A Web-based Application for Classifying Teaching and Learning Factories

Abstract

The importance of leveraging manufacturing teaching and training, up to the standards of current and future needs, is quite evident. Recent studies have shown the urgency for future engineers and knowledge workers to adopt new teaching curricula in order to cope with the increasing industrial requirements. Teaching and Learning Factories aim at aligning manufacturing teaching and training standards with the needs of modern industrial practice. Both paradigms comprise an infrastructure that is required for efficient operation despite its different nature. Learning Factories depend on industrial-grade equipment, installed in academic sites, for the educational implementation of their curriculum. On the other hand, Teaching Factories, which aim to bring the real industrial practice into the academic setting, rely on modern ICT technologies for the facilitation of interaction and knowledge transfer. This paper presents an approach to the classification of Teaching and Learning Factories infrastructures. Specifically, these infrastructures refer to installations that offer industrial-grade equipment and a modern ICT installation for the operation of both paradigms, either in a local or distributed mode. These environments comprise various types of equipment with a vast range of specifications and characteristics. The proposed web-based application offers a way of storing the knowledge, related to such installations and creates relations that can be easily classified.