Industry 4.0 Academy: SEAT training for the smart factories of tomorrow
SEAT’s new training programme, dedicated to Industry 4.0, aims to provide the skills that will be required to work in the smart factories of the future.
In line with its commitment to fostering the talent and personal development of its employees, SEAT recently launched its new Industry 4.0 Academy training programme.
This pilot project is based on smart factory concepts and designed for production line workers. It aims to provide operators with the skills to meet the new technological challenges they will face in their jobs in the future, through transformation and digital training. On successfully completing this programme, they obtain a training certificate, recognised by the University of Barcelona, that can be added to their curriculum vitae.
Five modules
The pilot programme, which eighty workers are already participating in, was set up with the support of the Eurecat technology centre and the IL3 Lifelong Learning Institute of the University of Barcelona.
The programme consists of five modules: Digital Factories, Manufacturing Technologies, Electric Mobility, Industrial Organisation and Soft Skills.
Preparing for the future
“Today we live and work in a constantly changing environment, and it’s essential to acquire new knowledge and skills to meet these challenges”, says Laura Carnicero, Head of Training at SEAT. “We’ve been working for years to prepare our employees for the future. This project impacts on the competence of the people working in the production process, which is changing considerably, and will do so even more”.
Each of the five modules lasts three months. The training is carried out outside working hours, with students attending for around eight hours a week. In order to make work and studies compatible, 90% of the training is done online. The participating workers applied voluntarily and were selected from the first 300 applicants who submitted their request. The selection criteria was based solely on the applicants’ motivation for this training and their interest in lifelong learning.
Lifelong learning
For years now, SEAT has been promoting a company-wide training programme to boost the professional growth of its more than 15,000 employees and prepare them for the future challenges facing the automotive industry.
In 2019, SEAT invested 23 million euros in training, or an average of 1,526 euros per worker, and provided almost 355,000 hours of instruction.
SEAT structures its training programmes under the "Always Learning" umbrella, which brings together three types of instruction: skills needed to do the job at hand; training focused on abilities needed in the future; and an option where workers choose training according to their own interests.
Youth employment
Furthermore, SEAT has been committed to youth employment for more than 60 years through its Apprentice School. This centre offers vocational training based on the German Dual Training system, which lasts three years. The apprentices, who are remunerated from day one, attend close to 5,000 hours of classes (twice the average of other schools), which combine theoretical training with practical learning at the school itself, as well as at the SEAT Martorell, SEAT Barcelona or SEAT Componentes plants.
The additional hours are dedicated to training in future knowledge, such as those related to programming or Smart Factory principles, among others. Those who successfully complete the training programme obtain a double official qualification, both Spanish and German, and are hired to work for SEAT directly with an open-ended contract.
Source: SEAT S.A.