On Monday, 3 September 2007, 18 new trainees and sandwich-course students started their careers at J. Schmalz GmbH, where they were greeted by managing director Wolfgang Schmalz and personnel manager Martin Helbling.

Each year, the training at Schmalz begins with a two-week introductory project under the leadership of Rudolf Mönch, training manager at Schmalz. This year, the new trainees and students were split into four groups and given the task of building models of the regenerative energy sources used for display as part of the company's Ecological Guided Tour. They thus had to make models of the wind turbine and of the photovoltaic system, and also the new water turbine and new wood-chip heating system. The aim of the models was to demonstrate the use of the regenerative energy sources, either by manual actuation or by a visual presentation of the process.

The objective of this project is to allow the new trainees and students to get to know each other, to get a feeling for the processes executed at Schmalz and to learn about the importance of environmental protection for the company. They also learn how to work in a team, to understand what customers want, to calculate the production costs, etc. At the end of the two-week project, the models were presented and evaluated, and the winner was the team "wood-chip heating system".

A new trade at Schmalz this year is that of the "Verfahrensmechaniker" (which means something like "process mechanic"). Such mechanics manufacture moulds and other parts from polymer materials and are responsible for the operation and control of automated machines and plants. The practical part of the trainee course is carried out at J. Schmalz GmbH, while the theoretical lessons are held at the Trade Training School in Ehningen.

Today, J. Schmalz GmbH offers 15 different apprenticeships and sandwich courses, thus maintaining the excellent trainee quota of 13% which it achieved last year.