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The world is entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. This phenomenon has three interconnected aspects: technological, social, and economic. Key technologies that drive disruptive innovations in the field are: cyber-physical systems, internet of things, additive manufacturing technologies, cloud and edge computing, big data analytics, augmented/virtual reality, and distributed ledger systems. The economic aspect among other things includes market volatility, emerging platform economies, and network-oriented business models. The social aspect includes changes in the style of work, i.e. telecommuting, more freelancing, and consultant-style services [1].  Due to ongoing changes, modern manufacturing enterprises face the following challenges: short lead time of production, high product variety, high level of customization and small (in some cases 1) batch sizes [2]. As a response, manufacturing systems should be reconfigurable, flexible and receptive to the introduction of the aforementioned high-end Industry 4.0 technologies.

As qualified personnel are an integral part of such a production systems, the problem of education and training is of high importance and the role of Universities cannot be overestimated. One of the problems, that traditional education in the field of manufacturing engineering has to deal with, is the gap between theoretical knowledge obtained in a class and skills which students will need in reality to solve real-case challenges of the modern industry.

When considering the approach to forming necessary skills during the training of students, learning-by-doing can be recognized as one of the most effective. According to Jaeger et al. [3] the higher level of recall could be obtained during (listed in the order of increase): practice doing, simulating real experience, doing the real things. “Doing the real things” in Manufacturing engineering training, notably considering modern challenges, requires specially designed systems and training approaches. Nowadays, one of the most efficient solutions is the implementation of learning factories. Learning factory, according to the CIRP Encyclopedia of Production Engineering [4], comprises four components: “processes that are authentic, include multiple stations, and comprise technical as well as organizational aspects; a setting that is changeable and resembles a real value chain, a physical product being manufactured, and a didactical concept that comprises formal, informal and non-formal learning, enabled by own actions of the trainees in an on-site learning approach.” Learning Factories could be designed in various configurations to develop specific skills in e.g. Lean Manufacturing, Resource Efficiency, Factory Planning, etc. The efficiency of introduction Learning Factories into the education has been reported by several universities [2, 3, 5]. However, there are some drawbacks and limitations: the high cost; expensive and cumbersome modernization; factories are usually designed for specific research and teaching priorities; in general, the provided modularity is not sufficient for opening up further fields of application [5].

One of the solutions could be combining physical learning environment with digital and virtual components in so-called hybrid learning factory [6]. This allows including remote learning components to improve the scalability of a factory, as a consequence it will allow the development of necessary skills in team working via telecommuting. More value could be added to learning factories via their closer linking to research of networking partners from different institutions.

Industry 4.0, Learning Factory, Manufacturing Engineering, Education