The PCI Alpine Cup 2021: Duel of the tilers in Augsburg from July 7 – 9, 2021

Ten young tilers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol and Luxembourg compete against each other in teams of two in the competition arena specially designed for the PCI Alpine Cup. Each team has a total of twelve hours to complete the task jointly defined by the jury, the content of which is based on the requirements of international professional competitions. The teams are each supervised by an expert from their country who travels with them, also acts as a coach and is also part of the jury.

Giving the tilers the chance to additionally benefit from useful know-how and practical knowledge, PCI will organize a live workshop on designing with glass mosaic and renovating critical substrates on both days following the work on the competition task. The award ceremony on July 9 will conclude the event.

PCI and the trade association additionally focus on very practice-relevant and, above all, current topics. The tasks therefore also take into account the current trends and challenges on the market, e.g. laying large formats, special cutting techniques or processing a new product.

PCI is one of the largest employers in the region at the Augsburg site with around 500 employees and has been committed to promoting young talents for many years, especially in the skilled trades. The PCI Alpine Cup motivates young people in the trade, arouses enthusiasm and encourages them in their choice of education.

"At PCI, we are really looking forward to this event. It is something special to hold a 'real' event again after more than one year of event cancellations due to Corona. This event is a completely new format for us to break new ground in promoting young talents. This type of competition also allows us to promote young talents in the skilled trades even more intensively than with our previous involvement in supporting the German national tile team to prepare for the international professional championships," says Stephan Tschernek, Head of Marketing PCI Group. "Follow the countdown before and the live coverage during the PCI Alpine Cup at www.pci-alpencup.com!"

The PCI Alpine Cup is an event organized by PCI Augsburg GmbH in cooperation with the Fachverband Fliesen und Naturstein (FFN) im Zentralverband des Deutschen Baugewerbes (Tile and Natural Stone Association in the Central Association of the German Construction Industry) and the Europäische Union der Fliesenfachverbände (EUF) (European Union of Tile Associations). The competition is supported by other industry partners. Deutsche Steinzeug Cremer & Breuer AG with its brands Agrob Buchtal and Jasba, headquartered in Witterschlick near Bonn, is providing large-format tiles in cooperation with Fliesen-Zentrum Deutschland GmbH. Trims and profiles come from Blanke GmbH & Co. KG from Iserlohn.

Andreas Beyer, master tiler from Vellmar in Hesse and member of the board of the German Tile and Natural Stone Association, acts as chairman of the PCI Alpine Cup jury which includes one expert from each participating country. "The basis for the evaluation are the criteria applied in national and international professional competitions, i.e. precision and accuracy in cutting and laying the tiles."

For the Chairman of the Tile and Natural Stone Association and President of the European Union of Tile Associations, Karl-Hans Körner, the PCI Alpine Cup is the result of the long-term partnership. "As applicators and tile layers, we need good construction chemistry and PCI needs qualified craftsmen. Working together with an intensive professional and technical exchange brings both parties forward and the industry as a whole. We have also been pulling in the same direction for years when it comes to promoting young talents. I am very pleased that we are doing even more together with the European partner associations and that we are promoting and challenging our young colleagues with the PCI Alpine Cup."

PCI communicates the PCI Alpine Cup on all channels - before, during and after the event: from broad coverage on all social media channels with several daily posts to e-mail newsletters, ads and articles in the trade press and live coverage with reporter on site to a digital press conference, interviews, various video shoots and much more. The countdown until the event starts as well as live coverage with webcam and daily reports during the PCI Alpine Cup will be featured on the landing page www.pci-alpencup.com.

In the following years, the PCI Alpine Cup will take place on a regular basis with one participating country taking the lead. The winning team will receive the PCI Alpine Cup trophy with the engraved name. This trophy will be awarded to the respective winning team every year for the period of one year. The three winning teams will additionally receive high-quality prizes, and the other participants will not go away empty-handed either.

The event will be held in compliance with all Corona rules and with a hygiene concept specially developed for the event. Besides the outdoor venue with a spaciously designed arena that offers enough space to keep your distance and plexiglass partition walls to divide the individual areas, it goes without saying that masks are compulsory and that daily Corona tests will be carried out throughout the event for all participants.