. Specifically for this project, Christiani created a mechatronics training system that is based on Christiani's own well-proven mMS (modular mechatronics system) vocational training concept. The system comprises seven individual training stations, which all can be operated both separately and in combination. This includes also a robotic station with a professional industrial robot.
Working on these systems, today's young trainees get to learn about industrial automation processes. They make first experiences in the fields of functionality, operation, safe handling, maintenance as well as trouble-shooting and they learn how to program mechatronics systems and how these are integrated into larger process contexts. The combination of general consideration of the overall system coupled with the analysis of individual system components – starting with the overall system – opens up for students a view of the practice-related application possibilities and thereby supports understanding and learning success.
The teachers at these schools were locally trained by Christiani in the context of train-the-trainer seminars providing instruction regarding how to use the facilities. The Malaysian partner on site guarantees on-going technical support and trains the teachers in other topics such as SPS programming. The co-operation was launched in 2010 and is scheduled to be continued at other universities.
Information
This sucess story was first published in the iMOVE publication Developing Skills for Employability with German Partners • 8 Success Stories from Southeast Asia. The brochure was published in March 2014.
