Project

Industry 4.0 It's a new industrial paradigm based on:

• Internet of things and Cyber Physical Systems
• Addictive manufacturing
• Big Data and Analytics
• Augmented reality
• Cloud
• Autonomous robots
• Cyber security

Short summary of the action

The EU manufacturing output stands for 15% of the overall member states' GDP and EU has declared that the goal is to increase this level by 20% by the year 2020. However, since 2008 over 3.4 million jobs have been lost in the metal industry. These data proves that a new phase of EU economic growth cannot come without the involvement of metal and mechanical industry. Industry 4.0 is a new production system resulting from the application of new technologies to manufacturing. Industry 4.0 represent a game changer affecting all the activities linked to manufacturing, from planning to processes, from products to work organisation. While the robotic evolution of production represents an opportunity for the EU economy, as it implies the demand for new professional figures, the process will involve several challenges for the EU labour market, including a loss of low qualified jobs and a lack of high-skilled workers (F. McCrory, Y. Alhammadi, G. Westerman, E. Brynjolfsson, Racing With and Against the Machine: Changes in Occupational Skill Composition in an Era of Rapid Technological Advance, 2014). In order to deal with the skill mismatch arising from Industry 4.0, it is necessary to develop actions intended to link educational strategies to industrial and labour market policies, as the German experience well- demonstrates. INDUSTRY 4EU (Industry 4.0 for the future of manufacturing in the EU) is aimed at bringing together social partners and institutions from Italy, Germany and Slovenia in an effort to identify concrete actions to cope with challenges and opportunities of Industry 4.0. Particularly, INDUSTRY 4EU is intended to identify good practices and possibilities for employers to successfully support the implementation of Industry 4.0, especially by the means of social dialogue at all levels, from firm to the European Union.

Specific objectives

According to the European Commission, one of the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy is "to promote the restructuring of sectors in difficulty towards future oriented activities, including through quick redeployment of skills to emerging high growth sectors and markets" (European Commission, Europe 2020. European strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, 2010), thus fostering the Renaissance of industry in Europe. Even though Industry 4.0 has still not been tackled by a joint action within the framework of the European social dialogue, EU social partners are currently demonstrating an increasing interest in this topic. On May 6, 2015 CEEMET has stated: "Our industry sector relies heavily upon access to workers with ever higher levels of new skills, who are internationally competitive and who are flexible. The realisation of the industrial internet will reinforce this trend, with new high-skill jobs emerging that will require strong ICT skills across the manufacturing industry. Industrial growth cannot become a reality without these workers". Moreover, IndustriAll Europe urges the European institutions to engage in serious policy design and dialogue on Industry 4.0 key issues (INDUSTRIALL, Communication on the EU's Digital Single Market: A missed opportunity for European workers in the manufacturing sector, 2015). INDUSTRY 4EU (Industry 4.0 for the future of manufacturing in the EU) wants to be a stepping stone to put Industry 4.0 on the top of the EU social dialogue agenda. The project is aimed at bringing together social partners and institutions in an effort to identify concrete actions to turn Industry 4.0 challenges into opportunities. The main objective is to improve dialogue between employers' associations in order to create conditions for the spread of Industry 4.0 in the European countries, thus contributing to reconverting present factories and helping them to be more competitive. To do so, the project will explore the specific contribution that national employers' associations can give in fostering technological development and linking educational strategies to industrial and labour market policies, thus supporting the creation of new skills and contributing to growth and employment creation. The outcomes of the project are intended to serve as a basis to elaborate policies to be implemented unilaterally and/or within the framework of social dialogue in the relevant sector, both at a European and national level. Specific objectives of the project include:

• To raise the awareness of employers' associations about challenges and opportunities resulting from the automation of production of Industry 4.0;
• To provide a reinforcement of employers' associations views on their roles and responsibilities in creating human capital and high-level skills for the development of Industry 4.0;
• To support the dialogue among social partners as regards tertiary education (i.e. educational programmes, school-to-work transition programmes, etc ...) in terms of skills and knowledge currently developed in training programmes;
• To analyse actions that employers' associations are currently implementing to deal with the skills mismatch arising from Industry 4.0, thus identifying best practices, weaknesses and the kind of institutional support needed to develop successful training, internship and apprenticeship programs;
• To raise the awareness of employers' associations about effective actions aimed at both aligning industrial strategies with labour market policies and promoting inclusive engagement at all levels, in the transition from the present manufacturing to Industry 4.0;
• To build a new development model to deal with the skill mismatch arising from the digitalization of production of Industry 4.0 and drive innovation and technological development. Social partners involved, together with ADAPT, should develop a Manufacturing Employers-Based Position Paper on Industry 4.0 in the European Union

With the financial support of the European Union, European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, VP/2015/001
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