Migatronic is at the forefront of welding technology and is always searching for new ways to innovate and shape the global welding industry. Together with the Danish company, NG Metal, Migatronic supports the education of the next generation of Ukraine’s welding specialists.
For more than a century, NG Metal has been a leading subcontractor of high complexity sheet metal components to a long range of industries across the world. NG Metal has its headquarters and production facilities in Balling, Denmark, but also runs a production unit in Lviv, Ukraine, with 250 employees.
NG Metal’s welding specialists almost exclusively use Migatronic’s advanced welding solutions in their production. However, in Ukraine, NG Metal is being challenged by the poor educational facilities in the country’s vocational colleges. That is why NG Metal together with Migatronic have taken matters into their own hands and set up a partnership with the Lviv High Professional-Polytechnic College, one of the biggest vocational colleges in Lviv.
"We develop some of the most advanced and intelligent welding solutions in the world, and we feel obliged to share our specialized technology and knowledge with future welders. When we heard about the challenges that NG Metal faces in Ukraine, we saw it as an excellent opportunity for us to help out", says Christian Holm, Area Sales Manager at Migatronic.
So far, Migatronic and NG Metal have donated several of Migatronic’s highly advanced welding machines to the vocational college as well as assisted teachers with technical drawings and made donations for a new ventilation system, which is now being installed at the college.
Outdated facilities in Ukraine’s vocational colleges is a huge problem for the country’s welding industry. Especially international companies with modern production lines, such as NG Metal, have difficulties recruiting skilled employees, and competition among companies to attract qualified candidates is fierce.
"We work with laser cutting, robotic welding and bending, which constitute highly sophisticated and advanced processes that require a certain level of welding skill and know-how. The newly qualified welders we recruited in Ukraine did not know these processes because the colleges simply do not have the facilities to teach modern ways of welding", explains Bjarne Torben Madsen, Operations Director at NG Metal.
NG Metal and Migatronic contacted the local government in Lviv to arrange a partnership to support the development of welding talents.
"We took an unorthodox approach to solve our recruiting challenges and started up a partnership with the local government. They were very interested, as they also have an interest in improving their educational facilities and standards. It was a unique opportunity for all parts involved", says Bjarne Torben Madsen.
Learning the craft of welding with Migatronic’s state of the art welding machines has raised the bar at the Lviv High Professional-Polytechnic College. According to Bjarne Torben Madsen, NG Metal’s production unit in Lviv is already experiencing that students are more familiar with modern welding equipment, which he attributes to their acquaintance with Migatronic’s advanced welding machines:
"We already feel the difference. Since we started our partnership, we have hired ten newly qualified welders from the college. It is very clear to us that they have benefitted from working with Migatronic welding machines, which is among the finest and most advanced welding brands in the industry."
"Because of the improved educational facilities, we now have access to welders, who can weld manually at a high level and operate welding robots as well as other intelligent welding solutions. The students still need training, but we save a lot of time and resources because they know how to adjust and work with modern machines. The education has been upgraded, and the students are now better prepared for a future in an international and modern welding company, such as NG Metal", Bjarne Torben Madsen concludes.