A Report on our Study Trip to Germany - DAAD

A group of KNUST printing and publishing students went between the 3 rd and the 11 th of
March 2008 to Germany for a DAAD sponsored study trip.
More information on the DAAD Study visit programme is provided in the DAAD Ghana
Newsletters, October 2007 / February 2008 edition that can be found at
www.ic.daad.de/accra , “Newsletter Archives”, or at www.daad.de
A REPORT ON OUR TRIP TO GERMANY
This trip was sponsored by DAAD. It took place between the 3 rd to the 11 th of March
2008. It was meant to sharpen the skills of students and faculty in the areas of printing
and publishing. It took us to Wuppertal, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Mainz and Heidelberg
where we interacted with academics, students, corporate executive, publishers etc.
We departed from Ghana on the 1 st of March 2008 with KLM Airlines and arrived at the
Amsterdam airport on the 2ndofMarch 2008. We continued to Wuppertal, through Cologne
and lodged at the ‘Also Hotel An der Hardt’ where we stayed throughout our stay
in Wuppertal.
The official programme started on the 3 rd of March 2008 at Uni Wuppertal. We were
warmly welcomed by some staff of the university, and Prof.Dr. Ing. Urban did a presentation
on the brief history of the university, printing in Germany, and the technology behind
the hanging train. There was also a presentation on the printing industry in Ghana
and a brief history of the publishing department in Ghana by our leader Mr. Ralph
Nyadu-Addo. We visited Stora Enso, one of the largest paper manufacturers in Germany.
Thomas Herbst, the head of the technical and customer service did a presentation
on the operations of the company, their basic production, and legal terms regarding
paper manufacturing in Germany. After the lecture, we went on a guided tour inside the
factory to observe their production processes, how paper is manufactured, packaged
and stored, as well as how to measure the grains of paper and many more.
On the 4 th of March, we visited the university again. The major activity for the day was a
lecture and a laboratory work. We were divided into two groups. The lecture was on
workflow management which included process integration and production in printing and
finishing by Dipl.-Ing. R. Subburayalu, a lecturer of the university. He also taught us how
the folding machine was invented and how it operates with practical exercises. The labs
we visited were the offset and Flexo labs. We were taught how Flexo plates were made,
its exposure, drying process and processing of the plate for printing. We were also
taught how to identify a Flexo print and test the quality of the print. They demonstrated
how the flexographic machine prints, how the folding machine operates with practical
exercises.
The 5 th of March was the last day we spent in Wuppertal. We visited the Rheinische
Post, a large newspaper press in Düsseldorf. We had a seminar on the history of their
company, and their production processes, which involved VIP, paperwork flow, real paper
preparation, and plate work flow. We had a guided tour through the factory to observe
their production processes with their machines in operation. After the tour, our
group did a presentation of gift to the company, and the group was also given books and
other souvenirs of the company. We returned to the university to have a lecture. We
were divided into two groups. One group had a lecture on Microsoft Excel, and the other
group on Surface Tension Technology. After a long day, the staff of Wuppertal organized
a send off tea party for the group. There were presentations of gifts and souvenirs to the

group and from the group to the individual staff members and the university as a whole.
We departed to Cologne after we left the university.
We arrived in Cologne in the evening and lodged in an International Hostel. We visited
the Ruediger Koeppe Verlag, a publishing firm in Cologne on the 6 th of March. We were
divided into two groups for the activity here. The manager and owner of the firm did a
presentation on the brief introduction to the firm, their activities, and the kind of publications
they produced. There was also a brief presentation on the Publishing Industry in
Ghana by one of the students. We visited their work room and learnt how they operated
with customers’ requests, and their activities. There was a presentation of gift by the
group to the company at the end of the programme. After the programe, we visited the
Koelner Dom and the Schokoladen Museum, did some shopping, and went back to the
hostel.
On the 7 th of March, we departed to Mainz and lodged at the Advena Europa Hotel. We
visited the editorial section of a newspaper company. We had a seminar on the company
and its activities, their major products, and their major customers. We were given samples
of the newspapers they produced. We also visited their editorial work room to observe
their activities and chain of operation.
On the 8 th of March, we visited the Gutenberg Museum. We were welcomed by a lady
who took us through how printing first begun. Two students of the group used the first
machine to be invented for printing to print a page of the Gutenberg Bible. We went on a
general tour around the museum. We saw how script writing was done. We were also
shown the first books to be printed by Guttenberg as well as the smallest Bible. After that
we had a guided tour around the city.
We departed to Heidelberg, the last place of our stay on the9th of March. Upon arrival,
we visited the Heidelberg castle. With the help of a tour guide we were shown round the
castle and we were told about the history of the castle. We later had a tour around the
old town of Heidelberg and went back to the hostel.
Our official activities in Heidelberg started with a visit to the Heidelberg Print Media
Academy on the 10 th . We were welcomed by the ´Leiter’ Print Media Relation, Detlev
Dierkes who gave us a seminar on the history of the company, their major production,
which are machines, and their general activities. We later went to one of their labs to
have ‘live demo’ of their activities; from the customers’ enquiries to the delivery of the
work to the customer. After the official aspect for the day, we had a tour once again
through the town. There was also enough time for shopping.
11 th of March 2008 was the last day of our official activities for our stay in Germany. We
visited the Heidelberg manufacturing plant in Wiesloch. We had a thorough tour around
the whole factory. We observed students at work, how the various parts of the printing
machine are manufactured, assembly of machines, and their delivery processes. We
returned to the Print Media Academy where the group was presented with a number of
items including books and souvenirs. In exchange, the group also made a presentation
to the company. There was a brief moment for interaction after which we departed. From
there we had our last tour throughout the town, did some shopping and went back to the
hotel. We left Heidelberg on the 12 th of March through cologne.
We arrived in Ghana on the 12 th of March 2008. We reported to the German embassy on
the 13 th of March from where we returned to our campus in Kumasi.

OUR IMPRESSIONS
Germany is a large but beautiful country with quite a large population, and lots of tourists
at certain parts, especially in Heidelberg. The people were nice and welcoming, especially
our hosts at Uni Wuppertal, they were just wonderful. The country is generally a
clean one with disciplined citizens. The food was quite inconvenient initially, but we
managed, and it was quite good. There were so many places of interest we visited like
the ‘Schokoladen’ Museum, the Koelner Dom, the River Rhine, River Neckar, Heidelberg
production plant and the Gutenberg Museum. Another exciting experience we had was
a ride in the hanging train during our stay in Wuppertal. The Heidelberg city is a very
lovely town. There was enough time for shopping, though we had less time on certain
days. Prices of electronics were relatively cheap but food was expensive compared to
our country. The weather was cold with occasional rains but because we had conditioned
our mind it was manageable.
The hotels we lodged were excellent with a wide variety of food, drinks and fruits to
choose from not to mention the fitness centres attached most hotels. They provided us
with all the comfort we needed. On the whole, we had a lovely experience and a smooth
ride around Germany with our VIP Bus Service, an excellent driver and a perfect tour
guide.
In conclusion, the trip was very educative, interesting, fun and a great experience for
most of us. We can testify to the fact that the time spent there has not been a waste, and
it shall serve as good memories. We like to express our profound gratitude to DAAD for
their enormous support and recommend them for a good initiative. We hope such programmes
will continue to help build such educative relationships between our country
and the outside world.
Ms. Persis Joyce Eshun, April 2008