Industry 4.0. is the name given to the last industrial revolution, which is based in new ways of interaction among people, machines and data, combining the real world of production with the virtual world of information and communication technology.In order to establish industry 4.0. in a company, it is necessary to count with workers with the skills to meet the requirements of this new approach. Industry 4.0. is more demanding in both technological and organisational terms and interdisciplinary competences are essential.In this context, the VET system should seek to provide a broader set of skills and job specific capabilities and close the existing IT skills gap. Industry 4.0. calls for a new approach of IT know-how, in combination with organizational and soft skills and therefore, vocational training needs to be structured in a different way and integrated in the industry 4.0. by cooperating with technological centres and companies, completing the triangle innovation-education-business. According to the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), “companies are cooperating more with partners in the higher education sector to train the next generation of skilled workers. But vocational education and training must not leave this field to the higher education establishments alone, particularly as no uniform standards exist as yet. On the contrary, it must develop its own concepts for Vocational Education & Training 4.0.”Given this background, with LAIT 4.0. the partners want to contribute to the achievement of these objectives:- Provide VET teachers with knowledge about industry 4.0. technologies and with the skills to transfer this knowledge to VET learners and to SMEs.- Develop the technological and organizational skills of VET learners in order to give a better answer to the current demands of industrial companies, especially those involved in advanced manufacturing (CNC, virtual welding, robotics...).- Improve the access of companies, specially SMEs, to the knowledge of research and innovation centres to apply it to their own economic activity.- Increase cooperation between VET centres, research and innovation centres and companies, enhancing the triangle education-innovation-business.- Facilitate transparency among the different VET systems in the EU by the joint design of a course addressed to reduce the skills shortage related to industry 4.0. and the development of a memorandum of understanding among project partners to facilitate the exchange and mobility of VET teachers and learners, as the implementation of industry 4.0. in companies is a European need in order to guarantee the competitiveness of European companies.During the project, 18 VET teachers will be intensively trained in industry 4.0. in a technological centre in the Basque Country which is a European reference in the field. These 18 VET teachers will transfer this knowledge to other 50 teachers during a short course. Around 1200-1500 learners will benefit from the upgrade of skills of their teachers.On the other hand, cooperation with companies is also an essential part of LAIT 4.0. Twenty companies will be involved in the project and will work with the 18 VET teachers to walk towards the implementation of industry 4.0. and become a factory of the future.The methodology used during the implementation of LAIT 4.0. is the continuous cooperation within the triangle innovation-education-business. Firstly, by upgrading the technological and organizational competences in industry 4.0. of VET teachers, through the specific training provided by a technological centre and passed later on by the own VET teachers to other colleagues.Then, by incorporating the companies to the triangle through the realization of technological check-ups and improvement plans in order to implement industry 4.0. We can sum up LAIT 4.0. results and long term benefits as follows:- The upgrade of competences of VET teachers in industry 4.0.- A better alignment between VET provision and the needs of companies by the implementation in VET courses of training related to the development of skills and competences in industry 4.0., which will improve the employability and professional perspectives of VET learners.- A higher implementation of industry 4.0. in companies by the realization of technological check up and improvement plan by VET teachers in cooperation with a technological centre. - The definition of new ways of cooperation between VET centres and companies by the provision of added value services beyond the traditional training, contributing to the modernization of VET centres.- A higher relevance and prestige of VET by playing a key role in driving innovation in companies and being a bridge between technological centres and companies (a role now played almost exclusively by universities).
Industry 4.0. is based on new ways of interaction among people, machines and data, combining the physical and cybernetical world in a manufacturing environment. In order to establish industry 4.0. in a company, it is necessary to count with workers with the skills to meet the requirements of this new approach. Industry 4.0. is more demanding in both technological and organisational terms and interdisciplinary competences are essential. In this context, the VET system should seek to provide a broader set of skills and job specific capabilities and close the existing IT skills gap. Vocational training needs to be structured in a different way and integrated in the industry 4.0. by cooperating with technological centres and companies, completing the triangle innovation-education-business. According to the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), “companies are cooperating more with partners in the higher education sector to train the next generation of skilled workers. But vocational education and training must not leave this field to the higher education establishments alone, particularly as no uniform standards exist as yet. On the contrary, it must develop its own concepts for Vocational Education & Training 4.0.” Given this background, with LAIT 4.0. the partners wanted to achieve various aims: - Provide VET teachers with knowledge on industry 4.0. technologies and with the skills to transfer this knowledge to VET learners and to SMEs. - Develop the technological and organizational skills of VET learners in order to give a better answer to the current demands of industrial companies. - Improve the access of companies, specially SMEs, to the knowledge of research and innovation centres. - Increase cooperation between VET centres, R&D centres and companies, enhancing the triangle education-innovation-business. - Facilitate transparency among the different VET systems in the EU by the design of a course addressed to reduce the skills shortage related to industry 4.0. and the development of a memorandum of understanding among project partners to enhance their cooperation beyond this project. To accomplish these aims, during the project: - 19 VET teachers attended a course on industry 4.0 (O1) and the key related technologies, provided by our project partner IK4 Tekniker. - These 19 teachers transferred this knowledge to other 88 teachers during a short course, focusing on those aspects more relevant to each VET school. The materials developed for each short course are available under O2. - 17 technological check-ups were carried out by VET teachers. To do that, a methodology was developed to determine in the first place, the digital maturity level of the companies and secondly, to identify (if applicable) any possible improvement. The experience obtained enabled us to develop a guide (O5) to carry out technological check-ups in companies, which includes the methodology used as well as some guidance regarding the organization in VET schools and the technological check-ups carried out in each country in the respective language version of the guide. These activities brought an important impact: -19 VET teachers got a deeper understanding on industry 4.0 and got the knowledge and the experience to carry out technological check-ups in companies, which enhanced enormously their self-confidence when dealing with companies and of course their professional skills. - Accounting the number of teachers who upgraded their skills and the new materials developed for the short courses, which are being already used in class in many VET programmes, we estimate that around 1700-1800 students at least benefit now from better prepared teachers and from the integration of new contents in the curriculums delivered. - 17 Companies participated in the technological check-ups, some very advanced in the implementation of industry 4.0, some with almost no experience at all. In both cases, they discovered a powerful tool for analysis or self-analysis of their readiness for industry 4.0 and in some cases even projects to be carried out together with the VET schools who carried out the check-ups. This empowered the triangle innovation-business-education. - As consequence, the main impact for all project partners is that they have better prepared teachers now and their curriculum is updated and more aligned to the companies´ needs, besides, the realization of technological check-ups is now a new service offered by some of the partners and/or an activity integrated in their lessons to be done by VET students. In the long term, the benefits of the project refer to a better alignment between VET and the needs of companies, which will improve the professional perspectives of VET learners and the definition of new ways of cooperation between VET centres, companies and technological centres, contributing to a higher relevance and prestige of VET, being a bridge between technological centres and companies.