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E. Abele, G. Chryssolouris, W. Sihn et al.:
"Learning factories for future oriented research and education in manufacturing";
CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology, 66 (2017), 803 - 826.

Learning factories present a promising environment for education, training and research, especially in
manufacturing related areas which are a main driver for wealth creation in any nation. While numerous
learning factories have been built in industry and academia in the last decades, a comprehensive scientific
overview of the topic is still missing. This paper intends to close this gap by establishing the state of the art
of learning factories. The motivations, historic background, and the didactic foundations of learning
factories are outlined. Definitions of the term learning factory and the corresponding morphological
model are provided. An overview of existing learning factory approaches in industry and academia is
provided, showing the broad range of different applications and varying contents. The state of the art of
learning factories curricula design and their use to enhance learning and research as well as potentials
and limitations are presented. Conclusions and an outlook on further research priorities are offered.

Learning factory; Education; Training; Manufacturing research; Competence development

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.cirp.2017.05.005

http://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/publik_262544.pdf