Learning Factory on Global Production

Based on the fundamental principle of teaching psychology that retentiveness increases if students actively apply learning topics rather than only attend oral or visual presentations, the concept of learning factories becomes more and more popular. Academic education in the field of production science is imparted by means of real-world manufacturing facilities. By applying the manufacturing process of a real product, students or professionals incorporate the learning contents effectively and gain consciousness about their practical implications.Most learning factories are focused on lean manufacturing, lean administration or resource efficiency. As today manufacturing is not only subject to a single factory, but a network of globally distributed production sites, at the wbk Institute of Production Science,currently, a learning factory dealing with the topic of global production is developed. On the one hand, the curriculum of the Learning Factory Global Production (LGP) involves the specifics of local production sites with different location factors, such as different degrees of automation, cost structures and qualification levels, and their effects on the reconfigurability of the production systems. On the other hand, the interaction of the production sites in a globally distributed production network and the strategic configuration of the network are also subject to the curriculum.The manufacturing processes are exemplified by the assembly of an automotive e-motor with transmission in the learning factory on global production. The learning factory is realized in cooperation with the Robert Bosch GmbH.