The purpose of this questionnaire is to gain a country assessment of the knowledge and skills within the furniture industry in relation to ICTs and other emerging technologies and to develop, as appropriate, a range of training materials and activities for industry leaders (CEOs, Directors, and Managers) to understand and deploy the different technologies to improve the competitiveness of their enterprises.
The time given by your organisation in completing this questionnaire will be greatly appreciated and will be of vital importance to the progressive improvement and future success of the industry.
The EU supports the 4th industrial revolution through its industrial policy and through research and infrastructure funding. However, challenges like training workers and future professionals remain. Furthermore the furniture and wood sector has identified that it has a shortage of professionals with high qualification in ICTs and other emerging technologies. Some of the specific skills and competencies that stand out as critical for managers in the furniture sector are ICTs skills that are crucial to operate in a modern business environment. They may require attention in terms of additional training and adjustments in the official curricula. These skills and competencies are the ones that are the most critical. All of these will be useful for mass production and customized products like:
The main outputs of IN4WOOD will be:
This Alliance, composed of VET technology providers, VET authorities and wood and furniture experts from 4 different EU countries, will strengthen the knowledge exchange and practice between themselves and the labour market and will increase the recognition of qualifications at EU level within production managers and the target industry.The IN4WOOD training materials will give to the production managers and CEOs an overview of the specifics needs of the enterprise regarding the several key enabling technologies of I4.0.
Many observers believe that Europe is at the beginning of a new industrial revolution, considered to be the fourth such leap forward and characterised by the universal use of sensors, the expansion of wireless communication and networks, the deployment of increasingly intelligent robots and machines – as well as increased computing power at lower cost and the development of ‘big data’ analytics – has the potential to transform the way goods are manufactured in Europe.
This new digital industrial revolution holds the promise of increased flexibility in manufacturing, mass customisation, increased speed, better quality and improved productivity. However to capture these benefits, enterprises will need to invest in people, equipment, information and communication technologies (ICTs) and data analysis as well as the integration of data flows throughout the global value chain.
The European Union promotes industrial change through its industrial policy and through research and infrastructure funding for a wide range of projects. Project IN4WOOD is funded by the EU Erasmus+ Programme and aims specifically to bring this 4th revolution to the European furniture industry.
