High-ranking delegation of members of the Indian Parliament and the Executive Committee of the Confederation of Indian Industry on a visit to the TII Group, Heilbronn

Germany is not only recognised abroad for its strong export sector, but is also seen as a model for the dual training system. According to the Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM), 98 % of the approx. 350,000 German exporters are medium-sized firms, which ensure they're developing qualified staff by investing in dual training. This also includes the TII Group, world market leader in the development and manufacture of vehicles for the heavy load sector. As part of their trip to Germany, a group of 14 high-ranking members of the Indian Parliament and the Confederation of Indian Industry wanted to find out how the TII Group applies the dual system to its staff training programme.

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The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Liaison Office India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) had issued the invitation for a political dialogue in Germany at the start of September. The first stop was a day with the TII Group. After a business dinner with the owner family, Otto Rettenmaier and senior management, the TII Group gave a presentation at the Pfedelbach site of the SCHEUERLE subsidiary, showing how a total of 60 apprentices and students are being trained in practice, and in collaboration with regional universities and vocational colleges, in the various technical and commercial professions, and what advantages this creates for the subsidiaries at the German locations. Dr Axel Müller, member of the TII Group Board, explained: “Staff training has long been a matter of course for our company group. Not only so that we can ensure our future as an international manufacturer of heavy goods and special vehicles by training apprentices and students, but because we also see this as our social responsibility.” This was also highlighted by Andreas Kohler, Technical Director of SCHEUERLE and KAMAG: “Thanks to countless innovations, our firm has been shaping modern heavy duty transports on the roads and in on-site operations for many decades. Our customers use our SPMT self-propelled modular vehicle programme to transport the world's heaviest loads, such as entire industrial plants for the offshore sector. The vehicle technology is continually being refined; the electronic controls and hydraulics are subject to the highest demands nowadays. We need highly specialised staff to produce vehicles that meet these demands”. After the presentation and visits to production and the apprentice workshop, the visitors from India were thrilled to get hands-on alongside the “global masters of heavy duty transports”: at the steering wheel of the 30-cylinder, 40-year-old classic rail car with 1,000 hp, and with the joystick to steer the cutting-edge, electronically controlled SPMT combination with its millimetre precision. During the evening, members of the German Bundestag from Baden-Württemberg – Thomas Strobl (Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag), Dr Joachim Pfeiffer (Economic and Energy Policy Spokesman for the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag), Christian Freiherr von Stetten (SME Policy Spokesman for the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag) and Steffen Bilger – also took the opportunity to meet the high-ranking politicians and business representatives and enjoy some animated conversations. The Indian delegation were heading on to Dresden and Berlin before returning to India a week later.