Friday, 6 March 2020 marked the opening ceremony of Arburg’s new Training Center at he company’s headquarters in Lossburg. The 170 guests in attendance included Klaus Michael Rueckert, administrator of Freudenstadt district where Lossburg is situated, Lossburg mayor Christoph Enderle, plus representatives of the companies and institutions involved in the building’s construction. Arburg is setting new standards through the Training Center, affording customers the opportunity to benefit from cutting-edge digital training technology and machinery in the courses they undertake in the future. Measuring 13,700 square metres, the new building has increased the total usable space at the company’s German headquarters by just under five percent, taking it to approximately 180,000 square metres.

The ground-floor machine hall is the heart of the training area, spanning some 1,160 square metres and housing 15 electric, hybrid, hydraulic and vertical Allrounder injection moulding machines in sizes 270 to 820 - including a multi-component version. The machines chosen for the hall represent a cross-section of all the sizes and drive versions available in Arburg’s product range. Each injection moulding machine is equipped with a robotic system plus an IIoT gateway, and is linked to the Arburg ALS host computer system. There is also a Freeformer available for training in additive manufacturing.

While the training rooms themselves have a dedicated area on the first floor, theoretical concepts and their practical applications will be knitted more closely together in future. To achieve this, each of the eleven training rooms is equipped with a state-of-the-art smart board and every course participant will work on their own touch screen PC with a simulated control system. The PCs will also be networked with one another, enabling interaction, screen sharing and application sharing – making it possible to transfer the on-screen content from one computer to another and work collaboratively on the same document. Digitalisation will take things even further, allowing data to be transferred from the training room’s smart board to a smaller board on each machine. This will enable participants to work together in real time, wherever they are and no matter what device they are working on.

“This is a building of the future, where customers and other stakeholders can take advantage of the industry’s latest training resources”, outlined Michael Hehl, who is responsible for Plant Development in his role as Managing Partner at Arburg. “Over these 2,200 square metres, we can now offer interactive, networked learning opportunities focusing on both theory and practice - right here in Lossburg.”