Successful On-Site Seminar at the Zott Dairy in Günzburg

The collaboration began with a seminar enquiry in April 2025. After a brief telephone exchange between Zott's Technical Manager and EICHLER's seminar department, it quickly became clear that the expectations and requirements were an excellent fit with the training concept. Within a very short time, two tailor-made proposals were developed for the seminars “S7 Expert Knowledge I” and “TIA Portal Expert Knowledge I”, which were commissioned just two weeks later. 

The required training equipment, including modern training cases and table racks for realistic simulation of plant systems, was delivered on Monday before the start of the seminar and set up in the state-of-the-art meeting room provided. 

The six participants received a well-balanced mix of solid theory and intensive practical exercises. The training content included, among other topics: 

• Programming in STEP7 using SIMATIC MANAGER
• Programming STEP7 and HMI Communication in the TIA Portal
• Testing procedure and commissioning
• Fault diagnosis and troubleshooting on real hardware

A highlight of the training was the direct application of the newly acquired knowledge on a real production system with an S7-1516-PLC. The participants carried out various tasks, including establishing a ProfiNET connection, creating a PLC backup, reading the diagnostic buffer, and setting the PLC system time. This hands-on application ensured lasting learning success. 

The seminar received consistently positive feedback from the participants. Particular praise was given to the strong practical focus, the clear and comprehensive structure, and the way the content was delivered. The numerous concrete tips on network technology and efficient troubleshooting were also very well received. 

One participant summed up the seminar experience aptly: “A very practice-oriented and truly engaging seminar - you can immediately tell that it was taught by someone with real hands-on experience. This wasn't a lecture-style session, but genuine work on the kinds of problems we encounter every day.”

The on-site seminars at Zott impressively demonstrate how effective technical training can be directly in the workplace. We would like to thank them for their trust and look forward to further joint projects with the Zott dairy.