{"id":113540,"date":"2026-04-04T14:20:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T12:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/industry-science.com\/?post_type=article&p=113540"},"modified":"2026-04-07T16:07:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:07:05","slug":"learning-module-sustainable","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/industry-science.com\/en\/articles\/learning-module-sustainable\/","title":{"rendered":"Industrial Transformation via a Machining Learning Factory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By 2025, seven of the nine so-called planetary boundaries have already been exceeded [1<\/a>]. One of these refers to climate change. In order to still meet the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement [2], immediate steps to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in all sectors, including industry, are necessary [3]. This requires a strategic approach by industrial companies, often involving a complex combination of technical measures.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs<\/a>) tend to lack the specific competencies required for such a transformation [4]. One way of imparting such competencies is through learning modules in so-called learning factories, which replicate a real production environment for the purpose of action-oriented teaching [5]. Hands-on training in the learning factory offers more than the primarily theoretical knowledge imparted by traditional teaching formats, such as lectures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Technical University of Darmstadt has a metalworking facility called ETA Factory (Energy Technologies and Applications in production), specialized in energy efficiency [6]. Previous publications have used the ETA Factory to develop a climate strategy made up of a portfolio of learning modules for climate-neutral production [7\u20138]. This article expands on these approaches, demonstrating how a learning factory can be used to foster the competencies required to create a specific transformation plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A representative process for the development of transformation concepts was defined by the authors using existing literature such as [9] and [10]. The process includes GHG accounting, setting targets, identifying emission reduction potentials, developing measures and evaluating measures. This consolidated process was then used as a basis to develop a learning module. The learning module reflects the aforementioned steps and aids the selection of appropriate technical measures, accounting for different evaluation criteria and targets within an industrial company\u2019s organizational structure. This article describes the module\u2019s development within the existing learning factory infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Methodology: A structured approach to facilitate active processing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Tisch et al. [11], the design of a learning module must take into account both didactical and socio-technical infrastructure. Didactical infrastructure highlights the setting of the learning module, while socio-technical infrastructure includes the physical composition of the learning factory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The learning module reflects Bloom\u2019s taxonomy of competency levels [12]. It is structured so that participants first retrieve relevant theoretical knowledge about climate neutrality by recalling information previously learned in work or education. This forms the basis for the next step, in which they understand the meaning and relevance of climate neutrality by connecting new and pre-existing knowledge. In the following step, participants actively apply their knowledge in order to develop concrete measures for transformation towards GHG neutrality. This promotes practical understanding and the ability to apply theoretical knowledge to real situations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building on this, participants continuously analyze the measures they have developed and refine their solutions through group exchange and guided discussion. This structured approach ensures that learners not only absorb knowledge but also actively process, reflect on, and apply it creatively [13].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Figure
Figure 1: Top: Model of the ETA Factory, with offices on the left-hand third (stretching over all three floors) and the production hall across the middle and right-hand thirds. The learning factory environment is designated by the green box. Bottom: Layout plan of the production hall, with the production line on the top half. The learning factory environment is displayed in the bottom half.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Socio-technical infrastructure\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The ETA Factory consists of multiple areas connected via thermal networks: the basement, which houses the energy supply infrastructure, the production hall on the first floor, which houses a real production line and the learning factory environment, and offices on the first, second, and third floors. The layout, minus the basement, is visualized in Figure 1<\/strong>. The learning factory environment accounts for approximately 10% of the area of the ETA Factory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make the learning module as realistic to an industrial environment as possible, actual thermal and electrical performance data from the research offices and production hall of the ETA Factory are used in the module, displayed in dashboards prepared in advance. Thermal and electrical load profiles of the research offices are allocated to the learning factory environment; the goal of addressing this system extension is the inclusion of emission-inducing activities of employees that extend beyond activities conducted within the immediate learning factory, such as scope 3 activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For simplification, it is assumed that the supply technology of the ETA Factory consists solely of a combined heat and power plant and a compression chiller and that additional required electricity is obtained from the public grid. Thermal and electrical storage systems used in parts of the ETA Factory outside the learning factory are not considered for the module.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Figure
Figure 2: Photograph of the learning factory environment in the ETA Factory.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While the production hall consists of two production lines, only the line within the learning factory (Fig. 2<\/strong>) is used to develop the module. The total thermal energy demand of the learning factory (space heating and machine heating\/cooling) is assumed to amount to 10% of the total energy demand of the production hall. For electrical energy consumption, data from the following machines is scaled up to project usage on 260 operating days per year during one-shift operations (8 hours per day):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Figure
Figure 3: Overview of machinery in the ETA learning factory.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Learning module<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The methodology described above is used to develop a learning module for industrial transformation, considering the competencies required for action-oriented learning, addressing all levels of Bloom\u2019s taxonomy and taking into account the infrastructural conditions of the learning factory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning module scenario<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As part of the learning module, participants are asked to develop a transformation strategy for the learning factory. To ground the module in an industrial context, the transformation is built around a funding program for energy and resource efficiency, launched in November 2021 by the German Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA). Module 5 of this program provides funding for transformation plans, the aim of which is to support companies in taking concrete, achievable steps towards GHG neutrality. Transformation plans must include the following aspects [14]:<\/p>\n\n\n\n