Training Insights: Germany

Germany: 20 happy faces „INDUCE Train the Trainer workshop” was a full success!

Participants of the “INDUCE Train the Trainer workshop” in Bielefeld / Germany
Participants of the “INDUCE Train the Trainer workshop” in Bielefeld / Germany

Three days, 20 hours, 20 Participants and 3 main topics – these are the main figures of the INDUCE Train the Trainer workshop at Chamber of Commerce in Bielefeld / Germany.

The training started on Wednesday the 11th. As the trainers are facing the task of implementing the changes in ISO 5001:2018 the program of the first training day kept an eye on the following topics:

  • ISO 50001:2018 requirements for the determination of energy savings in significant energy consumption sectors.
  • Development of baselines as statistical models
  • Application of baselines in monitoring to determine energy savings

Sabine Höfel, Food-Processing Initiative e.V. started with a short introduction of the INDUCE Project. After that Georg Ratjen, Ökotec Energiemanagement GmbH moderated the technical part. The introduction of the ISO family, showcasing statistical methods and discussing the opportunities of multivariate regression were part of the first day that also included a practical lesson on using EXCEL as a statistic tool to calculate baselines to monitor continuous improvements.

“Participatory development of communication plans for energy teams” was the main topic of the second training day. To fulfil the tasks the attendees were split in two groups. Each group represented one company with different employees.

First of all, they had to decide which persons needed to be in the energy team. Next, they had to discuss which process/work has an impact on the energy efficiency. Finally, they discussed and decide how to match work and employees at its best and how they have to communicate internally to increase energy efficiency.

Three steps toward a communication plan that included all parties of the company, shows the best communication channel and guides the way to a better communication strategy.

Communication plan of one group, result of the second Train the Trainer day
Communication plan of one group, result of the second Train the Trainer day

An intensive second Train the Trainer day ended with happy attendees, satisfied trainers and a good work result. The participants were the key to success; they all brought their rolls to live.

The last part of the training took place online and was based on Phase I of the INDUCE method: Inspiration – data collection ‑ observation.  The main topics were:

  • Energy Assessment
  • Company scan
  • Culture scan

These three key elements of the INDUCE methodology can be used to get a first impression of the energy efficiency culture of a company and built the base for further steps to improve energy efficiency.

The online training completed the “INDUCE Train the Trainer” trainings. All attendees were trained for 20 hours. Now the trainers are well prepared to replicate the INDUCE methodology in the German agro-food and beverage industries.