education

In recent years, learning factories have evolved into key experimental environments in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In addition to their role as training centers for skilled workers, they also serve as real-world research laboratories. This issue of Industry 4.0 Science examines learning factories as venues for exploring new approaches and technologies—whether digital assistants, cobots, serious games, or digital twins.

Manufacturing firms in developing countries face challenges in closing productivity gaps while adopting Industry 4.0 technologies. Learning factories are one helpful approach to countering these challenges. One such example is the learning factory Fábrica do Futuroin São Paulo, Brazil, which has engaged students, supported competence development, and collaborated with industry in applied research, functioning as a hub for advanced manufacturing initiatives.

Learning factories offer the possibility to plan, execute and analyze the knowledge imparted in theory on realistic industrial systems. This article analyzes the potential of developing and operating a learning factory in a virtual environment. For this purpose, institutions with learning factories are surveyed regarding the challenges and desires in the operation of learning factories and the mentioned aspects are discussed with regard to their representability in Virtual Reality. The result shows that Virtual Reality positively influences a large part of the aspects and has a high potential to solve current challenges in the establishment and operation of learning factories.

After three years of living in one of China’s booming cities, the answer seems easy: In China! Even during the crisis in 2009 construction was ongoing in Dalian: Roads, apartments, plants. At the same time in Europe workers were dismissed and factories closed. That is why a discussion of the advantages of a location seems unreasonable at this point. The decision has already been taken by companies. The remaining question is: Where to go from here? And again the answer seems easy.

The technical universities which were founded after India’s independence fulfil the dream of the first prime minister Nehru of an advanced and self-sufficient India. Universities such as the IIT Delhi have the ambition to play in the international top league. Multinationals like IBM are attracted by the large number of talented engineers and scientists and have numerous cooperations with Indian universities. American and European universities are trying to integrate Indian students and graduates in their curriculum and research. This article gives an overview on the diverse Indian university and research landscape and shows which advantages western companies and universities have by working together with Indian top-universities.

Developing and testing and operating complex machinery and repairing it under time pressure if it breaks down - individuals in many professions have to learn new skills. Moreover, they have to do so as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. Virtual technologies are supporting learning more and more frequently. Operations and procedures on machinery and plants are already taught in individual lessons on the virtual model. They can be repeated as often as desired without the space or time constraints of real machinery and without endangering either operator or plants through incorrect behaviour and can be practiced before a real machine or plant has been constructed.

The internet-based teaching, learning and communication system “Business Administration Knowledge Laboratory” (WiLabBW) is developed and continuously expanded within a cooperation project of Thuringian universities. The paper gives a survey of the basic goals and explains its architecture and business model.