Goran Miladinov 曾听到很多反对的声音。面对 Festo 走廊上他人的调侃（暗指雷鬼乐、脏辫儿和加勒比地区的温度），他会为自己辩护，但私下里却常常对自己的事业产生动摇。他曾在短信中写道：“Fritz，我已经拜访您这么多次了！我们还要坚持多久？” 牙买加的回答是：“您必须相信我们！再给我发一份报告！” 因此，这位 Festo Didactic 销售员再次拟定了一份提案，并通过电子邮件发给他在牙买加的商业伙伴 Fritz Pinnock——这已经是第 90 次了。这个故事是关于另外 89 次的。

它始于牙买加金斯敦港对面的一个沙质半岛。如果沿着沿海高速公路行驶，您会看到飞机从货船后面升空。自 1984 年以来，这个前海盗藏身地一直被作为海军军官的训练基地：牙买加海事训练研究所 (JMTI)，1980 年在挪威人的支持下成立。挪威人还在全球其他九个港口设立了这样的培训中心。最终，只有牙买加培训中心幸存了下来。

St. Gallen: the idea strikes

In 2001, the school was renamed the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI), had branch offices in other Caribbean countries, and trained not only sailors, but also firefighters and flight personnel. But technology develops even faster internationally. The Jamaicans have long been driving cars that can no longer be repaired by mechanics in Kingston. 7 Up and Pepsi prefer to bring their own skilled workers with them to bottle their soft drinks locally. As a result, the unemployment rate in Jamaica rose sharply in the early 2000s. One third of all 15 to 24-year-olds at the time was unemployed. An increasing number of young men saw crime as the only remaining career opportunity. Life expectancy fell.

This was the time when Fritz Pinnock – the name is deceiving as he is 100% Jamaican – became director of the CMI. The then 39-year-old studied and received his doctorate in England, had already travelled halfway around the world as a port authority envoy and wants his two daughters to have more than just the opportunity to study law. So, in the summer of 2003, three of his employees set off for St. Gallen. At the 37th WorldSkills competition, they want to see what technical skills young people in Europe are learning. One area of the competition immediately catches their eye at the ‘vocational Olympics’: workpieces seem to be moving as if by magic and the teams are programming away at high speed. These are state-of-the-art mechatronics stations from Festo.

The trio returned to Jamaica, raving about what they saw. But for Fritz Pinnock, that wasn't enough. He contacts Festo Didactic himself and wants to know more about the laboratory and workshop equipment that the company offers. And above all else, he wants to modernise the laboratory containers for electrical engineering and pneumatics. The cost: 300,000 US dollars. This is when Pinnock begins to submit a series of applications to the PetroCaribe Development Fund.

San Salvador: a new era in logistics

Fritz Pinnock’s contact at Festo is Goran Miladinov. When the lack of funding becomes clear, Goran suggests taking the next flight to Panama and from there on to El Salvador: "So you can see what else we can do, other than just setting up a nice laboratory for you!" This is because the Central American country of El Salvador is already a big step ahead; three laboratories for mechatronics, process and factory automation have been created here thanks to a PPP project between the government, GTZ (now GIZ), Siemens and Festo. Festo Didactic created a hands-on training course and trained the trainers.

And that’s not all. In the following years, the Instituto Tecnológico Centroamericano (ITCA) became the first FACT Centre (Festo Authorized Certified Training Centre) to be officially accredited as a university of cooperative education. On the recommendation of Festo, the ITCA also offers course modules for industry. Siemens is the first customer to book training courses here for its employees. Fritz flies to El Salvador, and is inspired by the idea. By this time, the ITCA is doing extremely well, and not only because the industrial training generates a regular income. It also connects the institute with industrial partners, and the institute learns which technologies companies work with and incorporates these topics into its curriculum.

Back in Jamaica, Fritz contacts Goran and requests a new offer. In addition to the three new laboratories, he wants Festo Didactic to develop a training programme. The total value of the project thus rises to one million US dollars. Pinnock speaks to the Ministry of Transport. He sees great opportunities for mechatronics engineers, especially in the logistics sector. He is convinced that Kingston Port will become a hub for international freight transport. "Traditional engineers are no longer relevant," he argues. "Mechatronics engineers, on the other hand, are multidisciplinary. They are experts in control technology as well as mechanical and electrical engineering, and programming."

Uruguay and Mexico: now more than ever

Fritz Pinnock hopes that the ministry will promote the new plan at the PetroCaribe Development Fund. He campaigns for his idea at every opportunity. He writes articles, gives interviews and lectures, everything make it clear how important it is to align local education with international standards: "Our young people should no longer have to hope for a scholarship and go abroad to earn a recognised degree! And if we can offer skilled workers, we will also attract investors to the country. Last but not least, we save ourselves the need to fly in expensive experts."

But nothing happens. Pinnock is received and listened to, but his application for funding never goes through. In the meantime, the second FACT Centre opens in Uruguay in 2012. But in Jamaica at the CMI, the trainees are still working with equipment from the 1980s, and every year it’s the same story. Many graduate, but not all.

The tragic circumstances of individual trainees drive Pinnock to bombard the PetroCaribe Fund with further applications. By this time he’s looking to obtain two million dollars. This is because Fritz learned that Festo was building a smart training factory for a renowned university in Mexico. He tells the astonished Goran in Esslingen: "Add such a laboratory to our offer. At two million, they’ll take us seriously!"