The SKZ Plastics Center, in cooperation with the Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training f-bb, is launching the new project “WBMplusK – Wandel begleiten” (WBMplusK – Accompanying Change). Over the next three years, 35 continuing education mentors will be trained in companies in the plastics industry and will conduct around 600 mentoring sessions. The initiative aims to strengthen workplace continuing education in the long term, support individual employee development and help companies cope with increasing transformation pressure, linked among other things to the rapid pace of technological change and rising competence requirements.
During the project period from 1 December 2025 to 30 November 2028, the selected mentors are to be prepared to systematically support employees in identifying individual qualification needs and in developing appropriate further education paths. The project is based on close cooperation with industry stakeholders and business support organisations to ensure that the mentoring concept can be widely applied in the plastics industry. In the longer term, the initiative is intended to promote a more permanent embedding of continuing education in companies and more targeted qualification of employees for new tasks.
Objectives and partners of the WBMplusK project
The WBMplusK project focuses on establishing the function of a continuing education mentor in companies. A total of 35 individuals will be trained to perform this role and will subsequently carry out around 600 mentoring sessions in companies. SKZ is responsible for project management and for coordinating cooperation with numerous partners from industry and sector organisations.
Project partners include, among others, Industrieverband Klebstoffe e. V. (Industrial Association for Adhesives), Kunststoff-Netzwerk Franken e. V. (Plastics Network Franconia), Region Mainfranken GmbH and TecPart. Other companies from the plastics industry are also involved. Cooperation with these entities is intended to link the mentoring concept with the practical needs of companies and to ensure that the forms of continuing education offered are appropriate to real production and organisational challenges.
The role of continuing education mentors in companies
Within the WBMplusK project, continuing education mentors are to act as a link between employees, management and educational institutions and sector-related organisations. Their tasks include approaching employees in a low-threshold manner, breaking down barriers to continuing education and identifying strengths, areas for development and specific qualification needs.
On this basis, mentors point out suitable learning and further training paths. At the same time, they work closely with managers, internal departments, works councils and staff councils to improve organisational conditions for training and other forms of competence development. An important part of their work is also mediating between employees and external education providers, associations or institutions that fund continuing education.
In this way, mentors are intended to contribute to systematically embedding continuing education in company structures and to preparing employees for new tasks in a more targeted manner. Ruben Schlutter, Group Leader for Quality Management Training at SKZ, emphasises that the significance of the project goes beyond individual training measures: "With WBMplusK, we are creating a structure that enables companies to recognize the potential of their employees at an early stage and to make targeted use of it. In an industry that is rapidly evolving technologically, it is crucial to think strategically about continuing education. Continuing education mentors provide support in precisely this area, pragmatically, practically, and with direct benefits for companies."
Funding and impact on human resources development
The project is funded by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training BIBB with resources from the Federal Ministry of Education, Family, Seniors, Women, and Youth BMBFSFJ. This makes it possible to develop and test solutions that are intended to provide new impetus for sustainable human resources development in the plastics industry. Public funding is designed to create the conditions for implementing the continuing education mentoring model, which in the long term can be more widely adopted by companies in the sector.
As part of its ongoing activities, SKZ offers a broad portfolio of continuing education events covering plastics, processing methods and quality assurance. Experience from these areas forms the basis for developing the content and tools used in the WBMplusK project and, at the same time, the project can contribute to further adapting the training portfolio to technological and organisational changes in the sector.
The team behind the newly launched WBMplusK – Accompanying Change project. (photo: Luca Hoffmannbeck, SKZ)
