Assembling injection moulding tools, operating machines, moulding plastic parts – that sounds like men’s work? Not at all. In our toolmaking department, there’s plenty of women power at work: seven women are now part of the team, making a vital contribution to our injection moulding tools 

An apprenticeship as a polymechanic

Victoria, Tool Manufacturing Specialist, was the first woman at Ypsomed to complete an apprenticeship as a polymechanic – a first in the company’s history. She hopes that this marks an important step and that more women will have the courage to pursue their interests, regardless of what others think: "Women are just as capable of learning technical professions as men – so go for it, be curious, and give it your all," she advises young women who are interested in a technical career.

A role model for other women

For Monika, Mechanical Development Engineer, it makes no difference whether a man or a woman works in the department: "Our toolmaking team functions really well together. As long as everyone stays polite and professional, it doesn’t matter whether there are more men or women around." She wants to show that it’s completely normal for a woman to work in a male-dominated environment: "For me, women power means being a role model – we can prove ourselves."

Success through dedication

For Cheyenne, Mechanical Design Engineer Manufacturing Equipment, hard work and determination have paid off: she passed her apprenticeship with flying colours and received an excellent final grade. "Through this apprenticeship, I wanted to build a solid knowledge base for my future career. My final grade confirmed that all the effort and persistence were worth it."

She also sees it as important to overcome gender stereotypes and to increase the number of women working in this field: "I hope to encourage more women to choose a technical profession," she says.

Passion for toolmaking

"I think it’s amazing that at the end of the day, a usable workpiece is created from a block of metal or aluminium," says Victoria about what fascinates her about toolmaking. For Cheyenne, it’s the variety of the work that stands out: "Since production equipment design is also part of toolmaking, we get to work on very diverse projects, ranging from printing jigs to control systems." Collaboration is another important aspect. "I really enjoy working with the different departments. As a tool design engineer, I get to be involved in many other areas in addition to my main tasks," Monika explains. She particularly enjoys holding the freshly moulded plastic parts in her hands that she helped develop one or two years earlier.

Monika, Victoria, and Cheyenne agree that the collaboration within the team is very pleasant: "Everyone helps each other and everyone is respected." And when a different approach is taken to solving a problem, that’s a good thing: "Diverse perspectives lead to creative and exciting solutions – they bring a healthy mix to the team and inspire new projects."