Training: Build your own truck

MAN Truck & Bus

Two people are bent over miniature trucks, holding tools in their hands.

#Apprenticeship & Dual Studies

WHETHER PROSPECTIVE AUTOMOTIVE MECHATRONICS TECHNICIANS, PRODUCTION MECHANICS, INDUSTRIAL MECHANICS OR MECHATRONICS ENGINEERS - EVERYONE WHO DOES A TECHNICAL APPRENTICESHIP AT MAN TRUCK & BUS IN MUNICH, NUREMBERG OR SALZGITTER BUILDS THEIR OWN TRUCK IN MINIATURE.

But how does that actually work? After all, it's not that easy to build a MAN truck on a scale of 1:14 when you're just starting out in your career. It's quite simple: the trainees learn step by step what they need for their job and then apply what they have learned directly to building the miniature truck. The project starts in the first year of training and after around 12 to 18 months the little truck is ready.

CONSTRUCTION - A WELCOME CHALLENGE

Those who learn the basics of metal technology in their apprenticeship build the truck completely themselves, with the exception of a few components such as the electric motor, the chassis, the remote control, plastic parts or the tires. Turning, milling, drilling, bending sheet metal, cutting threads - a number of metalworking techniques are required to produce the individual aluminum components on the basis of model construction plans. Even the rims are made in-house.

Of course, the "young vehicle builders" choose the color for their truck themselves. Once all the parts are there, the vehicle is expertly screwed together. The motivation to work extremely precisely when building the miniature truck is naturally very high. After all, they want their own truck to look good later on.

A HIGHLIGHT: THE HANDOVER EVENT FOR THE TRUCKS

"Wow, did you see the red truck?" or "I like the silver one back there best" can sometimes be heard from the murmur of voices. But it's also worth seeing 60 to 70 colorful mini trucks lined up and waiting for the official handover at the MAN site.

The excitement among the trainees is always great: until now, they have only been able to tell friends and family about their truck - and finally they get to take the beloved piece home with them.

The key to MAN's transformation

Mixed production of conventional and electrically powered trucks at MAN requires a new painting concept. The first shift into the future started in Munich.

“My gut told me: you’ve come to the right place at MAN”

As a 14-year-old, Abozar Tabibi fled Afghanistan at the end of 2015 – on foot, alone and unable to speak another language. Today, he is 22 and works as a mechatronics technician at MAN’s service centre in Quickborn to the north of Hamburg, where he also completed his training. An interview with him and his training supervisor, Marco Reuer, about his difficult start in the foreign culture of Germany, Abozar’s route to the right apprenticeship at MAN and his wishes for the future.

MAN in India: As diverse as the country itself

Aishwarya Shinde and Nandakishor Zanan work at MAN’s location in Pune, India. While Aishwarya is an HR Business Partner, Nandakishor works as an engineer in the Hardware Development team. With 1.4 billion people, India is the most populated country in the world. It includes a multitude of languages, religions, cultural backgrounds and has a wide variety of traditions. This is an interview about diversity within Indian teams, some German differences and the close collaboration of MAN teams across continents and time zones.