The IIM LEAD Factory

 
^{© Lunghammer - TU Graz}

The IIM LEAD Factory is a miniature industrial enterprise situated on 55 square meters at the Graz University of Technology which contains several workplaces for different steps of a product assembly.

Efficient work involves employing the right methods – either on a small scale or on a large one. Therefore the Institute of Innovation and Industrial Management (IIM) established this real-world learning factory for the assembly of “scooters” and provides interested parties with knowledge concerning sustainable improvements on energy efficiency, logistics, ergonomics and productivity through Lean Production.

Hands-on experience is the central focus behind those ideas and for this reason “learning by doing” has become the slogan of the IIM LEAD Factory, where not only university and school students but also companies of every size and direction can learn to turn an inefficient production process into a “leaner” process with the help of lean methods.

IIM LEAD Factory in teaching – Hands-on Training in the learning factory

By assembling the IIM scooter in a non-optimized initial state of the learning factory, the students analyze the assembly process and detect first improvements. After short theoretical sessions where the basics of lean production, industrial energy efficiency, agility and digitalisation are taught, students directly return to the IIM LEAD Factory    and implement what they have learned. The aim is then to build up an optimized state of space organization and immediately experience the impact of the different methods. Based on the principle of learning by doing the students gather newand sustainable knowledge and can transfer this knowledge much easier to real life situations afterwards.

^{© IIM - TU Graz}

IIM LEAD Factory for businesses

Besides practice-oriented training the IIM LEAD Factory also serves as a research platform for advanced manufacturing technologies. As it is a realistic mockup of an assembly area, like it is set up in every manufacturing company, it is predestined to serve as a testbed for state of the art technologies. The direct impact of such technologies can be experienced in the IIM LEAD Factory and companies can then discuss the implications and transferability of these technologies to their own facilities. Therefore the LEAD Factory is also thought to be kind of a hub for companies in the future. Active experience of modern technologies and methods in a real life manufacturing environment coupled with discussions and an exchange of perceptions and examples among different companies and industries with academia are the aim of the IIM LEAD Factory.

The Mobile Factory – IIM LEAD Factory on travel

Trainings, especially for industrial companies, have to be very effective. They have to compensate the time, during which workers are on trainings. Therefore efficiency training sessions in the IIM LEAD Factory can also be carried out at companies by transporting the IIM LEAD Factory equipment on-site. Manufacturing as well as non-manufacturing companies benefit from the new view of unseen potentials after understanding and creating a lean assembly process.

^{© Lunghammer - TU Graz}

For more information see following articles:

Procedia Manufacturing, Vol. 27, 2018 "Learn how to cope with volatility in operations at Graz University of Technology’s LEAD Factory"

Procedia Manufacturing, Vol. 9, 2017 "Transition towards an Industry 4.0 State of the LEAD Factory at Graz University of Technology"

TU-Graz-Research "The First Training Factory at Graz University of Technology