. Siemens was established 150 years ago in a garage by Mr B von Seimens in Germany. The company had grown to be represented in more than 150 countries worldwide with more than 400 000 employees. The turnover profit of the company in 2010 was 3.9 billion euros. . The vocational education and training institution in Berlin was the largest training centre of Siemens. Seimens was located in 40 regions within the German boundary. The company spent 167 million euros per annum on training programmes with the majority of the programmes focusing on the technical aspect of training. . The dual education system was being implemented at Siemens Professional Education institutions across Germany. The advantage of this system was that employees were highly qualified, highly productive and future oriented. There were approximately 1400 trainees located in the Berlin centre. . Siemens offered both practical and theoretical aspects of learning under one training centre. . Project and process oriented learning in exemplary trade oriented tasks included; knowledge management and networking and self dependant work-based comprehensive learning. . The International Education and Development Programme (IEDP) was a programme aimed at preparing potential managers of the company. Employees from other countries were transferred on a three months course in Germany to focus on networking, knowledge transfer, teambuilding and intercultural network. . The Siemens mechatronics system certification programme was implemented on three levels. Level 1 included assistants, Level 2 included technicians and Level 3 included highly trained professionals. . The examinations of the training centre were evaluated by an independent body responsible for setting norms and standards for vocational training. . Siemens had partnerships with South African institutions on the development of students in technical disciplines. The Nelson Mandela Secondary School Project for learners between Grades 7 and 12, and a partnership with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) on mechatronics had been established.