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GKN Aerospace and Swedish University West Collaborate to Meet Industrial Transformation

The TECHNOLOGY EXPLOSION places new demands on INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP and coworker COMPETENCE. Product realization changes radically today and no one needs to doubt that new knowledge and methodologies are necessary to meet the development. The technology parts are one side of this, but the effects are also felt on the business development side and how the companies are managed. How to meet this includes many aspects, of which the field of education is one of the more important. Here, Swedish University West (Högskolan Väst), with its proximity to the West Swedish industrial cluster, including heavy actors such as Volvo, SKF, and GKN Aerospace, has often been at the cutting edge, and developed close collaboration projects regarding scientific research, education, and technology with many of the companies in the cluster.
Last year, University West started, for example, a new educational project, KOLS, (the abbreviation in English is, “Competence Development for Organization and Management of a Digitized and Sustainable Society”). In this, competence development for the industry's leaders and employees is in focus. The aim is for local and regional companies to be able to be competitive in a global labor market in the future as well. One of the companies that participated in the development of the new courses is GKN Aerospace in Trollhättan.
“Our business is constantly under development, change, and improvement. We are currently carrying out a major technology investment at GKN Aerospace, which means that we will produce aircraft engine components in a new way. It is natural that we review, adapt, and continue to develop the work covering all aspects of the business, even the ‘soft parts’, such as how we lead and organize the development work,” says Christopher Sörensen, Manager Learning & Development, at GKN Aerospace.
Sörensen's statement is very interesting, not least because this global player recently announced an investment close to $60 million in state-of-the-art technology to take a leading position in sustainable production. This is through a bet in industrializing additive manufacturing. The goal is to achieve significant profits through reduced use of raw materials by up to 80 percent. The new manufacturing method also enables new, more efficient designs of aircraft engine parts and will be established in Sweden at the GKN Aerospace factory in Trollhättan, starting now in 2024. Instead of subtracting, removing material, the goal is to build up these components with additive technology. This requires the industrialization of 3D printing technology. New skills are needed and adapted high level training programs can mean a lot when leaders and employees launch the new.
This example illustrates how new sustainable technology will quickly take place and bring with it a transformation with new demands on technology competence, organization and management. How do you move forward in this?
GKN Aerospace is not alone in participating in University West's KOLS initiative; together with eleven industrial companies it is developing courses designed for personnel who want to combine studies with work. Click on the headline to read more on PLM&ERP News.

Digitization is changing work content and working methods for everyone in the industry. People who work with leadership, development and change work need to build on new knowledge and tools that go hand in hand with the technology transition.
“For us, it is valuable to be able to influence the choice of areas of knowledge and course content. We have a good dialogue with University West. They are responsive to creating course plans where professionals can develop their skills in parallel with the job. This way of working together around education is an excellent example of good collaboration,” says GKN Aerospace’s Christopher Sörensen, referring to the KOLS project.

Proven concept for lifelong learning
The training project is financed by the Swedish Knowledge Foundation (KK Stiftelsen) and is based on a well-proven concept for skill development of professionals in the industry. Since 2012, University West has gradually developed the concept in collaboration with industry. In addition to the courses being short, free of charge and designed for professionals, the system also includes validation of knowledge. This means that those who lack a university qualification can have their formal qualifications and work experience assessed through validation.
“It is about facilitating lifelong learning for professionals by creating flexible forms for skill development at advanced level. The courses have been designed so that the participants can study and work in parallel,” says Kristina Johansson, senior lecturer at University West.

She points out that the universities’ concept is based on work-integrated learning, which is an important part of all education and courses. This means that theoretical and practical knowledge are woven together in different ways and that cooperation with actors in society is prioritized.
“For us, it is natural to collaborate with the business world regarding the development of education at all levels. Business knows best what knowledge and skills are needed. In this project, we have together carried out everything from mapping knowledge needs and operational strategies, to choosing courses and coordinating course content,” says Johansson.

Substantially expanded course offerings underway
At the moment, four courses have been developed – one will be given this spring and three will start this autumn. But the range of courses will be greatly expanded starting with the academic year 2025/26, provided that the Swedish Knowledge Foundation grants funds for a three-year educational project in the same field of knowledge.

“We hope to be able to proceed with step 2, where our plan is to develop a further number of short courses corresponding to a total of 45 credits. The courses will briefly focus on digitalization, lifelong learning and sustainable development,” says Kristina Johansson.

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