One of the services that ZDS offers exclusively to members is the “extracurricular internships”, or AP measures in short. With these AP measures, member companies can do individual trainings and projects with the technical instructors and use the technical departments of the ZDS.

In coordination with the member company, specific experimental arrangements or training programmes are created by the ZDS instructors, supplemented by external specialists if necessary. But what many people do not know, is that the ZDS also offers the AP measures as in-house training at interested companies.

At the beginning of February 2022, Frank Müller, ZDS specialist instructor for baked goods and ice cream, was a guest at Wikana Keks und Nahrungsmittel GmbH in Lutherstadt Wittenberg/Germany for such an in-house training course. In order not to disturb the ongoing production and the work in the company, the training took place on a Saturday. After a labour-intensive day including raw material knowledge and a subsequent practical unit, the participants were able to expand their knowledge on the core topic of shortbread dough and possible sources of errors during processing.

It goes without saying that consulting and training, especially in the case of trials and product development, are subject to absolute confidentiality and secrecy. Companies that feel a need for a training measure are invited to contact Thomas Eierhoff, Head of ZDS Member Services.