A Learning Factory Framework: Challenges and Solutions for an Irish University*

After its first decade since initialisation, Industry 4.0 is now becoming a standard for manufacturing industry. This new standard necessitates a new era of skilled workforce from all levels with literacy of digital technologies and manufacturing automation. Learning factories concept brings new opportunities to research institutes for developing a test bed for Industry 4.0 standards that can be used for both developing necessary skills and demonstration for companies moving forward to their digitisation journey. In this paper, we outline challenges and our roadmap to address for a successful implementation of a learning factory with a case of an Irish University.