Justine König completed her cabinetry apprenticeship in the joinery workshop of the University of Stuttgart. Her journeyman’s piece, which was created as part of her final examination, was recently published in “BM”, the leading professional magazine for carpenters, joiners, and window makers. Nationwide, 13 other journeyman's pieces made it into the magazine’s “Inspiration” section this year.
Ms König, congratulations on successfully passing your journeyman exam and making your journeyman’s piece public. How did the jury of the professional magazine “BM” notice it?
Justine König: Many thanks. To see your own journeyman’s piece published in “BM” is certainly something special. The cabinetry apprenticeship concludes with a journeyman exam, which consists of, among other things, building a piece of furniture independently and according to one’s own ideas and designs. After passing the examination, the piece is exhibited in the vocational school. Editors of the “BM” magazine will leave a note on particularly good journeyman’s pieces. When I found the note in my work piece, I was proud and felt validated for my work.
Which piece of furniture did you make for your journeyman exam
König: For my future tokonoma at home - an alcove inspired by Japanese interior design - I wanted to have something that would catch your eye first thing when entering the room. So I built a piece of furniture made of cherry wood with drawers on both sides, a flap on the front, and a typical Japanese archway in vermilion.
Ms Setzer, what does the publication of your journeyman’s apprentice piece mean to you?
Alexandra Setzer: For my colleague Lisa Egler and me as training supervisors, it’s a strong confirmation that we are on the right track with our training. For the third year in a row, our apprentices have managed to draw the magazine’s attention to their journeyman’s pieces and be included in the section. Justine even received an additional award from the Stuttgart Carpenters’ Guild for good performance in the journeyman exam in the carpentry trade. These are the fruits of our labor.
How is the personal support and professional supervision during the apprenticeship?
König: Excellent, I can say. I could always approach my colleagues with questions and concerns during my apprenticeship. Even unusual ideas for a journeyman’s piece were accepted and respected and then jointly examined for feasibility. In our workshop, there’s an A1 working atmosphere. I enjoy coming to work every day.
Setzer: Our goal is to bring top-trained skilled workers onto the labor market who are able to meet changing requirements, such as digitalization. That’s why we dedicate time, close supervision and, above all, individual support to our apprentices. To ensure proper training, we have only one apprentice in the joinery workshop per year.
Promising talent like, for example, Justine receive comprehensive and in-depth training from our team leader Frank Müller on the CNC machining center, so that they can already work on orders with this machine completely independently and autonomously during the apprenticeship. CNC stands for Computerized Numerical Control and, as the name implies, the challenge is that the CNC machine is computerized. This means that the machine operator also needs programming skills. This goes far beyond the minimum training content and is a common training component only in very few companies and workshops. For the University of Stuttgart, this practically represents a unique selling point in joinery training.
Why does a university need a joinery workshop? What are your daily tasks?
König: We take care of ensuring that facilities can be properly managed. This means that we repair existing furniture, and we also make new furniture. In addition, we plan and design special furniture, for example for research purposes. I find that particularly interesting.
Setzer: Not every university has a joinery workshop. The in-house workshop has many advantages in addition to long-term cost savings. In times of a shortage of skilled workers, external cabinet shops often cannot meet the university’s needs to the same degree as we can, because their order books are overflowing. In the case of renovations, repairs, and supporting work for research projects, we also offer much closer coordination with those responsible for facility management or with the scientists than an external service provider would be able to do. The researchers appreciate this service, because thanks to our expertise, we can realize projects that are precisely tailored to their needs.
I have particularly fond memories of an experimental setup in computer science, in which a robot had to demonstrate its ability to learn by accomplishing a chain of mechanical tasks, such as turning, pushing or pulling, and combining them logically in such a way that it reached the “reward”, a power socket, at the end. For this purpose, the workshop built the course according to the researchers’ specifications.
Apprenticeship at the University of Stuttgart
The University of Stuttgart provides training in 16 occupations in the commercial, technical, and trade sectors. During their training, apprentices work in workshops, laboratories, libraries, administration, and other institutions of the university.
