

Furthermore, the operating institute has established many learning factories for academia and industry worldwide. With each implemented technology new topics for the learning modules are integrated. product traceability, worker assistance, digital shopfloor management, predictive maintenance, milk run 4.0 and AGVs. Different technologies are implemented, e.g. With new implemented Industrie 4.0-technologies the concept of lean is extended. The Process Learning Factory CiP is a part of the SME competency center for the Rhine-Main area funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Within a learning module, practical experiences alternate with theoretical teaching. The 15 different learning modules are structured in lean basics, lean core elements and lean thinking. The learning factory can map different scenarios from a wasteful and unbalanced production environment to a lean and a digital lean state. On about 500 m², learners apply lean methods and solve problems on own experience. Besides the eight variants of the pneumatic cylinder, customer-individualized requirements of different measurements are implemented in a lean machining area. The delivery of raw material, machining, quality control, assembly, packing, and indirect processes are simulated similar to a small and medium-sized enterprise. In the Process Learning Factory CiP of the Technische Universität Darmstadt focuses on developing competencies for lean production and Industrie 4.0. In 2017, the initiative decided to include learning factories from all continents and renamed itself to the ‘International Association of Learning Factories’.Įxamples of existing learning factories Learning factories in academia TU Darmstadt: Process Learning Factory CiP The Initiative has led to a European collaboration on the topic of learning factories. In 2011, the Initiative on ‘European Learning Factories’ was established with the 1st Conference on Learning Factories in Darmstadt (Germany). One of the first learning factories in this wave is the ‘Center for industrial Productivity’ founded by the Institute for Production Management, Technology and Machine Tools (Technische Universität Darmstadt), established in 2007 (see section 3). In Europe, more and more learning factories have been designed in the last decade. In 2006, the program received the National Academy of Engineering’s Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering Education. Real problems of the industry could be solved in a realistic environment. Industry-related design projects have been supported on a 2000 m² facility with machines, tools, and materials. The term ‘learning factory’ was first coined in the US in 1994, when the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a consortium of the Penn State University. The difference between learning factories and model factories is that learning factories provide a didactical concept and an operating model for training. An operating model ensuring the sustained operation of the learning factory is desirable. Consequently, learning outcomes may be competency development and/or innovation. a didactical concept that comprises formal, informal and non-formal learning, enabled by own actions of the trainees in an on-site learning approach.ĭepending on the purpose of the learning factory, learning takes place through teaching, training and/or research.a physical product being manufactured, and.a setting that is changeable resembles a real value chain,.processes that are authentic, include multiple stations, and comprise technical as well as organizational aspects,.The generally accepted definition was agreed within the CIRP CWG and published in the CIRP Encyclopedia: According to the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP) a learning factory is defined by The word ‘ learning’ indicates the development of competencies, while the word ‘ factory’ defines a realistic manufacturing environment. The term learning factory consists of two words. 4 Approach to Competency-Oriented Planning and Design.3.2.2 Festo Learning Factory Scharnhausen.

3.1.7 Ruhr-Universität Bochum: LPS Learning Factory.3.1.6 Technische Universität München: Learning Factory for Lean Production (LSP).3.1.5 Université du Luxembourg: Operational Excellence Laboratory.3.1.3 Stellenbosch University: Stellenbosch Learning Factory.

