GEA to open the doors of modernized customer academy

With the reopening of the GEA Academy of the Separation and Flow Technologies Division, on-site training courses for customers’ maintenance and operating personnel are back again as of now at the Oelde site in Germany. During the coronavirus-related break of the last few months, the premises were thoroughly revamped, and the training portfolio has also been expanded. The seminars focus on optimized operation and on how to safely undertake routine work on GEA separators and decanters, homogenizers, pumps and valves.

According to the company, with an area of more than 350 square meters, the premises of the new GEA Academy in Oelde have plenty of space for workshops, which will be accompanied by vivid videos from the field. Larger events with up to 50 people can be held in the centrally located community forum. Thanks to a tried-and-tested hygiene concept, all participants are kept safe on site.

The heart of the GEA Academy is the 600 m² technical center for the practical part of the training. The center provides the opportunity to perform service work on installed units under real conditions, to run through operating options and to perform tests directly on the running machine. There are two GEA separators and decanters of the current generation at the front of the area for this purpose. Two flexible areas for individualized training courses, for example on explosion protection and GEA homogenizers, as well as cross-application and cross-technology training courses, have been created in the rear area.

“Modern production facilities are incredibly complex. They call for extensive knowledge, which is something that, as a manufacturer, we have in spades. We convey this expertise to our customers in targeted training courses, giving them the opportunity to fully exploit the performance of their units and equipment. I’m very pleased that we can offer practical on-site training at our new GEA Academy again,” says Klaus Stojentin, chief executive officer of the separation and flow technologies division.

The training and development offered to service and operating personnel at the GEA Academy does more than just enhance occupational safety by teaching them how to handle the machines competently. Ensuring proper and timely remedial maintenance and ongoing process optimization, it also increases plant availability and output – driving the impact on profitability.