Competence is one of the main purposes of members' participation in the cluster. This involves attracting new expertise, further developing existing competencies at all organizational levels, and developing new solutions for better utilization of these competencies.
The Learning Factory is a concept that works holistically with competence development and attractiveness. The Science Center Innlandet was initiated in 2006 with support from the cluster to promote recruitment in the natural sciences.
Comprehensive learning arena
The Learning Factory focuses on skilled worker recruitment, thereby fulfilling a new function in the ecosystem. From middle school, local schools are invited to explore potential careers in the industry. In the Learning Factory, young people working in and outside the industry meet and are allowed to use industrial equipment such as robots and welding simulators. The purpose is to make technology accessible to potential industry employees.
High schools and teachers from all over Innlandet use the Learning Factory as part of their teaching, receiving strong support from the cluster, the training office, and the companies. The Vocational School of Innlandet also integrates parts of its industrial education in the Learning Factory.
Various actors have invested in the equipment available in the Learning Factory. MNTC, industrial companies, the Training Office (OFII), the NCE cluster, the Vocational School of Innlandet, among others, have ensured that relevant equipment is available for teaching, while the cluster/MNTC is responsible for operations.
Inclusion
New groups are increasingly using the Learning Factory as an arena for industrial training. In collaboration with NAV (Norwegian labour and welfare administration), an introductory program was conducted with nine young adults who were outside the workforce. After completing the program, all are now employed with the goal of obtaining certificates in CNC-machining or other relevant fields.
Training and courses
Cluster companies use the arena for courses and training initiatives, both for individual companies and collectively. The group's competence forum continuously works to identify needs and set up courses for implementation.
Through the Learning Factory, the cluster has established an arena where only imagination sets the limits for its use. An arena for everyone, with 100 different applications.
The Learning Factory is a collaboration between the industry, upper secondary school, the Vocational School of Innlandet, and the Training Office for Industrial Subjects (OFII). Innlandet County Municipality has been an active partner in developing the concept for this collaboration.
The development of the Learning Factory has been a pioneering effort at the national level, based on the idea of linking industry and education.
Competence, a culture of sharing, collaboration, and technology have been central to the development of the concept. Activities in the Learning Factory are characterized by apprentices, students, and employees in the industrial companies.
In the Learning Factory, users have access to the most modern equipment used in industrial manufacturing. The availability of equipment is based on co-location with the Norwegian Catapult Center at Raufoss, the Vocational School of Innlandet, the upper secondary school, and the Training Office for Industrial Subjects Innlandet (OFII).
In addition to competency development, participation in the Learning Factory provides access to an environment for innovation, experimentation, R&D, and testing in collaboration with subject matter experts, educators, and a world-leading industrial environment.
The world is changing, and the industry must adapt to a new framework, with sustainability, green and circular value chains, digitalization, and automation at the forefront. In this development, the Learning Factory will play a central role.
