Abstract:

Nowadays, Engineering Degrees provide good academic skills to graduates. But, after their studies, it is also very common that Industries have to endow them with other capabilities in order to obtain good professionals. This shows that it is necessary collaboration between University and Industry for the continuous update of graduates, especially on the manufacturing process.

For this reason, we have set out a collaboration course about Lean Manufacturing, using the innovating blended-learning methodology, which has been very well received by the graduates. Lean Manufacturing is a manufacturing model that was originally developed by Toyota and is now used by many manufacturers throughout the world. Therefore the term Lean Manufacturing is a more generic term and refers to the general principals and further developments of Lean. In fact, the term Lean is very apt because in Lean Manufacturing the emphasis is to cut out the "fat" or waste in the manufacturing process. Waste is defined as anything that does not add value to the customer.

It could also be defined as anything the customer is unwilling to pay for. Or in other words, Lean Manufacturing is "A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the demand of the customer."

This manufacturing model qives an interesting approach to the engineering graduates about the whole enterprise and specifically a practical overview of the material flow.

Keywords:

innovation, blended-learning, university-industry collaboration.