Manufacturing Systems: Skills & Competencies for the Future

Recent studies have presented clear evidence of the relationship between human capital qualifications and competitiveness. At the same time, there have been frequent reports on the shortage of skilled manufacturing personnel. This paper introduces some approaches to building skills and competences in manufacturing. The importance of human capital skills for industry's competitiveness is first discussed, providing an overview of the current situation in different world regions. Modern approaches to manufacturing education are shortly reviewed. The need for young people to be enlightened about the exciting character of manufacturing, with real life problems being addressed under business conditions, via scientific approaches and cutting edge technologies, is discussed. A “Teaching Factory” paradigm is being introduced as a distance-learning knowledge delivery mechanism of bringing the real factory into the classroom. The activities of the KNOW-FACT project aiming to deliver a pilot implementation of the Teaching Factory paradigm as a 2-way “learning channel” connecting industry and academia are further discussed.