Teaching Factory For New Education In Competitive Sustainable Manufacturing

In the transformation process toward the knowledge economy, non technological factors contribute to the European strategy to respond to global challenges. This paper provides an overview of the approach to new education with reference to the study carried on by the Leadership project for the Manufuture strategy. The theme 'Design and Implement the (European) Teaching Factory' emerged in the priority setting as the top theme to emphasize the following new and important features: 1. a multilevel efford is needed at European, national and global levels; 2. new education needs to consider environmental, societal issues as well as industrial interests in rapid life cycle of technologies to achieve growth, social welfare and sustainability; 3. new skills and competencies -built on factories- need to regard products, processes and organizations. The results of this overview defines a working area to exploit synergies among a network, interested in production systems and manufacturing, in the near future.