Current study: Professional training for Industry 4.0

The industry is changing. The Digitalization as well as parts of the Information and Communication as well as Media Technology is changing the production and the relationship between men and machine. Keywords are Industry 4.0 or Smart Factory. This development changes the educational demand. A project of the Austrian University St. Pölten researches about the current demand of the appropriate educational opportunities in Austria and compares these to the requirements of the companies.
Comparing demand and requirements
The development of the Information and Communication Technique goes side by side with the fast-paced progress of the digitalization. Processes of the industrial production become more and more networked, automated and digitalized. This changes the requirements of the industry for specific qualifications. The new shapes of the production process need extended better yet alternative expertise.
In the project "Application based rising Industry 4.0-relevant qualification requirements and its impact on the Austrian education landscape" (AEIQU) , the University of St. Pölten and the Institute of Industrial Research (IWI), The Frauenhofer-Institute for Work Management and Organization (IAO) and the Accord Group ECE Austria GmbH make researches about which qualifications employees need for the Industry 4.0 and its impact on the educational landscape.
We ask companies, which qualifications they require their employees to have and how important specific technologies and soft skills are. We compare these with the status quo in the educational and training landscape at the Austrian Universities, colleges and non-university institutions. This comparison shows the content and geographical demand for future educational opportunities“, explains Thomas Moser, Project Manager as well as Manager of the Research Group Digital Technologies of Media at the Digital Technology department of the St. Pölten University.
Three different profiles have been examined: People working in the production directly at the machines, people not working directly in the production like maintenance and quality control, and all other employees. Interviewing project experts from 40 big companies like Andritz AG, At & S Austria technology & System Technology AG, ABB, BRP Powertrain, Fronius International, Robert Bosch, Voestalpine and Wienerberger.
The topic Industry 4.0 is always combined with fear about outsourcing working places. According to Moser there shouldn´t be any fear: „Technical progress always created work. The jobs won´t get lost in times of Industry 4.0."
The result of the study will be included in the orientation of coming degree programs.
The link to the original article please find below:
https://idw-online.de/en/news653790
Picture source: University ST. Pölten
Are you looking for professional RFID and Barcode Scanner to capture all current tags and barcodes? We recommend our SCANNDY: