The first EACN virtual study was held last Friday 10th of July. It was organized by the Automotive Cluster of Bulgaria (ACB).

One of the activities planned in the framework of the EACN initiative was the organization of study visits to some of the partners, with the aim of sharing best practices on how to support automotive companies in their change process towards industrial modernisation.

The first event of this kind was held last Friday 10th of July, with the title:  Training and education modules to prepare company personnel for Industry 4.0 change processes”. Organized in virtual format by the Automotive Cluster of Bulgaria (AC Bulgaria), this meeting was connected to the “Skills and Competences” thematic area, one of the four pillars the EACN project is focused on.

The agenda of this encounter included a first part with the presentation of the following companies:

1. Festo Didactic SE, Germany: this world-leading provider of equipment and solutions for technical education, talked about the most relevant Industry 4.0 changes and their impact on the labour market. The company also presented the Festo Learning factory integrated in the Scharnhausen Technology plant, which provides their employees with practical training, through eLearning tools and workspaces with all kind of components and software from production.
2. Visteon Electronics, Bulgaria: this company, involved in the design, engineering and manufacture of innovative cockpit electronics and connected car solutions, gave an overview about the activities the company is carrying out to facilitate the transition to the factory of the future (such as bottom-up emergent initiatives, organizational changes, etc.).
3. Hanon Systems Plovdiv, Bulgaria: this company, which works on innovative thermal and energy management solutions, presented its training program to improve the ability of their employees to solve real problems in their plant.

After these presentations, the consortium members analysed how to integrate or transfer these best practices at their own clusters, trying to look for synergies and identify common issues. The main objective is to develop a future cooperation plan in the areas of interest.

A second virtual study visit is planned to be organised by the Galician Automotive Cluster (CEAGA) next 30th of July.