Alfred Müller: A conscientious educator with heart and soul

When he starts his apprenticeship in September 1975, there is no training center yet. He and his three fellow apprentices learn their trade in an “apprentices' corner”, which essentially consists of two double workbenches. After completing his training, Alfred Müller initially works in the cylindrical grinding shop, where extreme precision in the thousandths of a millimetre range is even more important than usual. However, because the number of trainees is constantly increasing and the master Franz Moser urgently needs support, he moves back to the training department as a so-called journeyman apprentice in 1981. When Alfred Müller is to be called up for military service, MAPAL stands up for him and writes to the Schwäbisch Gmünd District Armed Forces Replacement Office that his call-up “would cause considerable problems in the training of our apprentices” and that a release would be “extremely welcome in the interests of the apprentices[...] working for us”.  The mission was successful and Alfred Müller is discharged.

Due to the small age difference, he is well received by the trainees - also because of his combination of professional rigour and a great deal of empathy for the worries and needs of the apprentices. Alongside his job - and as a new father - he attends the master craftsman school, which he successfully completes in 1988.

FROM A SMALL TRAINING WORKSHOP TO A MODERN TRAINING CENTRE

In the training centre - that Dr Dieter Kress always equips with the latest technology - small orders, special orders and prototypes are regularly produced and new machines are tested. For example, the first CNC machines, which Alfred Müller is heavily involved in trialling due to his enthusiasm for modern technology. He also is in demand as a member of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce's examination committee, which he has been a member of for around 30 years, half of which as Chairman. When he retires in 2022 after 47 years at MAPAL, around 100 apprentices and trainees from all over the world are learning at the Aalen training centre. And he is assured: “There is no better training centre, neither in terms of size nor equipment.” He himself has made a significant contribution to this.