One of the characteristics of industry 4.0 is the rapidity of changes in labor demand, since more trained and flexible profiles are required. “For example, engineers will have to learn new approaches since 3D printing offers much more freedom than current technologies,” says Mercedes Gaitán, Industry 4.0 expert and professor at Carlemany University.
Immediate access to information is transforming the concept of knowledge workers, with challenges such as decision-making in real time, solutions to complex problems based on the intelligent and ethical use of artificial intelligence, and responsible data manipulation.
“In addition, -adds Gaitán- the current context requires leaders who effectively and positively influence their collaborators to achieve the challenges proposed by industry 4.0 according to the needs of the different organizations”. For Juan Miguel Poyatos Díaz, director of the Master’s in Industry 4.0 at the School of Industrial Organization (EOI), industry 4.0 demands professionals “who have the knowledge and skills to optimize current business models and to develop new models in the industry hand in hand with new enabling technologies”.
Among these new enabling technologies, Poyatos highlights the internet of things, artificial intelligence (AI), process automation, collaborative robotics, additive manufacturing, cybersecurity (IT and OT), blockchain technology, and technologies associated with The renewable energies. In this new environment, repetitive and automated tasks will be executed by machines or robots, but tasks that require experience, creativity, or decision-making based on uncertainty will continue to inhabit people and their talent.
For this reason, Rosa Peláez, executive director of EOI, explains that the training space for a professional in industry 4.0 includes five domains: enabling technologies; operational excellence; industrial innovation; leadership and culture for industry 4.0, and transformation and execution of the 4.0 strategy. “The breadth and intensity of each domain depends on the level of responsibility and decision-making in the organization,” she points out. To acquire this knowledge and lead transformation projects to industry 4.0, the EOI proposes the master’s degree in Industry 4.0, “a program aimed at those people who want to lead transformation projects and improve their functions, or innovate taking advantage of the power of enabling technologies . They can also be trained as consultants and advisors to improve operations or growth strategies for industrial companies, ”adds Peláez.
The EOI’s Master’s in Industry 4.0 takes place over a year -with an online methodology and a face-to-face phase-, and includes the five aforementioned knowledge domains together with a block of circular economy and applications (energy, mobility, health , chemicals, agri-food and textiles), and another block of analysis and financing of projects for industry 4.0.
In addition, as the director of the master’s degree explains, “participants develop -throughout the entire program and in work teams- a supervised business project in which they must solve a real challenge, be it optimization and efficiency or creation of new business models. The program is complemented by visits to companies that represent illustrative use cases of industry 4.0 and the participation of invited professionals with relevant experiences in industrial transformation processes.
The master’s teaching staff is made up of management professionals or consultants with a high exposure to real transformation projects and programs in Industry 4.0. Joaquín López Lérida, an expert in blockchain technologies and one of the professors of the EOI Master’s in Industry 4.0, points out: “As a professor of the Blockchain module, my goal is for students to become professionals capable of exploring and taking advantage of the enormous opportunities that this technology provides.
My vision is that they deeply understand how the blockchain works, its components and applications in different industries. I want them to recognize its value and potential within the framework of Industry 4.0, promoting innovation and transformation of business processes”. López Lérida seeks, above all, “that students leave my module with a solid theoretical and practical base, with the necessary tools to develop blockchain solutions that promote transparency, efficiency and security in the businesses of the future”. And he highlights as a priority “that my students not only acquire knowledge, but also skills that will boost their entrepreneurial spirit.”
