For Merethe Sejer, workshop manager at KH Maskinfabrik and trained blacksmith, the tasks in connection with wind turbine projects at the Port of Rønne provide an adrenaline rush.

Merethe Sejer is a workshop manager at KH Maskinfabrik. She is originally a trained blacksmith, and precisely that background gives her an advantage when partners in offshore call and need help. When that happens, she can also feel the adrenaline pumping, because those are the kinds of projects that have a special intensity about them.

”Offshore tasks are exciting challenges for our employees, and there is often not much lead time for planning. But we find a solution through good teamwork. Most recently, we had two employees out at Thialf (the large crane vessel stationed at sea that installs turbines at the Arcadis Ost wind farm). The turbine components are assembled and transported from Rønne Harbour, so when we get a call, it is all about being there, and you might not necessarily come home at 15:00, but only when the ship is back in port. The fact that you, as a local blacksmith, can be part of such tasks is truly exciting and has provided insight into a new world where we as a company are suddenly part of the green transition, says Merethe Sejer.

Who on earth stated that young people have to choose between using their head or their hands?

Merethe is thoroughly fed up with the narrative about the choice between brain and brawn when young people are choosing an apprenticeship or going to upper secondary school; ”Instead, I would encourage young people to have a dialogue with us, and align what it actually means to be a blacksmith, and you can be that in several ways. There are many different directions within the trade, and it is also about gaining some self-esteem and maturity so that you dare to pitch in with proposed solutions, and you have to take responsibility for the fact that there is a customer out there demanding what you can do. You are important,” Merethe Sejer explains.

Why did you become a blacksmith yourself?

”It is probably in my blood to want to create something. My parents are tradespeople (carpenter and boatbuilder) and having to find a solution to a challenge, that is the creative process combined with working with a raw material that through processes and knowledge of the material becomes a tangible product or solution, is very rewarding and satisfying. I wish more young people could get to try that, and there are many ways to piece together one's life education.   

In recent years, I have also become very fond of the more managerial aspects, such as creating a good workplace culture and ensuring we all succeed.