The innovation cluster of the Piedmont region (Italy), MESAP, partner of the FIT4FoF project, concludes its educational pilot "Smart Products and Manufacturing", divided into four modules and involving 6 professionals per class.

The pilot was conducted at the premises of MTS, a medium-sized company north of Turin operating in the sector of mechanical instrument manufacturing and industrial carpentry. Due to its rapid growth, this company needs to implement Industry 4.0 techniques and logic, so they are looking for professional figures who can play an active role in industrial sectors such as manufacturing, production technologies and paradigms, IIOT enabling technologies or lean production. For this reason, this educational pilot involved the participation of very diverse members of their company: the people responsible for purchasing, logistics, marketing and sales departments, white-collar workers (technical department) and blue-collar workers (welders), among other profiles.

As in the other FIT4FoF pilots, the University College of Northern Denmark (UCN) contributed in the early stages of its development with the ICOED sessions held in March 2021, in which the internal trainer of MTS, the SME involved in the development of the educational plan, participated. The train-the-trainer approach was used to co-create dedicated training activities bringing together employees, trainers, employers and facilitators. After these workshops and after having consolidated the methodology used, the construction of the training course focused on Industry 4.0 started.

The company MTS developed a specific training plan for its staff to meet the needs of upskilling their skills regarding Industry 4.0, thanks to the use of the ICOED methodology developed during the FIT4FoF project. The educational plan focused on World Class Manufacturing, Lean Production and a set of concepts that are an important guideline in terms of production and manufacturing. The main objective of this pilot was to focus on operational efficiency, loss reduction and the creation of a cost-efficient organisation. For example, during the first class the principles of WCM were introduced: just in time and lean management, quality management and reduction of defects and total preventive maintenance.

The trainer in charge shared with the MESAP Team his reflections on the methodology used in the pilot, new for this company, in which he considered that "it covers all aspects that need to be considered in the design of appropriate training for the industry", and that the use of the MIRO tool (PI Planning, Revers Brainstorming or brainwriting board) provides a platform on which to apply a structured approach to training. Overall, the experience of the MESAP pilot has been positive, with the company describing it as innovative and useful and with a desire to use it in the future for further innovation and training activities. In the same way, the participants have transferred the co-design as a strong point because the course was defined according to the needs they had, resulting in a higher participation and interest in this pilot.

Watch the video and know how MESAP's pilot developed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K9OrNfnALo&feature=emb_imp_woyt