A
mericans, Belgians, Colombians: UTV’s
new conference room in Baden-Baden
seems to be hosting people from all over the
world. And that’s no wonder – for interest in
UTV’s composting technology is truly global.
“It goes without saying that we provide ex-
tensive training in the equipment we supply,”
says CEO Thomas Schlien. “After all, we want
our customers – most of whom live a long way
away – to be able to get to grips with UTV tech-
nology without any hiccups.” To make sure
things run smoothly right from the word go,
training is divided into three phases. Phase 1
takes place in Germany and enables partici-
pants to gain first-hand experience of UTV
equipment. Phase 2 is delivered in the custom-
er’s home country and is combined with the
start-up of their UTV equipment. Phase 3 fol-
lows a few weeks later and is designed to an-
swer questions from the operating personnel
which have cropped up during the first period
of usage.
Peter Brown and Marc Hebert from the Great-
er Moncton Sewerage Commission as well as
Barry Pascoe from Camden Soil Mix have
reached the end of the Phase 1 of team training
lasting a week. On arriving at Munich Airport,
they were met by qualified engineer Katja
Christof, who works in technical support at
Gore Cover System. Ms Christof looked after
the training group alongside Thomas Schlien,
adding not just her expertise but also her femi-
nine charm to an otherwise solely male group.
“After their long flight, we started off with
some local ‘acclimatization’: a tankard of beer
each and a portion of Leberkäs or meat loaf,
a local delicacy!” grins Katja Christof. It was
then time to visit Gore in Munich. “We ex-
plained how our quality assurance system
works, and then showed the trainees the pro-
ducts and how they’re operated,” explains
Katja Christof. The next stop was Baden-
Baden. After a tour of UTV, Peter, Marc and
Barry were given detailed information about
the equipment used and the procedures in-
volved. Afterwards, they visited two more
companies: Hauraton in Rastatt, responsible
for the AEROFIX aeration channels, and Ger-
hard Götz in Bühl, where the latest develop-
ment of the PWM 13 can currently be seen.
After a theoretical examination of the various
stages of the composting process, it was time
for the three participants to have a go: wind-
ing, measuring, checking, repairing and re-
placing elements until they’d all arrived at an
individual solution for their own facility.
10
TRAINING AND SCIENCE
Team training at UTV:
Amazing, isn’t it?
Peter Brown adjusts the oxygen sensor, fellow Canadian Marc Hebert makes sure it’s
stable, while Barry Pascoe from Australia concentrates on the sensor’s interior. Mean-
while Thomas Schlien keeps an eye on the compost data on the beamer and explains
what’s happening. All part of the tricontinental cooperation typical of team training
at UTV.
Easier than they supposed:
‘learning by doing’ in teamwork