EJOT® goes digital

For several years now, digitalisation has been one of the defining topics in the industry. From production (“Industry 4.0”) to the digital possibilities of addressing customers, it runs through all functional areas of an industrial company. The Corona pandemic has undoubtedly given this development an enormous boost, also at EJOT. From one day to the next, customer seminars as face-to-face events were no longer possible and alternative formats had to be developed at short notice in order to keep customers up to date on topics related to fastening technology.

With the TEC ACADEMY of the Construction Division, founded in 2020, EJOT offers customers and partners the opportunity to learn about current topics and trends in the construction industry as well as various EJOT products and their applications. The digital training offer includes online seminars on a variety of topics, YouTube videos and guidance texts, as well as a new podcast series. The materials are available
to users flexibly and free of charge, regardless of time and place.

The idea of the EJOT TEC ACADEMY is based on a multi-stage system. At www.ejot.com/ta the focus is on digital training content in form of online seminars. These offer content on important topics, deepen customer contact and provide information on current topics and trends in the construction industry as well as on various EJOT solutions and their applications. Questions such as “What distinguishes a modern, rear-ventilated facade? What errors can occur during screw assembly? Or: How do I choose the right mounting element for my application?” are discussed here
by EJOT experts and explained in an understandable manner. The offer is supplemented by so-called professional seminars, which are offered once a year and this time in digital form. The professional seminars are addressed specifically to dealers and contractors and selectively talk about the respective focal points. In one or two days, customers and interested parties can expand their expertise in fastening technology, gain extensive knowledge of the basic conditions under German building law and deal with the right product selection depending on the application using
approval-compliant guidelines. In the future, the modules described above will again be supplemented by face-to-face events and the concept of the TEC
ACADEMY will be rounded off.

In the Industrial Division, the core topics of the face-to-face customer seminars were extracted and combined into three modules for a new online training series, the INTENSIVE WEB SEMINAR. The premiere was in September of last year; and due to the great demand, further dates followed in November and February of this year, in April also as an English-language version for international customers. On two days each, the participants were brought up to date with the current “state of the art” in the subject blocks of direct fastening in plastics and light metals as well as joining techniques for mixed and lightweight construction. The core content of the modules was product and application information important for practice, enriched with interactive applications and live presentations of helpful digital tools such as prognosis programs or application checks.

In order to make the web seminars as varied and informative as possible for the participants, a moderator led them through the events, who promptly took up questions and comments from the participants and responded to them at a thematically appropriate point together with the respective speaker. It was this direct interaction with participants and speakers that made these online training courses so attractive and made a major contribution to their success. The organisation of the web seminars took place in Microsoft Teams, whose chat function offered very good communication opportunities for the actors.

Based on this experience, the online training courses will be continuously expanded this year in order to offer customers an even broader range of topics. In addition to the three basic modules, there will be six further thematic blocks, for example assembly strategies for direct fastening connections, special fastening solutions for lightweight construction materials or special joining techniques in electromobility. The first web seminar with the extended content started in May (4 - 6 May), the second web session is planned for September (21 - 23 September). Due to its ideal suitability for knowledge transfer, the new web seminar series will also play an important role in the industrial division in the post-Corona era, in addition to the face-to-face events.