European framework for continuous professional development in precision engineering for advanced manufacturing Erasmus Project

Project Title

European framework for continuous professional development in precision engineering for advanced manufacturing

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Recognition, transparency, certification; Quality Assurance; Cooperation between educational institutions and business

Project Summary

The EU manufacturing sector accounts for 2 million companies and 33 million jobs; it is the source of 15 % of EU GDP, 80% of our exports and 2/3 of investment in R&D. The Factories of the Future Roadmap of EFFRA – “Factories 4.0 and Beyond” has identified some key technologies and enablers for Excellence in Manufacturing, in particular for High precision manufacturing, Zero-defect manufacturing and Innovative production technologies. Strong emphasis is given to the human factor and the need to support training/re-skilling people working in highly specialised domains. A key competence area for advanced manufacturing is Precision Engineering (PE), which is indispensable for advanced product/process engineering in B2B customer-supplier interactions. Precision engineering includes both multidisciplinary study and the practice of high accuracy engineering, metrology, and manufacturing of high precision machines, instruments and components.

The general aim of PREFAM is to support continuous professional development in PE in a European perspective, offering high-quality learning opportunities to individuals for specialised competences, in order to strengthen employability and personal development in strategic industries.

The main target group are industry employees who need to keep their skills up to date and in line with the precision industry requirements. In most cases, they hold an engineering degree and/or gained some level of competence in PE related topics while working. Other groups that could as well benefit are PhD students and teachers in mechanical and mechatronics subjects but with limited access to advanced courses in PE.

An euspen needs analysis completed in September 2018, has illustrated that currently the number of adequate training opportunities available in Europe is limited and the learners, course providers and industrial enterprises have difficulties in identifying, evaluating and selecting courses as well as in the documentation of competences. Additionally, the learning outcomes approach is not commonly used in descriptions of short courses for PE.

The key objectives of the PREFAM project are by 2022:
Fully develop a European framework for training in PE for Advanced Manufacturing, to increase the availability of specialised trainings in multiple European countries
Define a strategy and guidelines for learning success design and evaluation
Develop procedures for course management and monitoring in a European dimension
Produce Good practice guides for new courses development, including hands-on activities and innovative teaching styles
Design, develop and validate new courses based on market requirements
Monitor new training opportunities and new needs for precision engineers

Consortium Excellence is based on the participation of 7 partners from 6 Countries representing the EU advanced manufacturing industry, with experience of participation/delivery of EU projects aimed at VET development and implementation; expert knowledge in a range of complementary topics and of different learning communities. All partners are Euspen members, demonstrating an existing like-mindedness/understanding of the Industry’s needs. Each party brings a wealth of local insight into the market and supply chain/sales channels.

The overall strategy for project implementation is based on sharing national/international experience on excellence in training for PE as a common and strong basis to design, implement and test the innovative outputs. This project joins innovation efforts towards EU-wide availability of training in PE, including recognition of qualifications and developing of learning outcomes, assessment criteria and innovative content, to be then implemented and tested at different levels. Results include an integrated platform for one-point open access to the EU-wide training programme, good practice for developing new course content, and procedures for monitoring quality of existing and future courses and new courses on Entrepreneurship, Additive Manufacturing for Precision Engineers, Precision Manufacuring, Machine Tool Metrology and Surface Metrology.

Excepted impacts for the stakeholders are:
Learners: personal development, new skills gained, improved employability, mobility and career prospects with achievement of certification recognised at a European level.
Participants: new tools and methodology for VET and certification, new courses/resources for future use and replication, increased visibility and expended networks for future collaborations.
Industry: increased innovation capacity with staff possessing certified training, demonstrating quality of learning and applicability of skills gained, participation in shaping future training.
Europe: a demonstrated approach for VET to be used as best practice for future initiatives.
Longer term benefits: recognition and standardisation of learning outcomes in PE across Europe to allow transnational mobility of skills

Project Website

http://www.euspen.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 423655 Eur

Project Coordinator

euspen & Country: UK

Project Partners

• DUTCH SOCIETY FOR PRECISION ENGINEERING
• KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für angewandte Optik
• DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET
• UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA