Apprentices from around the world will have the opportunity of measuring themselves against each other at the 37th WorldSkills competition for mechatronics in Switzerland, from 19 to 22 June. Festo Didactic has been supporting the competition for more than a decade and provides all the technical equipment required for the mechatronics competition, as well as helping to organise the overall category.
Candidates at a Festo Didactic training course using real industrial equipment
Festo Didactic has been developing innovative learning concepts for vocational and further training, covering the entire spectrum of production and process automation, for more than 30 years.
Teams of two members each from 27 countries will compete against each other at the competition. Over a period of four days, the teams are required to assemble and program four stations into a complete system. "The demands placed upon the apprentices far surpass the normal training environment. This affords outstanding preparation for situations encountered in daily life, such as maintenance stoppages at a customer's facility or troubleshooting in the production process sequence," states Tom Webster, manager, Festo Didactic South Africa.
Once again this year, Festo is sending two third-year apprentices to compete in the event, which (amongst other reasons) serves as a benchmark for training at Festo in comparison with other companies.
All the equipment - valued at roughly R9 m - for the mechatronics competition, including MPS (modular production systems) training devices and other training material is supplied by Festo Didactic. "This commitment pays for itself, because the training systems are put to the acid test at the WorldSkills competition.
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