Program Overview

Industry 4.0 Skills Accelerator (i4SA) Program

The Industry 4.0 Skills Accelerator (i4SA) program is designed to provide valuable training and exposure activities to prepare potential and existing workforce participants to work in high-tech environments and with automated systems. The program aims to introduce Industry 4.0 concepts to the K-12 community, incumbent workers, and organizations that continue to suffer hiring and skills training shortfalls caused by COVID-19.

Program Objectives

The program includes four initiatives to:

1. Establish an i4.0 CAVS-E Experiential Learning Factory, which will feature a scaled-down production line, cobots, autonomous mobile robots, sensoring for equipment monitoring, augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR), and data visualization systems (dashboards) to capture system status.
2. Provide experiential training and coaching programs, including i4.0 Core Tools and i4.0 Bridge training programs, which will deliver hands-on interactive learning and integration of data analytics.
3. Deliver i4.0 Core Tools workshops to the K-12 community, including CTE instructors, engineering clubs, and career coaches, to equip individuals with the knowledge needed to demonstrate available pathways to the next generation of workers for advanced manufacturing jobs.
4. Establish a K-12 outreach community campaign to engage students and provide exposure activities on i4.0 related topics and career opportunities.

Program Details

• The program is administered by AccelerateMS and awarded by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
• The principal investigator is Dr. Tonya McCall, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Extension.
• The program duration is 15 months, from October 2022 to June 2023, with training available at no cost to participants through December 2023.
• The program focuses on skills in critical thinking/problem solving, failure analysis, and maintenance of i4.0 electro-mechanical systems.

Training Programs

The program includes various training programs, such as:

• Basics of Data Analytics for the Manufacturing Industry
• 8D Problem Solving in an i4.0 Environment
• Process Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (PFMEA) in an i4.0 Environment
• Reliability 4.0: Using Industry 4.0 Tools to Transition from Reactive to Proactive Maintenance
• Visual Dashboard Development using Power BI

Funding

The program is supported by the ARPA Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CSLFRF), with a federal award SLFRP0003, awarded to Mississippi State University CAVS Extension by the U.S. Department of Treasury.