Trade Olympics

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Jordan Platz is training at his company, Préci 3D, and at the CFAI in Yutz for the Trades Olympics scheduled for August in Kazan, in the milling category. Photo RL /Anthony PICORE

70 days to go until the start of the Worldskills! This year’s WorldSkills competition in Kazan, Russia, requires a high level of training.

For these Olympiades des métiers, Jordan Platz has learned to push back his limits. “Fatigue, concentration, technique – you have to work on everything at once. My friends and family tell me I’ve changed. It’s the competition, it changes your life.” Yet it’s almost by chance that Jordan Platz entered an industrial apprenticeship. “My mother took me to an open house at the CFAI in Henriville. I saw the machines running. I liked it.” So Jordan was able to leave the Saint-Avold high school and a somewhat chaotic seconde to enter an apprenticeship. “As soon as I entered the CFA, it became a passion. Milling, a passion? “Of course it is! We start with a drawing, model it on the computer, program the machine and then milling consists in cutting the material and shaping the part. Magical! Passion means perfection.

Passionate and determined

Almost 20, Jordan Platz doesn’t want to leave anything to chance: “I wanted to do the Olympics once and go to the World Cup. Regional selection, then national in Caen. “I came second. But the national expert is giving himself a little time to decide between the first and the second. On the face of it, his assiduity in training worked in his favor. It wasn’t easy,” he says, “because the competition software isn’t the same as at school or in a company, and I learned everything on the Net. But I benefited from the advice of Jérémy Martini, a former Worldskills competitor. Even so, Jordan had serious doubts about the Worldskills. “It’s a lot of time and money. If the CFAI and my company hadn’t followed me, I’d never have been able to take the plunge.”

But whether at Préci 3D in Ennery or at the CFAI in Yutz, Jordan Platz was supported and encouraged. “It was a real business decision,” confirms Thierry Jean, president of the SME specializing in parts for the aerospace industry. “We freed up his time, provided him with a computer and paid for training on the software used during the competition. It’s a way of talking about the trade, making it attractive and showing that apprenticeships and industry are a passion.” Jordan confirms. “If you’re not passionate, you can’t do this competition. I’ve been training every day since December. But there’s still so much to do. “I have to look for the detail of the detail of the detail. That’s what my national expert tells me.”

Élysée and the French team

He’s going there to win. “Facing me will be the Chinese, the Japanese and the Koreans. They’ve had two years or more to train. They won’t leave anything to chance. So, Jordan leaves nothing to chance. At Préci 3D, he’s at the computer, working on his drawing-programming part while keeping an eye on the machines that are machining in series. At school, at the CFAI in Yutz, he practices on the machine that will be installed in Kazan.

Departure is set for August 19, and the competition is scheduled from August 22 to 27. “I’m looking forward to it and, at the same time, I think time is going by too fast. In a week’s time, I’ll be in Portugal for technical training. At the beginning of July, there’s also a week with the French team for final physical and mental preparation. Around forty of them will be wearing the French colors in Kazan. “We’re very close-knit, we encourage each other, give each other advice, talk to each other on WhatsApp. The whole ceremony, when we were presented with our Team France kit, was a turning point. Something happened.” Pride mixed with emotion. There was also the ceremony at the Élysée Palace: “I would never have imagined that one day I would be received by the President of the Republic. His mom, Isabelle, a saleswoman in Creutzwald, and his girlfriend, Léa, both have starry eyes for Jordan. They have already booked their tickets to Kazan.

“I’ve got to get the details right,” they say.

Laurence SCHMITT

source : le 13/06/2019 À 06:00 by Laurence SCHMITT.