The Global Industrial Review: A Look at German Engineering from a Singaporean perspective

German engineering has enjoyed sterling reputation and is universally regarded as the benchmark for many aspiring industrializing nations. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Siemens and Bosch are impeccable brands that represent quality and engineering finesse. Germany's enduring industrial prowess is one of the reasons why developing nations are still sending their top students to study engineering and technologies in Germany (except French-speaking nations, which probably prefer to send their students to the French Grand Ecole or French Engineering Schools – I’ll come back to this again later).

Through my personal working experience in the last decade in German Industrial companies with German engineers and perhaps even more importantly with German mechanics, technicians and blue-collar workers, I have come to realise something that I didn’t realise during my undergraduate studies at a German technological university (Darmstadt University of Technology).

Whenever we speak about German industrial professions, the first thing that instantly comes into our mind is the engineers or scientists. While it is clearly a fact that Germany has produced numerous eminent engineers and scientists such as Wernher von Braun, Willy Messerschmitt, Werner von Siemens, Rudolf Diesel, Karl Benz and more recently Physic Nobel Prize Winner Wolfgang Ketterle, they represent only the pinnacle of German industrial system. Technological ideas have to be coupled with robust industrial processes and systems to ensure that ideas can be transformed into useful products. Technologies alone are insufficient for industrial success. In my opinion, the unsung heroes of the German industries are the dedicated and passionate German blue-collar work force. They are the ones who would go against the German white-collar engineers, who are already considered as very precise and quality conscious, in ensuring the absolute product quality and engineering perfection that German products represent. These blue-collar workers are the invisible guardians of German product quality. To them, good is not good enough.

Numerous times in my career, I have witnessed mechanics and technicians from the production department lecturing design engineers on their lack of quality awareness and precision in design documentation (e.g. tolerances and quality of design). Try that in Chinese factories, you might get fired immediately! As a matter of fact, German blue-collar workers receive apprenticeship or trade training (die Berufsausbildung) that most countries envy (I would say that includes the US). A three to four years German apprenticeship in trade schools or in companies remains the secret behind the success of German industries. It is precisely this combination of strong technological universities and high quality trade schools that make German industries so unique and competitive, despite their exorbitantly high labour wages and 30 days annual vacation (usually more like 45 days if you include days off in lieu of overtime). A recent report by the Economists, German workers work the least in the EU. Now, the caveat of this dual-qualification system is the need for greater social equalisation. Otherwise, it might not work. In Germany, the wage difference between qualified blue-collar work force and graduate engineers is lower than many emerging countries. Blue-collar work force may have a lower basic wage, but there are rooms to close the gap through overtime and special allowances like job physical hazard compensation. Furthermore, blue-collar workers (if employed full-time contract) enjoy higher labour protection than their white-collar colleagues.

For nations that still aspire to develop their nascent industries using the German recipe, it is not only important to develop the quality white-collar work force (i.e. graduate engineers), but also the quality of the blue-collar work force. More importantly, a meritocratic and egalitarian environment and a sense of professional pride within the blue-collar work force is crucial for the sustainability of the industrial system (i.e. all jobs are important, they are just different in roles and responsibilities). Without these, there will not be a credible second line of industrial defence formed by the blue-collar work force to realise the innovations generated by innovative but "sloppy" engineers.