The ongoing digitalization of production in the context of Industry 5.0 will permanently change everyday working life and working conditions for millions of employees. In order to successfully shape this transformation, it is essential to develop and implement accompanying training programs for employees. These measures are crucial to prepare employees for the new professional challenges and to benefit from their expertise in the long term. Although digital technologies such as deep tech, robotics and artificial intelligence are already increasingly being integrated into everyday working life, there is still a lack of suitable learning scenarios for employees. Only by providing such low-threshold training opportunities can the transformation to digital, sustainable and human-centered production succeed. The two projects DRUMS and KIWI of the Bremen Institute of Structural Mechanics (bime) are examples of how in-service training in Industry 5.0 can be designed to meet the requirements of digitalized and human-centric production.

Europe-wide further training opportunities

As part of a European project consortium, the ERASMUS+ project DRUMS is developing concepts and content for in-service training specifically for the manufacturing industry. The European cooperation ensures that the learning scenarios developed are not only applicable nationally, but also in various sectors. The focus is on manufacturing, deep-tech solutions, robotics, artificial intelligence and sustainability. Within this framework, a comprehensive qualification concept is being developed for teachers and learners in vocational training. This concept simplifies the teaching of the skills and qualifications required for human-centered production and bundles them into a central approach. In addition to this concept, concrete learning scenarios will be created and existing further training courses will be supplemented. These courses are directly related to everyday working life and are therefore particularly suitable for teaching learning content at a low threshold. All the learning scenarios developed will be bundled in an app for Android and iOS and made available to download free of charge.

Virtual reality for further training on the sofa

In order to support employees in this dynamic process in the long term, it is important that they not only take part in training and further education in order to maintain their employability from a company perspective. They must also be made aware of their own professional development and the individual benefits. An app developed in the KIWI project uses artificial intelligence to identify existing further education and training opportunities based on individual qualifications, skills, professional goals, learning strategies and preferences. In this project, the potential of digitalization is not only used to search for suitable further training opportunities, but also to design them. Mobile virtual reality is used as a learning medium. An exemplary further education scenario in KIWI is collaborative robotics, a key technology in the digitalization process, for which there is a high demand for further education and training, while target group-specific offers are often lacking. Further training scenarios in VR offer the opportunity to expand learning materials with interactive elements and provide easy access to the topic of robotics. The three-dimensional representation visualizes robots realistically and enables self-directed exploration independent of time and place. These VR elements can be embedded in both face-to-face and online courses. Learners can scan a QR code in the learning materials with their smartphone and explore the VR application. The VR elements are optimized for use on smartphones in conjunction with a VR headset. This is cost-effective as most people already own a smartphone and the cost of a VR headset is relatively low.

Lifelong learning for human-centered production

Experience in the context of continuing professional development illustrates how crucial innovative training strategies are for the successful implementation of Industry 5.0. The integration of technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality into in-service training programs not only promotes employees' ability to adapt to technological changes, but also supports their independent professional development. These developments make a significant contribution to creating a digitalized, sustainable and human-centric production environment in which the expertise and skills of employees are optimally utilized. The practical and low-threshold training opportunities created through the collaboration of European project partners offer a forward-looking model for further training in industry and set new standards for continuous professional development.