Abstract:

Initial situation and objective of the study:
The business environment has become more unpredictable than ever in recent years. Whether it is a pandemic, war, environmental disasters or supply chain problems, companies face the challenge of becoming more adaptable in order to maintain or increase their competitiveness. One concept for business resilience is a company's strategic focus on agile manufacturing.
The aim of the study is to assess the current implementation of agile manufacturing as a concept for business resilience, while identifying potentials and needs.
The study centers on SMEs of the Lusatia region (Germany). In this region structural change and the focus on sustainable energy production also bring potential for change for manufacturing companies.
Based on the company's needs, training requirements are to be identified and further training concepts derived to support companies affected by structural change and transformation.
The following core research questions are in the fore-ground:
1. What is the level of knowledge of SMEs in the area of "agile manufacturing"?
2. What is the readiness of the SMES to tackle transformation processes?
3. Which topics in the area of “agile manufacturing" are in need of further training?
4. What general conditions must a further training concept for the target group fulfil?

Methodological approach:
In the study, information was gathered through both sec-ondary and primary research methods. After conducting a systematic literature review, the study proceeded with a qualitative investigation (1) and a quantitative investigation (2). In the qualitative survey, needs and items were recorded in three workshops with 41 participants, which formed the basis for developing the subsequent online survey (quantitative survey). The survey was evaluated and revised by using a pre-test.
Based on the results, recommendations for further training concepts were derived.

Results:
The results of the quantitative survey confirm the impressions from the qualitative survey and the findings from the secondary research. It shows that the general level of knowledge on the topic of "agile manufacturing" is still relatively low and thus there is a need to catch up. Specific focus topics for further education concepts could be identified. In particular, "agile working", "production planning and control" and "digital networking" arouse special interest. At the same time, the companies would like to see practice-oriented application examples and a duration of max. 2 days per week as general conditions. The findings form the basis for the development of suitable further education concepts to support companies affected by structural change and transformation.

This project is funded by the German government with funds from the Structural Development Act for coal-mining regions and co-financed with funds from the state of Branenburg.

Keywords:

Transformation, technology transfer, industry, agile manufacturing, further education series, needs analysis.