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8th March 2021

Matériaux & Techniques 108, 508 (2020) 

Current and future aspects of the digital transformation in the European Steel Industry

Teresa Annunziata Branca (1), Barbara Fornai (1), Valentina Colla (1),*, Maria Maddalena Murri (2), Eliana Streppa (2),
and Antonius Johannes Schröder (3)

1 Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, TeCIP Institute, ICT-COISP Center, Pisa, Italy
2 RINA Consulting – Centro Sviluppo Materiali S.p.A. (CSM), Castel Romano (Roma), Italy
3 Technische Universität Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

The technological transformation in the European steel industry is driven by digitalization, which has the potential to strongly contribute to improving production efficiency and sustainability. The present paper describes part of the work developed in the early stage of the project entitled “Blueprint ‘New Skills Agenda
Steel’: Industry-driven sustainable European Steel Skills Agenda and Strategy (ESSA)”, which is funded by the Erasmus Plus Programme of the European Union.

13th December 2020

Metals 2020, 10(12), 1665

Skills Requirements for the European Machine Tool Sector Emerging from Its Digitalization 

Tugce Akyazi (1), Aitor Goti (1), Aitor Oyarbide-Zubillaga (1), Elisabete Alberdi (2), Roberto Carballedo (1), Rafeal Ibeas (3), Pablo Garcia-Bringas (1).

The machine tool industry, which is the starting point of all the metal producing activities, is presently undergoing rapid and continuous changes as a result of the fourth industrial revolution Industry 4.0. Manufacturing models are profoundly transforming with emerging digitalization. Smart technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), digital twin, allow the machine tool companies to optimize processes, increase efficiency and reduce waste through a new phase of automation. The presented sectoral database is a fundamental structure that will make the sector acquire targeted industrial reforms. It can also be an essential instrument for machine tool companies, policymakers, academics and education or training centers to build well-designed and effective training programs to enhance the skills of the labor force.

16th October 2020

Applied Sciences, 2020, 10(20), 7226

Skills Needs of the Civil Engineering Sector in the European Union Countries: Current Situation and Future Trends 

Tugce Akyazi (1), Irantzu Alvarez  (2), Elisabete Alberdi (3), Aitor Oyarbide-Zubillaga (1), Aitor Goti (1) and Felix Bayon (4)

The construction sector has always occupied a strategic place in the European economy. The European construction industry suffered during the 2007–2008 global financial crisis, and today the sector is undergoing a recovery process. Among all the construction subsectors, civil engineering has the highest growth rate. Currently, the sector has to face profound industrial changes emerging with digital transformations (Industry 4.0), sustainability, climate change and energy efficiency. To promote the growth of the civil engineering sector and accelerate the recovery, we need to create a highly qualified and competent workforce that can handle the challenges coming up with the technological progress and global competitiveness.

 14th April 2020

Foods, 2020, 9, 492

A Guide for the Food Industry to Meet the Future Skills Requirements Emerging with Industry 4.0

Tugce Akyazi (1), Aitor Goti (2) , Aitor Oyarbide (1) , Elisabete Alberdi (3) and Felix Bayon (4)

1 Department of Mechanics, Design and Organisation, University of Deusto, 48007 Bilbao, Spain; aitor.oyarbide@deusto.es
2 Deusto Digital Industry Chair, Department of Mechanics, Design and Organisation, University of Deusto,48007 Bilbao, Spain; aitor.goti@deusto.es
3 Department of Applied Mathematics, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48013 Bilbao, Spain; elisabete.alberdi@ehu.eus
4 Sidenor Aceros Especiales, SLU, 48970 Bilbao, Spain; felix.bayon@sidenor.com
* Correspondence: tugceakyazi@deusto.es

The food industry has recently faced rapid and constant changes due to the current industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, which has also profoundly altered the dynamics of the industry overall. Due to the emerging digitalisation, manufacturing models are changing through the use of smart technologies, such as robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, etc. They are experiencing a new phase of automation that enables innovative and more efficient processes, products and services. The introduction of these novel business models demands new professional skills requirements in the workforce of the food industry. In this work, we introduce an industry-driven proactive strategy to achieve a successful digital transformation in the food sector.

 25th  March 2020

Journal of Metallic Materials 2019, 71 (4), p. 2–11 2

DOI: 10.32730/imz.2657-747.19.4.1

EUROPEAN PROJECT ‘BLUEPRINT “NEW SKILLS AGENDA STEEL”: INDUSTRY-DRIVEN SUSTAINABLE EUROPEAN STEEL SKILLS AGENDA AND STRATEGY (ESSA)’ – THE FIRST YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION

Corresponding Author:

Wojciech SZULC, Józef PADUCH, Adam ZIELIŃSKI, Marcin DOLEŻYCH

Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy

The article presents the general characteristics of the European project implemented by an international consortium, which includes the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy. The project concerns the preparation and improvement of personnel for the steel sector in the face of the rapidly approaching industrial revolution 4.0: WORK 4.0 for STEEL 4.0. The article presents the first results of the project obtained in 2019, highlighting the Institute’s contribution. The four-year project (completed in December 2022) integrates the efforts in this area of a broad European consortium, consisting of 24 partners from 10 countries and 14 associated partners from 8 countries, in the ERASMUS + programme.

 21st February 2020

Metals 2020, 10(2), 288

The Challenge of Digitalization in the Steel Sector

Teresa Annunziata Branca (1), Barbara Fornai (1), Valentina Colla (1), Maria Maddalena Murri (2), Eliana Streppa (2)  and Antonius Johannes Schröder (3)

Digitalization represents a paramount process started some decades ago, but which received a strong acceleration by Industry 4.0 and now directly impacts all the process and manufacturing sectors. It is expected to allow the European industry to increase its production efficency and its sustainability. In particular, in the energy-intensive industries, such as the steel industry, digitalization concerns the application of the related technologies to the production processes, focusing on two main often overlapping directions: Advanced tools for the optimization of the production chain and specific technologies for low-carbon and sustainable production. Furthermore, the rapid evolution of the technologies in the steel sector require the continuous update of the skills of the industrial workforce. The present review paper, resulting from a recent study developed inside a Blueprint European project, introduces the context of digitalization and some important definitions in both the European industry and the European iron and steel sector. The current technological transformation is depicted, and the main developments funded by European Research Programs are analyzed.
Moreover, the impact of digitalization on the steel industry workforce are considered together with the foreseen economic developments.