Autor: Carsten Ullrich

Today’s in-house training faces the challenge an increasing demand for work expertise against the background of a continuing reduction of staff. This paper describes how companies can meet these challenges supported by a technology-enhanced approach. A central part of the solution is an intelligent-adaptive learning system that allows employees to create learning media while solving operational challenges and, at a later time to access these media, adapted to their individual needs. The article outlines the main human, technical and organizational requirements that an integration of such an adaptive digital learning and assistance system into a company faces.

A closer look at the population pyramid shows the ongoing demographic change. The number of employees that are due to retire on account of their advanced age will increase significantly in the next years. Without further actions the knowledge and practical expertise of these experienced employees will no longer be available in the company. The preservation of the practical knowledge by the integration of digital media in an industrial production environment is subject of the article and is verified by the learning factory of the chair of production systems.

As a result of continuously increasing economic constraints for the producing sector in Germany due to competitors from low-wage countries, production paradigms are changing substantially. This paradigm shift is characterized by rapidly advancing automation processes. Hence, highly complex Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS) are developed and put into practice. In combination with decreasing numbers of staff and the resulting loss of knowledge, this leads to a deficit of competence required to handle the increasing complexity of CPPS. As a result, a need for innovative assistance systems arises for the support of the remaining employees. The given article describes the challenges and problems and drafts a potential technical solution as well as challenges concerning organization and staff.