Colorful hustle and bustle

Colorful hustle and bustle

When Friedrich “Fritz” Pewny in the halls of the RTC ( Axalta Refinish Training Center ) says something, then it's better to be quiet. Because Fritz’s facial expressions can inspire respect. But shortly afterwards, the stern look and certain tone of the Axalta Refinish technical trainer becomes friendlier and a little joke makes the rounds. When Fritz teaches, craftsmanship, hard facts and jokes are mixed together like the colors in the paint mixing room.

What is it about? About the Axalta Apprentice Academy. An initiative with a clear goal, as Harald Dögl, product manager and training manager Axalta Refinish, says:"We now know that during the apprenticeship of body builders and painters there is often too little time to familiarize the apprentices with all aspects of the trade. That's why we launched the Axalta Apprentice Academy in order to provide the apprentices with important tips, specialist knowledge and practical exercises in addition to the apprentice training in three three-day training courses over a period of around two years. We address all apprentices or trainees, regardless of who they are Paint marks are being worked on.“ 

Hand on it

Yes, there is a flipchart in the preparation hall. And yes, Fritz needs it too. For a bit of theory, for example when dealing with the sandpaper sequence. Otherwise the motto is: tackle it. It is filled, sanded, filled, weighed, mixed and painted. Three three-day teaching units deal with professional surface preparation, i.e. sanding, filling and filling in Module 1. Module 2 deals with painting techniques for plain and metallic paints and color matching. Module 3 is about digital color management, color theory, painting connected body parts as well as special colors and effect paintwork.

Joy in doing

Johanna Teufl, 21 years old, industrial painting apprentice at Palfinger in Lengau, is visibly impressed:"I'm the first painter apprentice in our company. I find the whole training here in the training center super interesting because the area of ​​car refinishing is completely different, but I can take a lot with me for my daily work."Michael Beine feels very similar. At 47 years old, he is the most experienced participant who works day-to-day as a paint preparer in a car dealership. For him it was more training than training:"I got to know the material better, learned a few tricks on how to handle and work with it better. That has already paid off."​

Valuable tips

His work colleague Lukas Grießer, 24, is also there and tells us:"The course is structured in an understandable and comprehensible manner. Everything is learnable and manageable. I was also able to pick up a few processing tips."The youngest participant is Michael Bergmann. The 16-year-old was sent to Vienna from Innsbruck by his boss. Michael says he learned a lot:"Matte clear coats - I've never worked with them before. Or the polyester putty, I didn't know anything like that." 

You can find out more about the Axalta Apprentice Academy here.