“An apprenticeship or a university degree? And, most importantly, in which occupation? These were the kind of questions I was asking myself a good year before I was due to complete my Abitur [A-levels]. To have a plan B to fall back on, I decided to start off with an apprenticeship. At the careers information bureau (BIZ), I gained an overview of the training occupations which matched my skills and interests.

At the very same time, PETER/LACKE GmbH was advertising in our school with a flyer, seeking Apprentice Paint Laboratory Technicians. After that, things happened very quickly and within a few weeks I was at home, holding my signed apprenticeship contract in my hands.

At the training school, we were told that apprentices who had previously passed their Abitur were able to miss the second year of their teaching, reducing the apprenticeship from 3.5 years to just 2.5 years. That wasn’t any problem for me at PETER/LACKE.

After my apprenticeship, I was given a permanent contract in the area of Development, where I worked for approximately 1.5 years in the area of Conventional Synthetic Coatings before I then decided to return to my original goal and study Chemistry at the University of Paderborn. I then studied for my B.Sc. in Chemistry in the field of the Chemistry and Technology of Coating Materials and my M.Sc. in Chemistry in the area of Polymer Materials and Processes. My subsequent doctorate in “Technical and Macro-molecular Chemistry” under the supervision of Prof. Grundmeier finally completed my understanding of organic and inorganic surfaces and interfaces.

Having the personal opportunity to compare industrial and academic research, it was clear to me that I wanted to return to the world of industry. The Technical Manager then called me and offered me the role of Managing a new Laboratory – a call that came at exactly the right time. As a Laboratory Director for Innovations, about 60 % of my work consists of administrative tasks, but about 40 % of it consists of laboratory work, and apart from the daily business, I am also developing brand new “smart” paint systems that have several other characteristics besides decorative and protective functions. Sustainability, organically-based paints and/or biodegradable paints are playing an increasingly major role in this area.”

Step by step, Patrick Beck developed into a production manager. Today, he is the first point of contact for the employees. There are around 50 employees working in production, and a further 50 in the laboratory.

“I am someone who likes to make progress, which is why I trained as an industrial specialist in the field of coatings and attended an intensive course in Bremen in 2016. The IHK [Chamber of Industry and Commerce] examination took place the same year in Lüneburg, and I have now been a production manager at PETER / LACKE since the middle of 2016. I primarily support the head of production technology, and am responsible for order and employee management in production, order tracking, and optimisation of the production processes. I particularly like the fact that it is possible to change and improve things in production. Although there is a lot too do, I also get great support. Everyone here is very open and team-oriented, there is a rather informal atmosphere.”

After training as a lacquer and varnish laboratory technician, Anna-Lena Lohmeyer worked for PETER / LACKE in the development department. But she wanted to achieve more – she returned to us after further training as a state recognised technician in Stuttgart.

“Pharmaceutical or coatings industry? I asked myself this question after leaving secondary school. A student internship gave me some insight into the pharmaceutical industry. I liked it, and I desperately wanted to choose a profession in the chemical industry. In my own research, I chanced upon the job description for a lacquer and varnish laboratory technician. It sounded exciting and varied. The fact that I didn’t need to move for training at PETER / LACKE was also an advantage, of course. After training, I started in the design department. But after three years in the department, I no longer found the development of colours fulfilling. I had heard from technicians during the training. My colleagues in the team who had already completed the further training supported me in my decision and PETER / LACKE accommodated me by giving me a two year leave of absence so that I was able to complete my further training as a state recognised technician in colour and design in Stuttgart. There, I was able to deepen my knowledge and we looked not only at other fields, but also at other companies. I value the benefits of a family company. We are a team and there is no anonymity across the whole site. After my return, I changed jobs. In the R&D laboratory, I work on coating systems for the automotive industry. It is a great feeling to see how developments from the laboratory are brought to series production. From 2015, the change of career continued. The laboratory supervisor came to me and offered me the position of assistant to the technical management. I now have a  predominantly administrative role, organising and coordinating various laboratory projects. But I still have my laboratory days, that was very important to me.

In the area of human resources and recruiting, we want to promote international exchange, thereby creating synergies and developing talents in order to secure future growth and, last but not least, learning from each other, exchanging experience and knowledge. We have already collected some examples of people who are or have been abroad for PETER/LACKE internationally. These include Tim-Erik Mayer, who worked at PL Shanghai for some years. As a result of Corona, Master’s graduate Nina Hoffmann prepared her Master’s thesis as a chemical engineer specializing in coatings – unlike planned – at the Hiddenhausen site for the China site and even received a sponsorship award from the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences for this. Nina is currently working in the water laboratory in Hiddenhausen; however, she will be working at the China site for three years from 2021. Her goal is to be in service between customer and laboratory in the long term.  Clemens Berton comes from Germany and has been working for 1.5 years in the laboratory for customer solutions and OEM support at the Troy site in the USA.  Stefan Riedel is also from Germany and has been working in China as Technical Application Director since 01.10.2019. Bong-Ho Shin manages the Korea business from our location in Poland and Sudeep Sebastian and his family moved from India to Bielefeld.

Clemens completed an apprenticeship as a paint laboratory technician at the Schramm company and then worked there until the beginning of 2019. Former colleagues who now work at Peter/Lacke drew his attention to the job offer in the laboratory in Troy. The contract will initially run for three years at the Troy site in the USA. The team in the laboratory there is relatively small, but the work is therefore also very versatile. Clemens is involved in everything from customer service and color matching to product maintenance, error analysis, process optimization and quality control – and he really enjoys it. Among other things, he is currently working on a project for Ford with a soft-touch lacquer. When asked what life is like there, he answers: “I would recommend everyone to take such an opportunity abroad if they have the courage to do so. I had no expectations and I let everything come to me. In the end you can only learn and personally benefit from it. Not only to improve english skills this experience interesting, but you also get different perspectives and experiences that you only really understand when you take such a step”. We wish Clemens all the best for the upcoming years in Troy.