SMARTENING OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PROCESSES

In September 2023, a new Advanced Master in Smart Operations and Maintenance in Industry will be launched on the Bruges and Kortrijk campuses. It is the result of collaboration between KU Leuven, Ghent University, industry, and the government. The programme aims to train specialists who can create added value in the manufacturing industry using the latest digital technologies.

On 16 March 2023, the Advanced Master was officially presented at KU Leuven - Bruges Campus in the presence of prominent figures from academia, government, and industry. The presence of numerous entrepreneurs was no coincidence. The programme came at the request of manufacturing companies that urgently need specialists to keep pace with the ever-accelerating digital transformation. The technologies involved include digital twins, internet of things, big data analysis and artificial intelligence.

Underlying the Advanced Master in Smart Operations and Maintenance in Industry is the eponymous postgraduate degree launched last year. The postgraduate has even been given a place in the Advanced Master. This combined offer makes it possible to spread the programme over two years, which is convenient for students who are already working. The blended learning method with virtual and hybrid classes from the postgraduate is extended to the new master. Indeed, the programme targets not only recent engineering graduates but also industry professionals who want to master the new technologies. Noteworthy in that context is the support by the ‘Postuniversitair Centrum’ of KU Leuven, which has over 40 years’ experience with the creation and organisation of lifelong learning programmes tailored to professionals who combine study and work.

Operational excellence

The fact that operations and maintenance are mentioned in the same name has everything to do with digital transformation. Information and data technologies play a crucial role in modern manufacturing and the associated operations and maintenance. Maintenance allows operational processes to run smoothly by ensuring that all equipment and infrastructure for production always function optimally. Operational excellence has become the goal of every company in Industry 4.0. That explains the high demand for experts who can optimise operational and maintenance processes by making them smarter.

Jorie Soltic, Programme Coordinator and Professor Davy Pissoort, Programme Director

© Reiner Van Wonterghem

Although the programme primarily focuses on digital technologies, it also pays attention to broadening competences such as operations management and innovation management. After all, implementing new technologies also requires good monitoring and professional management of the people involved in the processes. By making room for management, the Advanced Master anticipates the reality of cross-functional problems in the workplace and boosts the employability of graduates.

Another guarantee of employability is the close involvement of industry. Specialists from leading companies such as CNHi, Unilin, Siemens and Atlas Copco are member of the advisory board and provide direct input through guest lectures, case studies, master's theses, and in-company projects.

Electives

The programme consists of three parts: a common trunk, an elective track and a concluding and integrating master's thesis. Core subjects in the common part are 'Digital Twin', 'Monitoring and Prognostics', 'Smart Factory Design' and the management subjects mentioned above. The three elective tracks correspond to the graduates' main job profiles in an industrial R&D team (the machine track), in a production engineering department (the factory track) and in production operations (the operations track), respectively.

In any case, the new Advanced Master means a major addition to the Bruges Campus and to the Faculty of Engineering Technology as a whole. It is also the culmination of the Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics Centre West Flanders in which knowledge centres, companies and the government joined forces to make industry in the region future-proof.

Yves Persoons

www.smart-OM.eu