Since 1994, Fraunhofer IFAM/Continuing Education Center for Adhesive Bonding Technology (WZK) has been offering personnel certification training courses in adhesive bonding technology for company employees. What began as a small initiative has now, 30 years later, become a global industry standard under the umbrella of the European Federation for Welding, Cutting and Joining (EWF), which is used by participants on all five continents. The product-neutral, cross-industry, and cross-hierarchical adhesive bonding personnel qualification is carried out worldwide in cooperation with German, European, and non-European partners in accordance with the quality standards of Fraunhofer IFAM.
The awarding of participant certificates after successful completion of examinations is carried out in accordance with ISO 17024, ensuring that these documents are internationally comparable and have the same value regardless of where in the world they were obtained under the umbrella of EWF and Fraunhofer IFAM.
Collaborative partner
The first step in developing the internationalization of personnel qualification in bonding technology was achieved in 2010 with the cooperation between Fraunhofer IFAM/Continuing Education Center for Bonding Technology (WZK) and the YIFA Institute for Bonding & Composites, a cooperation that continues to be very successful today.
YIFA Bonding
The EWF courses are conducted in Chinese by our Chinese cooperation partner using the WZK teaching/learning materials in China under the above-mentioned conditions. Only weeks 7 and 8 of the EWF qualification to become a European Adhesive Engineer (EAE) and the associated oral final examinations are held regularly at Fraunhofer IFAM in English with translation into Chinese. For the Chinese EAE participants, these two weeks in Bremen are a special “goodie.”
„China-Germany (China-Europe) Hidden Champions Forums 2024“
(12. – 14.05.2024 in Beijing/China)
Hidden Champions Forums 2024
Against this backdrop, at the instigation of our cooperation partner Innotech Marketing und Konfektion Rot GmbH, represented by its CEO Joachim Rapp, member of the Academy of German World Market Leaders – ADWM GmbH and “Senator for Economy” of the “Senate of Economy Europe,” his company and Fraunhofer IFAM, represented by Prof. Dr. Andreas Groß, were officially invited as members of the German delegation for the “China-Germany (China-Europe) Hidden Champions Forum 2024” (May 12–14, 2024, in Beijing).
The German delegation was led by Hans Peter Friedrich, former Federal Minister of the Interior and current Chairman of the German-Chinese Parliamentary Committee in the German Bundestag, Peter Altmaier, former Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, and Dr. Walter Döring, former Deputy Minister-President and Minister of Economic Affairs of the State of Baden-Württemberg and current Managing Director of the above-mentioned ADWM GmbH.
The objectives of the event included:
- Presentation of successful German-Chinese collaborations
The successful German-Chinese collaboration in the field of adhesive technology personnel training was presented on May 13, 2024, as part of the session
“Openness and Win-Win” Dialogue between Chinese and German SMEs (roundtable discussion on innovation-driven development between German and Chinese companies)
by Prof. Dr. Andreas Groß (Fraunhofer IFAM).
As one of the key activities for dialogue between government and industry within the framework of the open cooperation mechanism between SMEs from China and Germany, this session focused on multidirectional alignment and integrated development between Chinese and German companies. Discussions centered on how to cultivate a healthy development ecosystem for SMEs in both countries, establish an innovative platform for cooperation with Germany, and explore new avenues for deeper and more pragmatic cooperation between Chinese and German companies as a gateway to cooperation with Germany and Europe.
The long-standing cooperation between Fraunhofer IFAM and YIFA Institute for Bonding & Composites, which has been successful for both sides as well as for technology development, served as a significant example of this.
- Initiating new German-Chinese cooperation
Our cooperation partner Joachim Rapp (Innotech Marketing und Konfektion Rot GmbH) presented a new promising cooperation to the audience on May 14, 2024, as part of the session
China-Germany (China-Europe) Hidden Champions Forum for Economic and Technological Exchange and Cooperation
Lecture Beijing
Invited to this session were hidden champion companies in Germany and Europe, industry experts and academics, representatives of industry associations, executives of well-known domestic and foreign companies, executives of investment institutions, and others. Based on the trend of economic and technological development in China, Germany, and Europe, the event focused on promoting collaboration on industrial projects between China, Germany, and Europe.
The new cooperation between Innotech Marketing und Konfektion Rot GmbH and the YIFA Institute for Bonding & Composites (beginning January 1, 2025), presented by Joachim Rapp, relates to manual adhesive application, with which Innotech has been very successful in Germany and Europe and will now further develop this market segment together with YIFA in China.
Both collaborations were received with both attentiveness and great favor by politicians, both on the German and Chinese sides.
For all those involved in bonding (Fraunhofer IFAM, Innotech and YIFA Bonding), it was a further step to further anchor the key technology of bonding in the consciousness of politicians.