CECIMO PRESS RELEASE  

Brussels, 13 September 2017

Jens Riedel from VDW Youth Foundation

 

 

 

 

 

METALS project on additive manufacturing skills to be present at EMO Hannover 2017

The MachinE Tool Alliance for Skills (METALS) project will be featured by CECIMO, Nachwuchsstiftung Maschinenbau and the Institute Technology and Education of the University of Bremen during EMO Hannover 2017. This EU-funded initiative has developed a skills panorama offering an overview of the current skills’ needs in the machine tool industry until 2025. METALS also created a curriculum for an introductory course on additive manufacturing (AM), and is currently developing e-learning materials in accordance to that. ‘AM is one of the most promising technologies that will affect the future of the machine tool sector, but finding a workforce with the right skills is a challenge for many machine tool builders. A competent workforce is a precondition if Europe wants to play a leading role in AM’ says Mr. Filip Geerts, CECIMO’s Director General.

Focus on skills for additive manufacturing

METALS aims at providing machine tool builders with the applied skills they need to benefit from new disruptive technologies in the machine tool sector. Following the analysis of the results from surveys, workshops and interviews, project partners concluded that AM is a key area for training due to the potential impact of this technology on the sector.

The skills panorama developed within the project shows how the AM workforce will be characterised by a hybrid skills pool. Conventional competences in subtractive manufacturing will be coupled with new skills specific to the manufacturing process with additive machines. These new competences will be concentrated in stages such as design, STL (Stereolithography) conversion and file manipulation, post-processing, testing and maintenance. Moreover, greater soft skills in communication and presentation will be part of this skills-set.

The project partners developed a curriculum describing learning units and formal learning outcomes aligned with EU guidelines. These units in the curriculum are the building blocks of an online AM learning course now under development. The course will be available through the METALS e-learning platform in 2018.

METALS to be promoted at EMO Hannover 2017

METALS will be promoted during EMO Hannover 2017. EMO is the leading international trade fair for the metalworking machine tool industry.

The fairground visitors will be able to find information on the available project results and get first-hand experience with one of the test METALS learning units in Hall 24 at the booth of Nachwuchsstiftung Maschinenbau. Information on METALS will also be available at the CECIMO booth (A 41) in Hall 27 on Additive Manufacturing.

About METALS

METALS (MachinE Tool Alliance for Skills) is a three-year EU funded project under the Erasmus+ programme. The project started in November 2015 and will be completed in the second half of 2018. METALS is coordinated by CECIMO and includes partners from the following countries:

Further information on the project can be found at www.metalsalliance.eu