Conveying printed circuit board knowledge in an application-oriented, entertaining and congenial manner – this is precisely the goal of the KSG XPERTS online seminar series. The KSG Group’s digital knowledge format brings current trends, industry topics, and information on technologies and applications to the screen and has experienced a high response since its launch in February 2022.
Not only the Head of Marketing, Katharina Luchner, is pleased about this, but also Robert Jungk, who as Head of Operations was recently able to accompany more than 340 participants on an interactive tour of the Gornsdorf plant. In the following interview, the two reveal what the success factors behind KSG XPERTS are and why participating in the online seminars is worthwhile.
Mr. Jungk, if someone had told you two years ago that you would one day take more than 340 prospective customers on a tour of the plant in Gornsdorf, how would you have reacted?
Robert Jungk: Well, digitization makes it possible, but honestly, I wouldn’t have believed it. It is very interesting to see how virtual event formats have become more and more established since the beginning of the pandemic and are now a matter of course. We are very pleased that our format has also met with such a high response, although such a virtual tour is something quite different from a personal tour.
In what way? What experiences have you had as a speaker for the digital plant tour?
Robert JungkSince it was actually my first time in front of the camera, it took me a bit of effort to look into the camera. Normally, I look at the faces of the guests during such tours and that is of course missing, as is the possibility to respond individually to the participants during the tour. For this reason, we have made a point of conveying the core topics in as general a manner as possible in the virtual version, and the opportunity to address individual questions then arises in the Q&As afterwards. Basically, however, the XPERTS format has a lot of advantages, as my colleague Katharina Luchner knows, who conceived and launched this webinar series.
Interview: Robert Jungk - Head of Operations
Robert Jungk joined KSG Group in 2016 and became Head of Operations for the Gornsdorf site in 2022, where he is responsible for process planning, control and monitoring, as well as for managing the entire manufacturing operation.
Katharina Luchner: A big plus is the much higher accessibility of participants. We must not forget that we have many different contacts at our customers and not everyone has the time to visit us in person. And these are exactly the people we can reach very well with the digital format. Another advantage is that anyone who is unable to attend the seminar live on screen can still use the online seminar on-demand after the event.
Interview: Katharina Luchner - Head of Marketing
Katharina Luchner has been Senior Marketing Manager at KSG Group since September 2021 and is responsible, among other things, for the conception and implementation of the XPERTS seminar series.
How has the feedback been on the interactive plant tour in particular and the seminar series in general?
Robert Jungk: I have received exclusively positive feedback, both from external participants and from colleagues. I was particularly pleased that I was also written to personally and that participants thanked me. The large number of questions submitted to Q&As after the tour also showed that there was a lot of interest. In fact, there were so many that we even extended the Q&A session.
Katharina Luchner: The high number of participants since the start of the seminar series shows us that we have created an attractive format here. Even weeks after the initial broadcast, we typically receive on-demand requests as well as feedback that comes in through Technical Support and Field Service. This was especially the case after the virtual plant tour. What is interesting is the really wide range of participants: even a mayor and a teacher from the region took part in the tour. So the regional impact here should not be underestimated either, and that’s a good thing – after all, we are one of the largest employers in the Erzgebirge region and want to show how progressive we are in the field of digitization and new media.
How do you explain the success of the XPERTS online seminar series?
Katharina Luchner: Online seminars are basically nothing new, not even at KSG Group. However, we wanted to move away from the classic form of pure slide presentation and deliberately opted for something more “entertainment”. That means we show the KSG Group experts and thus give them a face: Bei XPERTS, colleagues from technical support or the quality lab, among others, stand in front of the camera and convey their know-how in a charming way. This makes them very approachable and so they can present themselves as a sympathetic interface to the customer. Furthermore, it is important to us that the participants really understand the contents taught, which is why we always include practical parts.
What topics can we look forward to after the summer break?
Katharina Luchner: Starting in September, we will again be offering a wide range of expert knowledge on all aspects of printed circuit boards, including topics such as high frequency, helpful information on printed circuit board design and HDI unbundling. We will also devote ourselves to the quality lab again and, in addition, actually provide insights into a customer project for once. The second half of the year at XPERTS will definitely be exciting, varied and packed with lots of interesting content.
We would say: High time to sign up for XPERTS
Whether it’s a digital tour of the plant or the next XPERTS seminar: Under 
www.ksg-pcb.com/xperts
you have the chance to register for all on-demand recordings and our upcoming seminars. Already on September 22nd, the excitement continues with Need for Speed – Success Factors of a Reliable RF PCB and the two speakers Johann Hackl and Tilo Leistner.
- Have you taken our digital plant tour? Feel free to give us feedback here! We look forward to your comments.
