Digital Manufacturing Training System for SMEs Erasmus Project

Project Title

Digital Manufacturing Training System for SMEs

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship); New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The manufacturing industry is currently witnessing the fourth industrial revolution as it increasingly moves towards Digital Manufacturing – often known as Industry 4.0, Smart Manufacturing and Factory of the Future – where the ‘real’ and the ‘virtual’ world are seamlessly connected in cyber-physical production systems, exploiting digital manufacturing tools, Internet of Things and cloud computing technologies along the entire production process. Industry 4.0 offers opportunities for companies to develop new products and ways of working while reducing costs.

In recent years, some large companies have integrated digital tools such as cloud computing, rapid manufacturing, data analytics and virtualisation in several stages of the product lifecycle, driven by the need for reduced time to market (short product development time), improved productivity (in terms of quality and reduced waste) and management of cost. However, large manufacturers can be burdened with outdated production facilities and a big inertia towards a radical transformation.

On the other side, SMEs could more easily fulfil customised product requirements with computer-based systems that comprise simulation, 3D visualisation and analytics, but often do not have enough knowledge about the benefits and requirements of the digitalisation and find it difficult to access clear and useful information about Digital Manufacturing due to their limited size, time and financial capacity.

The aim of the Digital Manufacturing Training System for SMEs (Digit-T) project was to address this. It has created a free online training programme to help users understand what Digital Manufacturing is, the associated terminology, the expected benefits, and how an organisation can start adopting it. The key outputs of the project are the training materials developed which are available in English, Spanish and Italian and split into 2 parts:
• A free online training course
• Open access ebook

The materials in both the training course and ebook are divided into 3 topics:
• Management in Industry 4.0
• Advanced Manufacturing Systems
• Intelligent Robotics

Each topic in the online training course is divided into 3-4 training modules, each consisting of 3-5 sessions. Ten case studies are also linked to the training platform, with additional case studies and examples included, where appropriate, in individual sessions. Each session is designed to take the learner approx. 30 minutes to complete (excluding quizzes, case studies and additional materials). Additional reading materials are identified at the end of each session and, where appropriate, case studies relevant to that session are also linked. Materials can be accessed in any order. In the ebook each topic is divided into 3 standalone chapters.

The online training course and ebook are complimentary but can be used independently of the other. All materials can be accessed via the project website at https://digit-t.eu.

To ensure the content of the training platform, and subsequent book, were relevant and of interest to SMEs, the topics and modules included in the training platform, together with the arrangement of modules and sessions, style of sessions and session length, were informed by a user needs survey conducted with SMEs at the start of the project.

Other books, courses and websites associated with Industry 4.0 do exist, including a number of initiatives within the VET framework. However, Digit-T is currently the only training framework on Digital Manufacturing Technologies available providing:
• A comprehensive overview on the digitalisation in industry including technical and business considerations
• Simple language, accessible to a broad target audience, e.g. manager, engineer, researcher, student
• Accessibility via an online course and ebook which are complimentary to each other
• Examples and applications that give an idea of the potential of Industry 4.0
• Multi-language support
• Open access

While the materials have been developed for SMEs, the training material is also suitable for larger companies dealing with the challenges of digitalisation, students, and any type of organization interested in the topic of I4.0 and digitalization. Therefore our engagement activities have focussed on SMEs as the prime users of Digit-T but throughout the project we have also engaged with a broader audience including large organisations and students.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 331852 Eur

Project Coordinator

THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM & Country: UK

Project Partners

• FUNDACIO EURECAT
• ASSOCIAZIONE FABBRICA INTELLIGENTE LOMBARDIA
• CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE