PBL Training for managers to face the Foundry 4.0 challenges Erasmus Project

Project Title

PBL Training for managers to face the Foundry 4.0 challenges

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: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Research and innovation

Project Summary

Industry is a key element for country development and for employment quality: it provides more qualified and stable jobs than other economic sectors and it has a big multiplier impact being strictly connected to commerce and service sectors. For this reason economists agree that reindustrialization and innovation in industry are today the main key for economic competitiveness.

Synthetically, innovation means go to industry 4.0, which consists in: 1) digitalisation and integration of processes vertically and horizontally across the entire organisation; 2) digitalisation of product and service offerings, using big data to refine products and meet the increasing needs of end-customers; 3) digital business models and customer access, optimising customer interaction. The benefits of these transformations are evident: gains in operational efficiency, cost reduction, quality improvement, optimisation of the manufacturers – consumers’ communication, major competitiveness and profits.

In Spain, industry represents 15% of GDP and 11.5% of employee people (INE, 2014). The metal sector, which includes foundry industry, covers 44% of industry and 40% of employment. According with J. Mestres Domènech analysis (Macro economy department, CaixaBank, 2016) digitalisation in Spanish industry is really poor and is expected to be slower in Spain than in other world countries, and one of the main causes is the lack of adequate digital culture and training.

The main aim of INNORESOLVE project was to transfer the benefits of the digital revolution within the Foundry industry. Thus, target group is the Foundry industry top and intermediate managers to make them ready to face the Foundry 4.0 challenges, but also sectorial organizations that support management training, policy makers and stakeholders in this field. More than 3.000 members of the primary target group were contacted during the project.

The main project results:

A) INNORESOLVE PBL collaborative e-learning training: a training program based on problem solving methodology. Such training provides required skills and promptly enable management in Foundry industry to cope with the increasingly demanding industrial environment.
Activities carried out:
– Definition of contents and pathway
– Technical definition of training structure and pedagogical approach.
– Development of e-learning training content
– Development of the learning environment.
– Translation of the Online Collaborative Learning Training (EN, ES, PT, IT and RO)
– Design of the Pilot testing (evaluation questionnaires and Focus Group guidelines)
– Pilot testing activities with 20 professionals of foundry companies in each country, plus an Expert Committee. Each partner elaborated a national report
– Adapting and updating to the results of pilot testing

B) INNORESOLVE Support Guide: a guide about the new challenges of Foundry in partners countries and a collection of good practices and case studies of Foundries 4.0.
Activities carried out:
– Definition of Guide’s contents and structure
– Design of the case studies research.
– Collection of case studies. 48 case studies of technological innovation in foundry industry
– Elaboration of the Guide national contents.
– Elaboration of the common guide
– Translation of the Guide (EN, ES, PT, IT and RO)
– Validation of the guide with 20 professionals in each country, plus an Expert Committee. National reports
– Adapting and updating to the validation results

Impact and benefits:
1) On participating organizations: improving their knowledge, skills and experience in this field, to both update their training offer and have new resources for dealing with their companies and their national and international network for innovation. Partners are updating their training programs in this new range of skills and competencies related to (KET) for advanced manufacturing, updating the professional profiles required by industries.
2) Target groups: improving their skills and knowledge concerning Industry 4.0; INNORESOLVE motivated and enabled them to afford digitalisation and acceleration processes in their companies. Most of them considered that the INNORESOLVE training course manages to provide support in understanding the benefits of digitalization, being very easy to study and of use even for persons not so familiarized with this concept, as it provides a very good overview of the Industry 4.0, starting from its origins, then moving on the impact on companies and people (HH.RR.), finally moving to technologies.
3) Other relevant stakeholders (other industry representatives, organisations and institutions at national and international level, managers of other industry sectors, industrial confederations, public or private organisations committed with industry’s innovation and competitiveness, training providers, etc.). They were invited to test and use the final project products to boost innovation and digitalisation of secondary sector at all levels.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 196380 Eur

Project Coordinator

ASOCIACION DE FUNDIDORES DEL PAIS VASCO Y NAVARRA & Country: ES

Project Partners

• CINFU
• Cluj Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Associação Portuguesa de Fundição
• UNIVERSITA TELEMATICA INTERNAZIONALE-UNINETTUNO
• XXI INVESLAN, S.L.
• FONDO FORMACION EUSKADI SLL