Learning Advanced Industrial Technologies 4.0 to upgrade the skills of VET teachers as drivers of innovation in SMEs Erasmus Project

Project Title

Learning Advanced Industrial Technologies 4.0 to upgrade the skills of VET teachers as drivers of innovation in 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 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal); Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship)

Project Summary

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.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 157578 Eur

Project Coordinator

Heziketa Teknikoko Elkartea & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Apro Formazione S.c.a.r.l.
• FUNDACION TEKNIKER
• Kauno technikos profesinio mokymo centras
• DUNDEE AND ANGUS COLLEGE
• ROC Da Vinci College