"Employability" - Employee readiness for Industry 4.0 | IIOT | Smart Manufacturing

"Employability" - Employee readiness for Industry 4.0 | IIOT | Smart Manufacturing

Abstract:

The industry simply expects academia to provide employment-ready candidates.?Any changes in the industry business context, changes these requirements accordingly and drastically. The industry trends impact the industry, its functions, its business process, Tools and Systems. By far the impact of Industry 4.0 has broadened the horizons of the industry for achieving better visibility, predictable performance, and self-governed working of the business operations.

Industry 4.0 has made the industry expectation to go many notches higher for the knowledge and applications readiness of the students in multi-disciplinary engineering streams like mechatronics, Intelligent Products and Processes using IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things), Robotics, 3D Printing, Data Analytics, Deep Machine Learning, Predictive and Prescriptive Analytics on Big Data applications to name a few.

The conventional learning methodology has to be converted into an experiential one, where one gets exposed to the actual parameters, and systems in a controlled environment and learns from one's experience.

Some of the Existing Platforms :

As a very high level sample, some of the already existing platforms for learning Industry 4.0 are

1. Industry 4.0 & Smart Manufacturing Systems : https://cmti.res.in/trainingprogramme/industry-4-0-smart-manufacturing-systems-2/ -

Central Manufacturing Technology Institute’, CMTI, is a Research & Development organization focusing on providing ‘Technology Solutions’ to the manufacturing sector and assisting technological growth in the country. CMTI plays a key role in applied research, design and development (RD&D), technology forecasting, assimilation and dissemination of manufacturing technology to Indian industries.

2. Grovator : A Novel platform "Experiential Learning for Students" https://www.grovator.com/ - covers hands-on learning through KITS provided for IIOT, Robotics, Data Science, 3D Printing

Vision : Unleash the innovative potential of students to become job creators and thought leaders of future.

3. Smart Manufacturing: Moving from Static to Dynamic Manufacturing Operations : MIT : https://professional.mit.edu/course-catalog/smart-manufacturing-moving-static-dynamic-manufacturing-operations :

An online course : The factory of the future is here—and MIT’s research and applications are leading the way in enabling this transformation.

This list will go on and on - There would be many, but the ones which have the "experiential and hands-on learning" will be leading from the front for the applicability and faster adoption to create a larger impact ..

A joint coordinated effort by Industry and Academia is required to build the readiness for Industry 4.0 on both the industry and academia side.

Industry <-> Academia Interaction Model:

This is a complex model in which the Raw Material with its own complexities is getting processed and made ready to become Industry Ready Employees as per the industry's expectations. The whole premise of the change in the industry due to the impact of Industry 4.0 is going to change this interaction model

Context of Industry 4.0 :

Industry 4.0 is a name given to the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing and IT technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing and cognitive computing. Industry 4.0 is commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution and has a strong overlap with IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things) and Smart Manufacturing.

The basic principle of Industry 4.0 is that by connecting machines and elements of processes, work pieces and systems, businesses are creating intelligent networks along the entire value chain that can control each other autonomously.

Industry 4.0 fosters what has been called a "smart factory". Within modular structured smart factories, cyber-physical systems monitor physical processes, create a virtual copy of the physical world and make decentralized decisions. Over the Internet of Things, cyber-physical systems communicate and cooperate with each other and with humans in real-time both internally and across organizational services offered and used by participants of the value chain.

The guiding principles of Industry 4.0:

1.??????Interoperability: The ability of machines, devices, sensors, and people to connect and communicate with each other via the Internet of Things (IoT) or the Internet of People (IoP)

2.??????Information transparency: The ability of information systems to create a virtual copy of the physical world by enriching digital plant models with sensor data. This requires the aggregation of raw sensor data to higher-value context information.

3.??????Technical assistance: First, the ability of assistance systems to support humans by aggregating and visualizing information comprehensively for making informed decisions and solving urgent problems on short notice. Second, the ability of cyber physical systems to physically support humans by conducting a range of tasks that are unpleasant, too exhausting, or unsafe for their human co-workers.

4.??????Decentralized decisions: The ability of cyber physical systems to make decisions on their own and to perform their tasks as autonomously as possible. Only in the case of exceptions, interferences, or conflicting goals, are tasks delegated to a higher level.

Impact of Industry 4.0 :

Following are the elements of changes that will get impacted on various dimensions of the industry. This eventually is going to dramatically change the context of the way the whole business is run – from currently manual / partially automated ways to near self-governing ways in Industry 4.0.

1.??????Services and business models : The automation and visibility in the business process is going to have an impact on how the business is run, how the revenue is acquired and how the product or services are rendered

2.??????Reliability and continuous productivity : The consistency and repeatability of the manufacturing and hence the connected allied processes are going to increase, resulting into higher outputs and hence increasing the productivity of the end-to-end process

3.??????IT security: Since the components of IT in IIoT are going to play major role in Industry 4.0, the IT security will play paramount role in the connected machines and intelligent process scenario

4.??????Industrial Safety : the M2M (Machine-To-Machine) communication for the self-decision making scenario is going to impact the safety dimension in the interconnected and interdependent and self-governed scenario

5.??????Product Lifecycles : The digitalization enablement in Industry 4.0 will be shortening the product readiness and introduction cycles, the quick feedback mechanisms due to the social digital media will govern the corrections in the upfront design considerations and its implementation to align to the needs of the market in more effective manner

6.??????Industry Value Chain : The whole of the value chain from “Product Design -> Introduction -> Manufacturing -> Supply Chain -> Market -> Feedback from the Customer -> Changes in the Product or new Products” is going to be visible and trackable for the ownerships and clearly driving the value addition toward the customer needs and expectations. The whole turnaround of the value chain is going to crash drastically due to Industry 4.0

7.??????Employee’s Competency, Education and Skills : This is a key success factor and forms the key M (Men) out of 4 key M’s (Men, Machines, Money, Material) required for the running of industry and hence their ability to comprehend this changed scenario due to Industry 4.0 and adaption to deliver in this context is of paramount importance. This is the element, in which Academia will be having a major and direct contribution

To enable the employees to play an effective part in designing, building, executing, stabilizing, and continuously improving the above dimensions in Industry 4.0, they are going to be required to get imparted with the relevant skills and knowledge about the relevant dimensions of Industry 4.0 and allied subjects. This has to be catered by the Industry-Academia joint initiative.

Proposed Interventions for Industry 4.0 Readiness:

A joint coordinated effort by Industry and Academia is required to handle the impact of Industry 4.0 on the industry.

1)?????Academia :

a.??????Building structure of new Industry 4.0 centric interdisciplinary programs

b.??????Imparting incremental knowledge about Industry 4.0 on students and making them ready in phased manner

c.??????Building the competencies of the staff and professors to enable the required skills and knowledge imparted

d.??????Changing the course pedagogy to include industry inputs and interaction for the students to get exposed to elements of Industry 4.0

e.??????Providing avenues for Project Centric and Project Based learning for students for the problem statements taken from industry

f.???????Arranging industrial visit to get students exposed to the real life scenario and use-cases

g.??????Arranging interactions (Knowledge Sharing, Brainstorming, Training, Project / Innovation Competition) with the industry

h.??????Building Incubation Centres with close/direct involvement of industries – these could be built for specific companies and hence could get even be aimed at self-sufficient / funded by the industry and generating the raw material directly for the industry as a mutually benefiting model

2)?????Industry

a.??????Building and driving the roadmap for adoption of Industry 4.0 with top management commitment

b.??????Building the placement cells focussed on Industry 4.0 for closer interaction with Academia

c.??????Funding / financial support for the mutual interaction initiatives like Incubation Centers

d.??????Participating in structuring the curriculum/syllabus for the academia courses for imbibing tenets for Industry 4.0 at appropriate points

e.??????Defining and providing the Problem Statements to be addressed by the Academia as a contribution towards readiness for Industry 4.0

f.???????Industrial Tours, Knowledge Sharing Sessions by industry experts and thought leaders in the industry from within the organization or outside

g.??????Providing avenues for Project Centric and Based learning in the form of Projects to be identified and tracked for the success of Industry 4.0

A joint coordinated effort by Industry and Academia is required to build a mutually aligned and benefiting ecosystem that will complement and augment efforts from both the side to drive the success

Measures of Industry Readiness:

Industry always looks at the following elements from the students getting taken as raw material as an input to their business and are always eager to measure the employees on the following scales

1)?????Direct Deployability : Shorter times required for getting the student ready to work in the complex scenario of Industry 4.0

2)?????Guarantee of Quality : The quality of students to start delivering to the needs of Industry 4.0

3)?????Dynamic?Requirements : The automation and flexibility brought in by Industry 4.0 has to be catered to

4)?????Role based Trainings : The students must know the various new roles and changes due to impact of Industry 4.0

5)?????Mapping to the Industry SLAs : The students are the ones who get immediately to work in the various functions in the industry 4.0 challenging SLAs

6)?????Shorter turnaround times : Quick readiness and ability to start delivering to the Industry 4.0 is a key factor

The industry is getting challenged to adapt to the demands of Industry 4.0 internally, which is going to directly translate to the Academia, which is providing the very important input of trained manpower to the business and hence a mutual collaborative effort to work hand-in-hand is the key to success in this challenging context of Industry 4.0.

Conclusion:

To ensure Readiness for Industry 4.0, a mutually coordinated effort required from both industry and academia is a key to success. ?

On one hand, academia has to become flexible and open to adapt to the changes required in their course structure, the subjects, the pedagogy, and teaching / learning methodology to impart the knowledge and validate the same from the students by measuring their “degree of readiness of employability”. While on the other hand, the industry has to develop integrated programs and relevant projects to make the academia aware and trained in the topics and subjects of relevance to Industry 4.0.

As the industry adopts Industry 4.0 is holistic manner, the academia would be about 3-4 years lagging in their readiness for this trend. The accelerated joint efforts will enable this lag to be minimized.

References:

1)?????Industry 4.0 – Wikipedia?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industry_4.0

2)??????Embracing Industry 4.0 and Rediscovering Growth : BCG Group : https://www.bcg.com/en-in/capabilities/operations/embracing-industry-4.0-rediscovering-growth.aspx

3)?????What Everyone Must Know About Industry 4.0 – Forbes Group : https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2016/06/20/what-everyone-must-know-about-industry-4-0/#6152c050795f

About the Author :

Shirish Kulkarni is an experienced hand in the fields of IT, Manufacturing and Consulting. As an engineer at heart, he possesses a formal Master of Engineering degree in Manufacturing & Automation and has completed his Exec MBA from IIM, Bangalore. He has served for @ 25+ years global companies like TCE, KSB Pumps, Tata Motors, TTIL, PTC, BMC Software, Geometric Software, and TCS.

STROTA ConsulTech Pvt Ltd s his inception for instilling innovation and entrepreneurship in the industry through business consulting. He is focusing on the growth of Small and Medium size businesses and is able to analyze 150+ businesses in the last 7+ years.?