Smart Makers Academy Noord aims to make manufacturing industry (even) smarter

EDIH NN recently introduced the Smart Makers Academy North. The initiative offers companies in the manufacturing industry a great opportunity to take concrete steps toward a digital future with short, low-threshold training courses. 'The pathways are explicitly tailored to the real world.'

Unmanned and self-driving systems, robots, sensors, data technology and the meteoric rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Yes, the impact of new technology on industry is enormous. Not least on the manufacturing industry. But besides opportunities, it also threatens the very existence of companies that do not catch on in time. Better put: further digitalization is no longer a choice in industry, but a necessity to stay afloat in the future.

'Of course it's great that you can automate an entire factory these days,' says Wilbert van den Eijnde, Associate Lecturer in Sustainabl Manufacturing at NHL Stenden and Skills & Training Specialist at EDIH NN, a European project for the Northern Netherlands that helps companies accelerate digitization. 'But I also see that we still have a long way to go. Because the manufacturing industry is already very smart, but in Europe, and therefore also in the Northern Netherlands, the opportunities in the SME sector are still insufficiently exploited. That's why we developed the Smart Makers Academy Noord. Last October 22 it was launched during the Future Ready Event.'

The Smart Makers Academy Noord is an initiative of EDIH NN and is co-sponsored by FME, Hanzehogeschool Groningen, NHL Stenden, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Cyber Security Noord, Koninklijke Metaalunie and NXTGEN Hightech. It is based on a national concept and consists of five short, powerful and flexible learning paths to put companies on the right track towards a digital future. Whether it is about discovering new business models, applying AI or increasing the company's digital security, each track leads to a concrete (action) plan tailored to current learning needs, ambitions and challenges of individual companies.

'The Smart Makers Academy is simply very approachable in several ways,' underlines Marike Peterzon, lecturer, project leader and senior researcher at Hanze University Groningen and active within EDIH NN as Digital Skills Officer. 'They are not theoretical courses, but explicitly tailored to practice. Nor is it a long-term program. For example, each course takes about 28 hours on average. Moreover, thanks to European subsidies, the learning paths are completely free of charge for companies. Within the conditions of EDIH NN, of course.

Together with Wilbert, Marike is responsible within EDIH NN for the Smart Makers Academy Noord. Last year, they also wrote the Masterplan Skills Smart Industry, a plan to help the industry in the Northern Netherlands keep up with the rapid technological developments in the sector. 'During the research, it became very clear that the lack of skills is a major obstacle to taking the desired steps,' says Wilbert. 'The technology is usually present in companies, but how they can and should use it in their daily practice as well as possible is often still uncharted territory. Not infrequently, knowledge gaps lead to uncertainty. In addition to creating awareness, the Smart Makers Academy Noord therefore devotes plenty of attention to removing the hesitation to act.'

Of course, the so-called frontrunners in the market usually know how to find their way to knowledge institutions and subsidies, for example. However, for a large number of relatively small SMEs, due to various circumstances, it appears to be less easy to discover the desired programs and adopt new technology. While they undoubtedly all know how important digitization is for their future-proofing. 'Especially for these companies, Smart Makers Academy Noord is a nice stepping stone to be able to use practical digital skills effectively in their business later on,' Marike states.

The learning paths are organized based on a 'metro lines' concept. There are multiple metro lines, which can be seen as flexible learning routes, each with its own theme and multiple 'stations'. Each 'station' represents a module in which specific skills around that theme are covered. The great thing is: participants can easily 'hop on and off'. So everyone can choose their own route and decide which skills they want to develop. The Smart Academy North currently has five metro lines. There is a central line in which participants get to work developing their own digitization strategy. And once on their way, they can easily switch to a line where they discover the opportunities of new business models for their company, to a line that guides them step-by-step in preparing to apply AI or to one of the two lines around the topic of cybersecurity.

A more than valuable starting point are the scans, including the Cybersecurity scan and the AI scan. They are designed to help participants discover their starting level and learning needs. 'So you immediately know where you are at that moment, what you need and where opportunities lie,' Marike explains. 'So basically, it's a free baseline measurement for companies. In addition, at the end of a program you not only know where your weaknesses are, but also how to address them.'

No, the Smart Makers Academy Noord is by no means an educational party, Wilbert argues. 'On the contrary, we get the expertise from the field as well. Simply because the interpretation of a theme, a metro line, has to connect as optimally as possible to questions from the manufacturing industry. We also work with entrepreneurs and other experts to determine the next step after each learning program, such as a follow-up training or the implementation of new technology. I notice that there is still a perception that training only takes place in school. While in our vision the real learning happens in the companies themselves. That's why we want to validate participants' competencies in the form of a certificate. We have just started, but I am convinced that the Smart Makers Academy Noord can contribute significantly to the development strength of the regional manufacturing industry.'

Wondering what the EDIH NN Smart Makers Academy Noord can do for you and what kind of learning paths they offer?