Charitable apprentice project: Innviertel Children’s Protection Center gladly accepts FACC donation

As one of the most important employers in the Innviertel region, Upper Austrian aviation industry supplier FACC also relies on a successful apprentice team.

Ried im Innkreis, January 12, 2016 – As one of the most important employers in the Innviertel region, Upper Austrian aviation industry supplier FACC also relies on a successful apprentice team. This year, the apprentices designed, manufactured, and raffled a bar made of carbon as part of their final-year project. The proceeds were donated by the company and the apprentices to the Innviertel Children’s Protection Center. At the beginning of January, Alexandra Furtner-Probst accepted a check for the donation amounting to 4,500 euros.

Year after year, apprentices at Upper Austrian aviation industry supplier FACC combine their final-year project with charitable activities. Last year, they built an air-hockey table, which was donated to the Pro Juventute children’s home in Mettmach. This year, apprentices in the 2012 entry-year group also came up with something very special. They designed and produced a unique bar made of carbon and metal.

Prize draw for a charitable purpose

FACC employees were able to buy raffle tickets in the weeks leading up to the Christmas party and then on the night itself. The prize draw was just one of the many highlights of the FACC Christmas party in the Ried Messehalle. FACC’s directors Walter A. Stephan and Robert Machtlinger had previously pledged that the money raised would be doubled by the company. "This meant that we were able to raise a total of 4,500 euros for children in need. On behalf of the whole project team, I would like to thank our directors for topping up the donation and all the ticket buyers for taking part," says team member Reinhard Schaumburger. At the beginning on January, the apprentices handed over the proceeds in the form of a donation check to Alexandra Furtner-Probst from the management board of the Innviertel Children’s Protection Center. "We’ve been taking care of maltreated or abused children and young people for 15 years now. In this time, we have been able to help more than 4,900 children and adolescents in overcoming or alleviating the huge emotional distress they suffered. The available public funds are insufficient to support all affected children and adolescents with therapy and counseling. We are therefore very grateful for donations that make it possible to attend immediately to every single child seeking assistance," says Alexandra Furtner-Probst.

Interaction between experts from four apprentice professions

The creative project was launched with an apprentice brainstorming session in September 2014, from which the carbon bar emerged as the preferred project. The team decided to raffle the bar within the FACC Crew and to donate the proceeds to the Innviertel Children’s Protection Center. "The decision was not so easy for us to make. However, we eventually agreed on the bar, because we could make a colleague and the children at the Protection Center really happy in this way," explains Melanie Kapeller. In January 2015, Melanie and the other apprentices in the Design Engineering department prepared concrete instructions for building the bar. The plastics technicians completed initial production work on the components in March. They manufactured the carbon laminate and sandwich panels as well as the metal substructure. The machining technicians in the apprentice team took care of the turned and milled parts, and implementation of a special milling program. The electronic and lighting aspects fell within the remit of the prospective IT technicians. Then, in August, the individual parts were assembled jointly by all apprentices. The project was concluded with this assembly phase in September 2015 after an investment of 1,300 man-hours and around 2,000 euros in materials.

Proud apprentice trainers

Trainer Otmar Schneebauer summarizes the outcome very positively: "This really was a great achievement for our Future Team. As in all the preceding final-year projects, this one also faced many challenges. You simply cannot count on everything always going to plan, but apprentices in particular learn a lot from their mistakes. They find out for themselves how something works – or doesn’t." Apprentice trainer Helmut Winkler is also delighted with the successful outcome: "Our apprentices produced impressive evidence of their technical competence. At the same time, the project contributed to the promotion of key qualifications and resilience factors, which is particularly important for the young professionals with regard to the final apprenticeship exam." The company is currently recruiting apprentices for the departments construction and plastics and chipping technology. The FACC crew is already looking forward to seeing what creative projects the next groups of apprentices will bring.

About FACC
FACC AG is one of the world’s leading companies in the design, development and production of advanced fiber reinforced composite components and systems for the aviation industry. Their range of products reaches from structural components for the fuselage and wings to engine components to complete passenger cabins for commercial aircraft, business jets and helicopters. FACC is a supplier to all large aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer, Sukhoi, and COMAC as well as for engine manufacturers and sub-suppliers of manufacturers.

In the 2014/15 business year FACC achieved an annual turnover of 528.9 million euros. The company employs a staff of around 2,800 employees in Austria. More information is available at www.facc.com.