Platform, step two
Which work changes, and how many people are behind it.
Comparable work becomes clusters. Each one gets a target role, a headcount and a degree of change.
Role clusters describe work, not people. No assessment of individual employees is produced.
Plant South 2028
End-of-line testing and quality control
81
Drivetrain assembly
74
Machining and CNC production
72
412
6
Illustrative example from the data model behind this site. Not a customer, not a survey.
Every role cluster in scope
| Role cluster | Unit | Employees | Nature of the change | Degree of change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machining and CNC production | Manufacturing | 86 | Automated machining centres | 72 |
| End-of-line testing and quality control | Quality assurance | 64 | Camera-based inspection systems | 81 |
| Maintenance | Maintenance | 58 | Condition-based maintenance | 66 |
| Drivetrain assembly | Manufacturing | 112 | High-voltage components | 74 |
| Production planning | Production planning | 34 | Data-driven scheduling | 58 |
| Internal logistics | Manufacturing | 58 | Automated guided vehicles | 49 |
| Employees in scope | 412 |
Degree of change describes the role, not the performance of the people in it.
How the cut is made
Four criteria that form a cluster
A role cluster is not a department and not a cost centre. It is a group of people for whom the same answer to the same change actually works.
Same work, not the same title
Two people with the same job title can stand at very different machines. Clustering follows the work.
Same equipment and processes
Where the same technology is affected, work changes in the same way. The cut follows equipment, not the org chart.
Comparable starting qualification
A cluster only holds where the starting qualification is comparable. Otherwise the cohort falls apart later.
Comparably affected by this initiative
A cluster holds for this one initiative. If a change touches an activity only at the edges, that area stays out.
What the names are anchored to
A role cluster with no headcount behind it is a presentation. The number is what turns it into planning.
324
recognised apprenticeship occupations in Germany
13,939
skill concepts covering 3,039 occupations
1,016
occupations in O*NET, the standard of the US Department of Labor
Target roles
Where the clusters are heading
Target roles describe the work after the change. Each comes out of at least one of today's clusters.
Digital quality technician
Runs camera-based inspection stations, assesses results and maintains test programmes.
End-of-line testing and quality controlMachining and CNC production38
Smart maintenance technician
Reads sensor data, plans maintenance by condition instead of interval and looks after diagnostics.
MaintenanceInternal logistics31
Automation technician
Sets up automated lines, programmes sequences and clears faults on controls and robotics.
Machining and CNC productionMaintenance42
High-voltage specialist
Works on high-voltage systems, secures them and handles testing and release steps.
Drivetrain assembly46
Digital production technician
Runs lines from digital control stations, reads production data and steps in on deviations.
Machining and CNC productionDrivetrain assembly35
Production data specialist
Builds analyses for throughput, scrap and availability and makes them usable on the shop floor.
Production planning12
Test systems operator
Keeps test rigs available, maintains equipment and supports changes to test routines.
End-of-line testing and quality control14
A distinction that often gets lost
Target roles are company-defined role profiles, not apprenticeship occupations
The target roles above sound like occupations. They are internal role profiles, and the confusion gets expensive the moment somebody expects a formal qualification.
Recognised apprenticeship occupation
- Rests on a training regulation under the German Vocational Training Act and a framework curriculum.
- Identical across Germany, maintained by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training.
- Examined by the competent chamber, and the qualification holds outside the employer as well.
- Examples: electronics technician for machinery and drive technology, materials tester, production mechanic, metal process technologist.
Company role profile
- Written by the company itself, for one initiative at one concrete site.
- Valid inside that company. Outside it the title is not comparable.
- Leads to no recognised qualification, but to attendance records, manufacturer certificates or proof of competence for specific work.
- Examples from the scenario used on this site: digital quality technician, high-voltage specialist.
Why companies still work with role profiles
No recognised occupation describes one particular line.
Training regulations are created in an orderly process with the social partners, not at the pace of a plant conversion.
Qualification for people already in work aims elsewhere.
It builds on an existing qualification and adds what the new activity demands on top of it.
Where retraining is the better route, we say so.
And we avoid titles that suggest a formal qualification that does not exist.
How a role profile turns into a skill requirement that holds up
Next step
From the target role to the skill gap
Once the target role stands, the level required per skill sits next to the level available. The difference is the need.