MITC is partner in a new EU project, Up-Skill for Industry 5.0

The European Union has granted funding for the project Up-Skill for Industry 5.0 Roll-Out, in which MITC is a partner among a number of leading European institutions and companies, namely Twi Limited (UK),  Mälardalen University (SE), Anglia Ruskin University Higher Education Corporation (UK), Universita Degli Studi Di Milano (IT), Helekopter Ab (SE), University Of Lancaster (UK) , Ztift Ab (SE), Iris Technology Solutions, Sociedad Limitada (ES), Alfa Laval Tumba Ab (SE), Kneia Sl( ES), Webber Brennertechnik Gmbh (DE), Ford Motor Company Limited (UK) . The estimated project duration is 36 months after commencing in the fall 2022.

The target of the project is to support employers with their workforce challenges, including job creation and talent retention. The Up-Skill project will address the balance between humans and technology, focussing on the collaborative relationship between skilled workers and automation.

The 4th Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, has enabled unseen reduction of production costs, mass customisation, and improved consistency of product quality. However, it has proven that automation alone clearly cannot be a source of sustained competitive advantage due to omitting the critical skilled human elements in business success.

At the human level, Industry 4.0 is often associated with fear of job cuts and even complete replacing of human workforce in some sectors.

Industry 5.0 is anticipated to be the re-humanisation of the movement towards automation. It’s the acknowledgement that both robotic and automated advances and creativity, innovation, and questioning of the human being are equally valuable in the manufacturing process.

For more than a decade MITC has been operating as a collaboration platform between the manufacturing industry and academia, generating results through building needs-driven co-operation for SME development, training, research, and technical projects together with the industrial partners Volvo CE, Volvo GTO, GKN, Alf and Hexagon.

Over the course of the Up-Skill project, MITC will focus on developing a better understanding of how businesses, particularly in industrial/manufacturing environments, could lever value from human and machine integration.

Utilizing its expertise in advanced robotics, cyber-physical systems, and artificial intelligence MITC will help businesses to integrate those capabilities with human elements such as creativity, ingenuity, artisanal skills. MITC will support companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in identifying their skill needs. Apart from range of existing training and coaching programs, new upskilling and reskilling programmes will be offered to meet the needs of employers.