Training – comfortable outside your comfort zone
 

Remia invests in broadly deployable employees through internal and external training 
 

In its almost one hundred years of existence, the inventor of ‘fritessaus’, a typically Dutch low calorie-mayonnaise, has greatly expanded its product range of sauces, dressings, frying fat and margarines. It is a challenge for the Technical Services department to keep the machinery running, so that millions of products continue to roll off the belt every year. Remia also believes in development across the board in the field of knowledge. A group of both mechanical and electrical technicians recently did a three-day training course in TIA Portal System. To transfer that knowledge, itsme was a guest in the sauce capital of the Netherlands, Den Dolder.
 

Process engineering, power electronics, control and installation technology, these all come together in the maintenance of the 40 production lines. To this, add the great diversity of products, each with its own packaging and processes. After all, margarine for on bread requires completely different preparation processes and packaging techniques than a squeeze bottle of ketchup. For Erik van Roode, coordinator Electrotechnical Services Sauce Factory at Remia, it is exactly that variety that has been tying him to the company for 22 years. “Precisely because we don’t do the same things every day, it is important to keep our expertise up-to-date. And I also believe it is important that our people are all round. Our mechanical technicians, for instance,  can disconnect a motor on their own, without the intervention of an electrician. That’s what they learn with us.” 
 

Most new arrivals at the Technical Services department have a background in mechatronics and not all of them have a basic knowledge of programming. Together with Marcel Steijger, Training Manager at itsme Industrial Automation, Erik mapped out the wishes and the starting level of the trainees. itsme’s SIMATIC TIA Portal System training corresponded best to the needs of the group that consisted of both electrotechnical and mechanical technicians. During the training, the participants familiarised themselves with the most important functions within TIA Portal and went to work with a number of programming assignments, HMI and SCL. They also learned how to work with the diagnostic functions within TIA Portal. 
 

Mechanical and electrical meet
 

The students were taken through the programming in Siemens TIA Portal. That knowledge enabled the electricians to get started immediately after the training. Erik tells us: “They work daily on modifying lines. We are also going to set up a new production line shortly. The machines in that line each have their own controls, but do need to communicate with each other. The filling machines, for instance, should not operate if there is a malfunction of the packaging machine behind them. We do the I/O between the machines ourselves. We also arrange the control of the belts, the correct speed for example, so that there is not too much congestion at the packaging machines.” For the mechanical technicians, the training was especially aimed at familiarising themselves with some electrotechnical items. “Our mechanical people learned how a PLC works. They do not have to deal so much with it now, but in the future they should be able to handle small things by themselves. We have more mechanical technicians than electricians and now they don’t have to call an electrician for every little thing. And it also makes their work more varied and therefore more enjoyable. The new PLCs are fitted with a screen, enabling them to detect certain malfunctions, for instance if a PROFINET cable has broken. In that way, they can already do some preparatory work before they call an electrician. What is also important is that everyone can upload or download programs on their own”, says Erik, not without some pride.
 

​​​​​​​According to Tim Ackermans, the itsme trainer and product specialist, the differences between background and start level were perfectly manageable. “Everyone started with the same assignment. Those that were already a bit along could go to work on extra assignments, so that I could give more attention to those who needed it”, says Tim. Erik  himself was very pleased with the division between theory and practice. He says: “Theory is part and parcel of it, but our mechanical people prefer to work with their hands. Tim soon showed them some things on the PLC and that captured their attention. If it is only theory, you will never keep everyone aboard for half a day. At a later stage I want to start on SCL as for training. Our electrotechnical service department doesn’t yet have a lot of experience with this programming language. Then we can really go much further with the programming.” 
Low threshold important
 

“When you call Technical Support, they will give you explanations in plain language" 

Tim and his fellow product specialists are not just in front of class as trainers, but also give technical support. Customers consult them with various questions about, for instance, drive systems or PLC systems made in Siemens TIA Portal. This gives them a strong connection to practice and they know what is going on at their customers and what they need. It is that low threshold that is important for the Remia team, says Erik. “When you call Technical Support, they will give you explanations in plain Dutch, without that my mechanics are being beaten around the ears with all kinds of terms and software versions. Everyone is very friendly and there is time for a laugh, too. I think this is important, because that means that my people do not feel a threshold to call and subsequently stand still with a production line for three hours.”

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