Profile of an occupation in Germany - technical product designer

Combining form and function

The tasks of technical product designers are multifarious and require a combination of creative spirit and considerable technical expertise. A high degree of precision and care, good knowledge of mathematics, and highly developed spatial perception are all needed in order to implement technical and design stipulations.

Technical product designers thus bring functionality and form together. They contribute their own ideas and are heavily involved in all aspects from the design concept itself to the management of prototypes and series production.

Specialism of "machinery and plant construction"

Technical product designers in this specialism work in the development and construction divisions of machinery and plant construction companies, of companies in ship, vehicle and aeroplane construction and of companies in the packaging industry. They are deployed in the area of product development and work in close conjunction with engineers and manufacturing teams on development, construction and production, for example on the modernisation of a machine tool.

They are integrated into the product development process from the original idea up to commissioning the product. The specialism of machinery and plant construction requires sound technical knowledge and an ability to innovate.

Specialism of "product design and construction"

Technical product designers in this specialism work in development and construction departments at companies engaged in automobile, aeroplane and furniture construction and internal finishing, in medical technology, and in the consumer goods and packaging industries.

They support the whole of the construction and development procedure leading to the final product and contribute technically creative solutions to the constructions, for example for a washing machine. They create 3D CAD datasets and draw up technical documentation. In addition, they apply company-specific simulation procedures for investigating the behaviour of components and sub-assemblies. They require a high degree of technical affinity and an interest in solving difficult problems.

From the drawing board to CAD constructions

This modern training occupation has its basis in a familiar predecessor. The training occupation of technical draughtsman, which had existed since the 1930s, was abolished in 2011. Some areas of training were then aligned to the construction occupation of technical product designer, in force since 2005, to form the specialism of "machinery and plant construction".

Further sectoral areas, such as electrical engineering, were integrated into the occupation of technical system planner, which was a new occupation at the time. Computer-aided drawing had long since replaced its manual counterpart by this point. The field of construction is a world of work which has fully been taken over by CAD technology. In addition to this, a shift to largely three-dimensional CAD constructions has occurred.

Digitalisation

Even though this occupation is characterised by new technologies, ongoing digitalisation continues to bring about constant change. This includes the 3D printing of components and product models as well as aspects such analysing virtual prototypes and products and constructing models as 3D holograms for demonstration purposes. Technical product designers primarily perform computer-based work in an office. In the specialism of machinery and plant construction, however, they also take an active part in test runs on the shop floor.

Machinery and plant construction in high demand

The specialism of machinery and plant construction is significantly more popular than the specialism of product design and construction. The number of new training contracts concluded in each were 1,617 and 369 respectively (2022, see Figure).

The number of newly concluded contracts across both specialisms has remained stable since 2013 at a figure of around 2,500 trainees. In 2020, however, this number dropped to 1,818 new training contracts because of the pandemic before recovering slightly in 2022. The proportion of women remained at a relatively steady average level of 34 percent during the period from 2013 to 2022.

The examination pass rate for technical product designers is well above average. The pass rate for 2020 was 99.1 percent and was thus ranked eleventh amongst all training occupations in this regard, significantly outstripping the average figure (92.3%).

Training allowance

Technical product designers complete a highly demanding three-and-a-half-year programme. For this reason, an above-average training allowance is paid. According to the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) "Training allowances based on collective wage agreements" database, average allowances are €1,000 per month in the first year of training, €1,079 in the second year, €1,176 in the third year and €1,272 in the fourth year. The average allowance received by trainees across the whole of the duration of training is €1,112 (as of 01.10.2023).