In 2017, Fronius Perfect Welding asked users to share their unresolved welding challenges. At the end of November last year, the companyinvited the winners of the Welding Challenge Contest to Wels: Gary Martin from New Zealand and Troy Feuss from the USA had the chanceto visit the Fronius headquarters and become acquainted with Austrian culture. In the meantime, their particular welding challenges hadbeen resolved by Fronius experts.

The winners were welcomed on a tour of the welding laboratories in Wels. Factory tours of the sites at Sattledt (production and logistics) and Thalheim (research and development) gave them further insight into what is behind the Fronius brand. “Fronius has incredibly high standards. The production facility is extremely clean and everything is organized along very efficient and professional lines. Another thing I’d say is I’ve never experienced such a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere at a production site,” enthused Troy Feuss, sales manager at Postle Industries, clearly impressed. The product tests at the research and development site also drew a lot of interest: “Fronius invests a great deal in the development of its products. They put their devices through some very demanding tests. We were blown away by it all,” notes Gary Martin, Systems and Process Engineer at Hamilton Jet.

THE CUSTOMER IS KING – OR IN AUSTRIA, AN EMPEROR

Fronius CEO Elisabeth Engelbrechtsmüller-Strau?, Harald Scherleitner (Global Director Sales & Marketing Perfect Welding), and Harald Langeder (Global Director Research & Development Perfect Welding) presented the contest winners with the Welding Challenge Award at a celebratory evening event. In his welcome speech, Langeder underlined how important it is for users like Troy and Gary to share their challenges with Fronius in order to help continually drive further development. Everyone raised a glass to this sentiment.

To conclude their visit, Fronius invited the winners to spend some time in imperial Vienna. Along with the magnificent architecture and historical heritage, they also enjoyed typical Austrian fare of schnitzel, strudel, and cake – a big hit with the visitors!