Festo Didactic has launched the Festo Industry 4.0 Academy. The vision of the academy is to be the hub where managers, engineers, technicians and operational staff can be capacitated to face the challenges and leverage the opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
As a strong global partner in factory and process automation for 300 000 plus customers worldwide, and the world market leader in basic and advanced training, Festo is playing a major role in shaping Industry 4.0.
From the first meetings in Germany and the coining of the term, Festo has been at the forefront of Industry 4.0. Dr. Eberhard Veit, previously chairman of Festo, is one of four industry representatives on the steering board for the German Federal Government’s high-tech strategy.
Today, Festo considers the different perspectives of Industry 4.0 from developments in technology, new production processes and the interaction between man and machinery and what this means
in terms of training and development. In surveying the market, it was found that current training offerings in Industry 4.0 are fragmented, and mostly limited to expert talks, and product specific demonstrations.
Festo Didactic has always adopted the approach of an equal mix of theory and practical in their training offerings. The training is centred around technology, using a variety of industry sourced components from various suppliers. This ensures relevance when the incumbents apply their newly acquired skills in industry.
The Festo Industry 4.0 Academy has a curriculum aptly named Qualification 4.0. This curriculum was created during years of research in the areas of smart factories, digitalisation, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and additive manufacturing, to name but a few. These learnings were practically implemented in the Festo Scharnhausen Learning Factory in Germany, a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility where the ultimate goal of ‘batch size one costs equal to mass produced goods’ was realised.
In order to bring the factory of the future to the classroom, Festo Didactic developed the CP Cyber Physical (CP) Factory, the ideal training and research platform for I4.0. The CP Factory provides the basis of all practical intervention in the academy, and covers concepts like ERP, MES, autonomous robotics, augmented reality, RFID and cloud computing.
A study by the VDMA, the German Machine Builders Association, has identified that training in I4.0 should go way beyond components and systems, but should include soft skills like leadership, change management, teamwork, autonomous thinking and the like. The Qualification 4.0 bouquet thus offer short form course ranging from two to five days, addressing exactly these areas.
In order to establish training needs, Festo has developed an application called I4.0QuickCheck. This application determines an organisation’s readiness and level of maturity in adopting I4.0 in terms of:
• Data collection and processing
• Networking and integration
• Production autonomy
• Strategy and processes
• Employees and culture
If a customer requires a deep dive into I4.0 readiness or maturity, covering the above, and other relevant topics, Festo Didactic offers an onsite consultancy service that focuses on strategy formulation and implementation.
With nearly one hundred years of industry experience, Festo is bringing its industrial DNA to the market. The establishment of the Festo Industry 4.0 Academy once again positions Festo as the ideal partner in industrial and process automation and technical training.
For more information contact Ntando Ndokweni, Festo, +27 11 971 5535, ntando.ndokweni@festo.com, www.festo.co.za
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| Fax: | +27 11 974 2157 |
| Email: | sales.za@festo.com |
| www: | www.festo.co.za |
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