New training course for SMEs in the manufacturing sector: ‘We show you how to use AI strategically’

The new course ‘AI in the Manufacturing Industry’ aims to help SMEs apply AI to their business processes. By focusing on insight, assessment and decision-making, the course provides decision-makers with a solid foundation. Alongside KU Leuven M-Group, PUC-KU Leuven Continue, NXTGN and VAIA, Flanders Make was also involved from the outset. CEO Grisja Lobbestael shares his insights on the importance of AI and training.

Flanders Make as partner

Why is Flanders Make, the research centre for industrial innovation, a partner in this programme?

Grisja Lobbestael, CEO of Flanders Make: “We can play a supportive and connecting role. On the one hand, we bring practical experience from industrial research projects and ensure that the training programmes are based on the real needs of industry. On the other hand, we can introduce potential participants. Flanders Make’s mission is to bring disruptive innovation to industry. That is why we are constantly building bridges between universities and industry.”

AI in manufacturing

Why should anyone working in the manufacturing industry today be concerned about AI?

“AI is becoming – if it isn’t already – an essential strategic pillar for remaining competitive and achieving productivity growth. It can provide a solution to labour market shortages, rising wage costs, increasingly stringent labour regulations, and the strong demand for traceability of goods flows and products. Furthermore, AI also has predictive power. If industry succeeds in deploying AI for decision-making across the entire value chain, this could in turn give rise to new business models.”

Why this course?

What is the significance of this course?

“For Flanders Make, people are always at the heart of what we do. AI is not going to replace people, but it can provide them with optimal support in carrying out tasks and making decisions. With this training programme, we aim to help people build strategy, knowledge and organisational maturity with the help of AI. They learn to translate a problem using AI and apply it in their own context.”

“In companies today, AI applications often get stuck in a pilot phase because there is insufficient knowledge to scale them up into solid business cases. And this despite the fact that AI can lead to optimisations in areas such as predictive maintenance, quality, the supply chain or energy consumption. Unfortunately, these processes fail to get off the ground in many SMEs. This course teaches how to make it work. It builds knowledge and provides strategic insight. Practical case studies help participants to see what AI can mean for their own business.”

The future

How do you see the future of AI in the manufacturing industry?

“AI in itself is not a panacea and will not be the sole factor ensuring the survival of our manufacturing industry. But if there is insufficient knowledge to apply AI, then we really do have a problem. That is why there is a great need for training. In the short term, we must ensure that AI applications are integrated into specific business processes. And in the longer term, the real game-changer will be our ability to fully control the value chain, partly thanks to AI.”

“Technology is evolving at breakneck speed. Many people today cannot keep up with that pace. That is why training is so important. In the second half of this year, we are launching the Flanders Make Academy. It also focuses on technologies other than just AI applications. Time and again, you see the same question cropping up: the technology exists, but how do you get it into companies? The answer lies in companies understanding what that technology is and what it can mean for them. That is what we want to achieve with the Flanders Make Academy. We are bringing together all relevant training programmes in Flanders and structuring them. So we are looking at what is available at KU Leuven and other universities, and also creating new programmes.”

To the course

Ready to find out more?

• The “AI in the Manufacturing Industry” course is available in Kortrijk, Sint-Katelijne-Waver and Leuven.
• This course is aimed at decision-makers in SMEs within the manufacturing industry, such as CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, COOs and senior management with responsibility for strategy, innovation and digitalisation. The course is not intended for end-users of AI tools, but rather for those who steer the strategic deployment and adoption of AI within the organisation.