Technologie: Training

As the digitization of production processes advances, it influences many areas. In addition to the intra corporate structures and inter enterprise supply chains, it even has an impact on social structures. The progress includes the whole range of changes from the digitization of production processes to their data-driven optimization using intelligent feedback processes. In the end it will result in the combination of the real world with the digital world. To build up this digitization of the value chains, the human relations departments, the forms of communication and cooperation as well as the process management have to change. But to be successful on the way of digitization, new skills are necessary. To obtain these skills, the forms and techniques of the qualification acquisition need to be adapted.

The renaissance of learning at the workplace is a result of the digitization of the world of work and related new working and organizational concepts. Vocational education and training, previously dominated by seminars and training courses, changes radically in favor of learning in the work process. Will the fourth industrial revolution enhance this development? Research and development are only at the beginning, yet first answers are emerging.

The article deals with competences for the implementation of the Industrial Internet whose further development is rather open. Statements on competences are made in the context of extreme scenarios. Concrete requirements depend on combinations of technology and organization which companies choose. So, an - supported - adaptable continuing training is important in which employees learn to carry out changing tasks in the actual work process. The article points to training forms which support competence development for digitalization of industry.

The difference between Open and Closed Innovation is that external partners can get actively involved in all stages of the value added process and are not limited to being mere idea generators. Whilst finding solutions for their own problems and needs, creative individuals or groups of individuals can play an active role in the development of innovative products featuring new functional and design elements. In addition, Open Innovation provides further benefits in the field of image building and innovation marketing.

The sustainable implementation of efficient processes requires a corporate culture that ensures continuous optimization. In order to achieve this level of operational excellence employees’ capabilities must be developed with regard to the identification and active pursuit of improvements. For this purpose, lean management principles and tools have to be implemented at all hierarchy levels (lean thinking). In many instances, learning factories have proved to be an appropriate platform to support this process of transformation. For the first time in Germany, this concept has now been transferred to the process industry with its special requirements by realizing a learning factory within a pharmaceutical company. The procedure of planning and deploying this industry-specific learning environment with the identified success factors are discussed in this paper.

Demanding challenges arise through interactions of demographic development and change of modern working life in an industry 4.0., especially for enterprises of the production and logistics sector. While facing rapidly changing technologies and demographic homogenous personnel, they are requested to ensure that the required knowledge and the necessary competences are constantly recallable. A demographic-sensitive, operational competence management (ABEKO) plays a major role.

The term Industry 4.0 has changed from a fashionable issue to a serious research and future-topic in industrial production. Research organisations work on sophisticated technologies and concepts to implement this fourth industrial revolution, research grants are provided generously and model factories get decorated. However, many companies still cannot understand the term industry 4.0 and the related consequences on their own business. Especially small and medium sized enterprises have not understood the benefits. For that reason the currently existing learning factory at the institute of industrial management and innovation research at Graz University of Technology is enlarged to an industry 4.0 learning factory. The concept behind is the object of this article.

Die zukünftige Verstädterung führt zu einem Wachstum der urbanen Strukturen und gleichzeitig zu einer Konzentration von potenziellen Konsumenten von Gütern sowie von potenziellen Arbeitskräften der Fabriken von morgen. Dem Trend von Industrie 4.0 sowie einer Urbanisierung folgend sind daher auch die Fabriken mit ihren Arbeitsmodellen einem Wandel unterworfen. Mit dem Beginn der vierten industriellen Revolution spielt der Mensch als Produktionsfaktor weiterhin eine zentrale Rolle, allerdings ändert sich seine Rolle im Wertschöpfungsprozess. Dabei zeichnet sich immer stärker ein künftiger Mangel an qualifizierten Fachkräften ab. Der vorliegende Beitrag geht daher auf verschiedene arbeitsorganisatorische Ansätze zur Steigerung der Attraktivität urbaner Fabriken ein, welche zur Bewältigung des Fachkräftemangels einen Beitrag leisten sollen.

The increasing digitalization of the working environment has significantly influenced the dynamics of almost all sectors. It is responsible for fundamental changes of surrounding conditions and poses new challenges to organizations. New knowledge and new competencies have to be accumulated in ever shorter intervals. The directed selection, utilization and development of relevant knowledge and required competencies have to be planned and realized systematically. Within a research project, funded by the Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS), a self-assessment tool has been developed that is meant to support organizations in dealing with the critical success factors knowledge and competencies. The presentation of this tool is objective of the article at hand.

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.