Glasurit becomes a WorldSkills Global Industry Partner

BASF, a global chemical player, also specialized in giving cars their sheen is supporting in painting a future of opportunity for skilled young people – through teaming up its refinish paint brands with WorldSkills.

In anticipation of the WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017, Glasurit, premium paint brand of BASF, has become a Global Industry Partner of the worldwide hub for skills excellence and development. This engagement highlights the shared passion of both organizations for unlocking and accelerating promising talent.

Glasurit is part of BASF’s Coatings division which develops, produces, and markets a wide range of automotive coatings and refinishes, surface treatment solutions as well as decorative paints. The division’s automotive refinish unit has a longstanding history of hosting its own trainings and international competitions that perfectly aligns with WorldSkills’ goals: Encouraging young people to consider car painting as a career and heightening the profile of the trade, while also identifying potential future employees.

“As the newest Global Industry Partner of WorldSkills International, we want to support talent on an even larger scale and through an event – WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 – which is not limited to the refinish industry,” said Dr Harald Borgholte, Head of Strategic Marketing and Product Development at BASF’s Coatings division. “In this way, the job profile of a car painter will become more visible, and we hope to increase young people’s interest in the automotive refinish business and its professions – which are skilled trades. In doing so, we also intensively support our customers in finding attractive staff.”

“WorldSkills welcomes BASF’s Coatings division among its group of Global Partners. It’s fantastic to see how such blue-chip companies like BASF value WorldSkills and share our mission in promoting skills globally. The world’s biggest chemical company and its refinishing arm have a strong focus on vocational education and training and apprenticeship programmes. BASF’s Coatings division is a great asset to WorldSkills in the automotive refinish market and will ensure that world’s best practice is guaranteed per the newest technological and industrial standards. We are very appreciative of BASF’s engagement with us” said Alexander Amiri, Director of Sponsorship and Partnership of WorldSkills International.

Dr Harald Borgholte adds, “We believe that thinking outside the box helps to broaden horizons and leads to new ideas in a professional environment. Breaking out of the daily routine and comparing your own skills with talents from all over the world is a huge benefit for all participants in WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 – they will learn from each other and become even better in their respective workplaces. Together with WorldSkills International, BASF wants to provide participants with the perfect platform to present their skills, and to enhance them.”

Through being a WorldSkills Global Industry Partner, BASF will be present at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017, where participants in the Car Painting Skill category will exclusively work with Glasurit’s innovative waterborne paint line from the company’s extensive portfolio of automotive refinish paints.

Ahead of the event, BASF’s specialized trainers will work alongside participants to help them sharpen their skills and determine how to get the best results from its products

"All participants are already promising talents in their jobs, and we want to provide them with the best resources available so they can put their own ideas into practice,” said Dr Borgholte. “This means they can focus on ensuring their projects provide the highest customer satisfaction.”

BASF’s commitment to skills development reflects, according to Dr Borgholte, the fact that many industries “lack a pipeline of trainees”, with the consequence that recruitment becomes a challenge and positions remain vacant.

“Education and skills training for up-and-coming talents, such as car-painters, is an important part of BASF’s Coatings division,” he explained. “We ensure high training standards in our Refinish Competence Centers worldwide, and encourage talented young people to demonstrate their skills and expertise.”

“Several years ago, we also launched the International R-M® Best Painter Contest, a unique brand event and competition in the automotive refinish industry which attracts young painters from all over the world. The contest promotes the future of this fine trade and hones the talent and knowhow of tomorrow’s car-painters.”

The company also works with vocational schools to organize programs focused on training, qualification, and developing management skills, with Dr Borgholte saying: “Our aim is to highlight the huge variety of job profiles and development opportunities in this field. The BASF Group invests significantly in education and that is also true for its Coatings division. We focus on providing an excellent standard of education across many different aspects, which will help all of us – the company, and those assuming trainee positions – in our future development.”

For more information on BASF visit www.basf-coatings.com.