Once the skilled labor receives more decision-making power and influence, the organization and structure of companies will become more flat. That will not only have an effect on the skilled labor but also on engineers and managers of the lower hierarchical levels as they need to cede parts of their decision-making power

http://www.vdi.eu/fileadmin/vdi_de/redakteur/karriere_bilder/VDI-ASME__2015__White_Paper_final.pdf

Well educated, flexible mind, the art of dealing with people in decision making.

The evolving qualifications & skills in the factory of the future will combine a multitude of competencies. For example, an employee in the production line of a pharmaceutical may have been, so far, utilized in quality assessment of the product. The next one to be employed, for such a job, will be supposed to have "extras" in areas such as safety, environmental impact, ability to repair equipment, writing reports by using MS office, "good" driving license,and efficient use of smart tools of communication.

Agree with both that the technological change is bringing a revolution, where in companies which successfully harness the internet to adopt highly automated and increasingly service-oriented business models will become more competitive, and their customers will be exposed to a bigger supply of individualized products and services. Although the new manufacturing initiatives present a plethora of opportunities for companies to create more sustainable growth, they also pose

new challenges. The necessary restructuring of existing systems requires comprehensive corporate transformation which can be very time, cost and labor intensive.

I agree that restructuring the existing systems will be cost-intensive since this will involve ,e.g. automation, internet connections, employment of persons with higher skills & qualifications. When there is automatic control, this will result in redundancies among the ordinary labor force. I think that there is no choice apart from climbing the ladder step by step but not in a very slow manner.

Agree to Krishnan. 

In future highly advanced technology in manufacturing and service sector demands new generation of skils and for that employee should have to modernize themselves. But such evoluation create unemployement also. In future we have to think about this issue.

I have a strong opinion. Many of the initiatives of modern people and communities are simulated activities. Effective are only those initiatives which have little to say, but to take real steps to implement the initiatives.

In my opinion, globally, we are moving from an "economy of knowledge" (typically heard  about 1 or 2 decades ago) to a more complex "economy of emotional aptitude". This emotional aptitude, also, serves as a basis for strenghen the stock of knowledge.

So, those who in the pass were used to obtain more labour & income stability (or occupational stability) handled pure technical knowledge (f. inst., showed in C. Vitae) although under the basis of a mental & emotional endowments framework, or aptitude (rarely revealed in CV, but underlying).

Nowadays I think is more evident that emotional aspects not only underlies to technical S&Q, but also are relevant in the "labour market", including skills of comunicating, couching, transmitting concepts, etc. I mean, actually soft skills have become more relevant than hard or technical skills as before.

In summary, both habilities are important, but "emotional hability" has become essencial as "a necessary condition", in a sense for: 1.) making sustainable other categories of skills & qualifications, these ones more related to technical knowledge, and 2.) as a human capital value itself.

Some references I liked at:

Working for the future. Technology and Employment in the Global Knowledge Economy. Victoria Univ. Press, Melbourne (1998)

http://heckmanequation.org/content/quality-early-childhood-education-enduring-benefits

Best regards

The advent of a fourth industrial revolution has been suggested, based on distributed Smart Systems, integrated in the Internet of Things. A methodology for skills needs analysis is suggested, containing the following steps. Firstly, roadmaps for Smart Systems are analysed, taking up documents provided by the European Technology Platform for Smart Systems (EPoSS), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

www.iit-berlin.de/de/.../skills-needs-analysis...industry-4.../download

Estonian Example

The aging and decreasing population means it faces challenges to increase the quality of life with fewer people and without the benefits of mass production. It needs to focus on, and become extremely good at, small-scale production and manufacture specialized products or parts. While English is the common communication language, it proves as a competitive advantage for such communities who are already conversant with it. Further in order to remain competitive it is critical to observe what is happening in other countries and consider how these concepts could be integrated in the existing business models and manufacturing processes.

https://e-estonia.com/industry-4-0-sets-estonian-companies-off-towards-the-internet-of-things/

computer will in every sphere. Hence more people out of job. Rich becomes thousands of time richer- e.g., adopt, apple, microsoft, equipment companies, poor will barely survive. Best non-risk field is health care field which will remain in demand for ever. 

No matter how much technology accelerates the corporations' grow, and their maximizing of utilities, the bottom line, and the pillars of any industery are human, and the idealist assumption of electronics or robots are in the hands of human too. As a result, establishment of an average level of employee- stisfaction is the key; because, an additive presures of inner-organizatio- corruptions and unequalities could bemerely tolorated for some extant. Later on, our competative global development (incentives) could easily rob-away the effective marbles. The important instruments in this avenue would be the balancing equally, a "sense of belonging", and understanding the cultural values in a basic level, not an overdue or with a twisted shifts. The reason is the impact of this fast paste of current life-style, and inflations, that should be balanced somehow, in which is different in every cultural digestion.

Not sure if the question applies to factories per se, or to business in general.

The trend in actual factories, places where products are produced, seems to be clear. Automation. For instance, this has become true even in China, as wages have gone up dramatically, and the lesser automated assemblies are moving to Vietnam. Clearly, the same evolution will occur in Vietnam too, in coming years. I think the idea that production brings a lot of traditional factory jobs is becoming more and more untrue.

So as many have said, IT, or the Internet in general, is one key skill set that becomes more important. Factory automation depends on IT for sure, and the Internet.

Design and maintenance of factory automation equipment should be an important component too, and this would include algorithm design. Some of these jobs won't be performed in the factory itself, but would be associated with modern day production. So this type of job involves the same skills as computer repair and software design.

This is really no different from what has been happening ever since the Industrial Revolution. What is considered a menial task is handed down from humans to machines, and the human takes on the less menial task. These days, even tasks that previously required a human in the loop are being replaced, or at the very least assisted, by clever algorithms. And the work is typically performed better than the human could have done alone. In many cases, the work was not possible before, but becomes possible only because of automation. Microsurgery and laser surgery are examples of machine assisted techniques that would have been impossible in the past. Examples of automatic controls that are far more accurate than human-in-the-loop controls are too numerous to list.

I didn't address any of the other topics, that apply to any business, such as knowledge of a lingua franca (English these days, often), or management styles, or diversity of work force, or any of these.

Dear Barbara,

Internet does not help for ill-prepared expert.

He will stupid with ineternet also .

Josef

Dear Josef, dear Barbara,

both of you are right!

Internet is only a real help for smart experts, who will not need it in principle but who save a lot of time while searching the literature.

Weak experts will not have a profit out of Internet!

Peter

ROBOTICS 

Dear Rajeev! Dear all. You are talking about "smart" robots (biological neural networks, the implementation of the idea of "interface-computer brain"). Directed by "Star Wars" propose the development of civilization in this case.

Yes, Vladimir, the search for suitable or remidiation may reach up to the neural network functions and distributed network over large field, inherit complete collection of parent network functions. 

Dear All.

The reference by Nizar Matar is true, very true. Incidentally this is already happening. "Necessity is the Mother of Invention" is a very power rule of life and any who plans to SURVIVE MUST practice this rule. Nigeria as a foremost African country has presented most Nigerians with the opportunity to learn survival. Electricity is NEVER 24/7 not to talk of being 365. So you must know how to service your generator if you plan not to tamper with your employers' finances. There is no need to talk about a community network of pipe-borne-water. Nearly every home has a personal bore hole. So, you must know enough about pumping machines and bore hole technology if you do not want to be ripped-off. Then how about bearable road networks. Well, having to take your car to the mechanics nearly every so often tells the story. The TRUTH is that the list is endless. Frankly, this does not make Nigeria a bad place or even the citizens a bad people. It is just a result of lacking the foresight to plan, now resulting in sharp survival demands. I know it might sound unbelievable, but it is true that: I service my generator, my car when I had one, my bore hole when I had one installed; I have skills in business and office software way beyond most secretaries in any office; am a software developer in MASM32 and some few more. This is NOT about PRIDE. It is about SURVIVAL. Companies need to survive too, but the game field for companies have changed. The note by Josef Punčochář is more about companies running on manned-systems. But the industry of the future is about unmanned-systems in order to cut business running costs tremendously. That is, unmanned-systems like humanoid, drone, robot, CNC-Machine to name a few. Already, we have software-systems that can take dictation to develop well-rounded letters or documents. We have financial software-systems that require only the data-entry operator. The data analysis is software-automated. No man-input is necessary. Obviously, we are

looking at a future industry environment with developers of machines and software-systems. But, software-systems for use in medical surgery requires a degree of professional background in medicine. So, some medical doctors might need to turn programmers in order to develop SMARTER medical surgery software-systems. But as we move on, more requirements of the future industry environment will unfold before us.

Thanks All.

Dear @Krishnan, STEM-based capabilities, systems thinking, leadership and design led innovation skills will be highly sought...

My thread has many good answers that are related to your question.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Can_we_consider_automation_as_the_enemy_of_employment

Dear @Krishnan, I do find this article very appropriate for your research questions.

Closing the loop on product usage data

IoT technologies help forge digital thread across product lifecycle

"Much of industry today operates on silos of information—on products, on customers, on manufacturing processes. But what if all these silos could work together with field data from products themselves as they’re being used? It’s not too hard to imagine the improvements in logistics, service, billing, sales, manufacturing, quality, inventory management and product development that could be achieved...

Four digital pillars

GE's Trombetta visualizes the integration of machine and enterprise data sets as a "digital thread" that runs throughout the facility, connecting embedded machine sensors to execution and planning systems as well as to sales data. The end result is improved visibility into how equipment is performing and how to optimize production. The thread weaves together the four pillars of the digital factory:

1. Sensor enablement: The new generation of workers "can't go knock on the machines anymore and hear what's going on." They need the data itself and a visualization layer to drive productivity on the shop floor.

2. Factory optimization: How do you move data across all enterprise systems to make decisions faster? "Nobody should be doing whiteboards anymore, we should all have the data and the intelligence at our fingertips."

3. Supply chain optimization: How do you get "quality information from your suppliers and vendors before it ever leaves their manufacturing plant, and bring it into yours?" Deliverables include lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and reduced quality risk.

4. Virtual manufacturing: Using simulation to anticipate and solve process-related issues before the processes are even built..."

This pillars define emerging qualifications and skills for the factory of future (today)!

http://www.smartindustry.com/content/content-library/smart-industry-magazine/closing-the-loop-on-product-usage-data/

creativity shall be top skill above all other known skills. so if you are an excellent in accounting, IT, communications, marketing, you will have to enrich it by creative thinking

Industry 4.0: From Smartphone to Smart Factory!

"On the smart factory floor, we need these skills. We need employees with backgrounds in technical training and information technology for jobs such as IT auditors, data analysts, advanced visualization software engineers, and software programmers – jobs that have typically supported new consumer products.

But according to a Business Roundtable survey of CEOs, the jobs of the future are also the ones that companies are having the hardest time filling. Nearly two-thirds of CEOs said their companies were struggling to find qualified applicants for jobs requiring advanced computer and IT skills. Forty-one percent said their companies were having a hard time finding applicants with adequate quantitative knowledge..."

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/industry-40-from-smartphone-smart-factory-eric-a-spiegel?trk=vsrp_influencer_content_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A577811291460586062277%2CVSRPtargetId%3A7811237046766792535%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary

Dear @Ljubomir Jacić.

RE:Industry 4.0: From Smartphone to Smart Factory

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/indu...37046766792535%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary

Thank you for bringing the above subject/link to attention.

I went into the link webpage, most probably under the administration of linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/), and the page kept loading trying to show me all contributions on the subject, whenever I scrolled down. So, if there are 100,000 contributions, the webpage will keep loading, holding my PC's processor time to ransom. Actually, I had to cancel the webpage. The issue is that there a way our passions of the mind influence the way we do things. This webpage design, for instance, was influenced by the greed passion - SHOW THEM ALL THE CONTENT WHENEVER THEY SCROLL TO THE END. It did not take into consideration the situation at the user PC end. A good example that does that is the Question and Answer Thread on ResearchGate, like this thread. it give the convinience to CHOOSE the pages I will like to see or the the options to move through the pages but being able to exit if something more important needs attention on my PC.

In inference, I do not agree with the CEOs claim of difficulties in fillings for jobs of the future. Also, I disagree with their claims of "...struggling to find qualified applicants for jobs requiring advanced computer and IT skills" and "having a hard time finding applicants with adequate quantitative knowledge". The truth is ; how far are the searching. A mind passion of thinking everything must come from within ones region is an administrative flaw. If a CEO TRULY needs SOLUTION, he/she will find solution; remember - WHARE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY. But the moment politics in whatever form sets in, then the person forget about any solution. There are certains things in life we should not play politics with; like the IMMINENT dangers the world will likely be facing.

Remember the Tsunami. I watched a documentary on the Tsunami on my state TV (OGTV) some years back, put together by a reporter from New York. He went on a helicopter ride to a small island community that was directly in the path of the Tsunami wave. He held the impression that, not a single life will be left on the island. But he was shocked when he got to the island and was told that, NOT A SINLGLE PERSON DIED. The head of that island community , in his native dialect, remarked how on how modern societies have disturbed nature's balance and sent a warning message on the need for reevaluation. The TV station aired the documentary from 11:30pm to 1:30am that day in order to ensure children will not see the horrific scene of how countless dead bodies floated on the sea as if they were fishes. Initially, I thought they were fishes until the camera zoomed in.

So, if this CEOs are not finding what they WANT, maybe, life is simply saying; that is not what humanity NEEDS anymore.

Thanks to all.

Dear @Gbenga, this page had an unexpected behaviour. I do not know why, I have checked and I do not have such problem. 

Regarding the question's issue, I do respect your opinion. Everyone of us have mostly different opinions.

Dear @Ljubomir Jacić.

I quite understand taking your point of view(s). Whenever I share opinions on any thread, I state what I have seen and experieced and try to see if others' contributions can bring me closer to solutions. I like this thread and I think the question is trying to get us reevaluate our efforts towards industries that will be needed in the future. The other point is to know that the use of the word, "Future" is not specified, maybe 50years, 100years or even 500years.

Lastly, I will like to refer to one of President Barrack Obama recent addresses concerning guns, in which he said that, HE BELIEVED IT IS POSSIBLE TO MANUFACTURE GUNS THAT WILL ONLY TRIGGER AT THE RECOGNITION OF THE OWNER'S FINGER PRINTS. Much as I know that he has a lawyer's background, I AFFIRMATIVELY SAY THAT THE TECHNOLOGY WAS A REALITY AS FAR BACK AS 20 YEARS AGO. Why the CEOs and manufacturers didn't tow that path is best known to them. So, just like the "Renewable Energy", "Climate Change" and many more issues arising today, these are some of what will form the future industry environments. People NEED to be alive and be sure of security and good health. Today, awareness is rising so sharply such that more and more people are becoming more aware of their needs and not their wants. But whatever the case, we at the innovation end just have to watch and see how the law of demand and supply plays out.

I thank you for expressing your view and those of others.

Dear Mr. Umachandran,

People who are employed in companies must be the main driver of changes and innovations  related to Industry 4.0. In the  link below you will see the comparative overview of the main skills that employees curently have and the skils they will have obtained by 2020 in order to make Industry 4.0 possible.

Best regards, 

Dragan Vuksanović

http://portal.sinteza.singidunum.ac.rs/Media/files/2016/293-298.pdf

Super-Skill Me: The Thriver’s Guide to the Next Industrial Revolution!

"Although today’s industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, is being fueled by different technology and digital advances, the outcomes on the workers and jobs will be similar to those experienced during Industry 1.0. Some jobs and skills will be diminished or replaced by technology, and new jobs with new skill sets will be created. We will experience significant change...

The future of jobs

What is the potential impact on our current jobs? The World Economic Forum (WEF) paper "The Future of Jobs" suggests there will be a net loss in manufacturing and production jobs from 2015 to 2020. On a positive note, the report suggests that industrial professionals may have more opportunities than professionals in other fields to reskill or up-skill and work with technology in new ways to be more productive. 

We may see reductions in operational positions as robotics increase process automation, but on the flip side, we may see an increase in maintenance and engineering roles to sustain robotic performance and reliability. Machine communication and learning may eliminate some decision-making tasks from current manufacturing roles and may eventually some replace some roles completely. However, with an ever-increasing volume of machine-generated data, we can confidently anticipate a growth in jobs related to data analysis and reporting...

The future of skills

The WEF suggests that by 2020, more than a third of the desired core skill sets for most occupations will comprise skills that are not yet considered crucial to the job today. That’s significant. If you’re not shocked yet, consider this WEF assertion: “By one popular estimate, 65% of children entering elementary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist.” If you’re still not shocked, then you are probably already preparing for this change, and if so, bravo.

The WEF is suggesting the following changes between now and 2020 to the 10 most important higher-level skills to prosper in Industry 4.0. These are the underlying skills to support our workplace adaptability. This is a general list applied to an entire industrial generation, not one specific job. Apply this list to your role and see what changes you could possibly see happening..."

http://www.plantservices.com/blogs/super-skill-me/adapt-your-ability-part-i-the-adaptability-mindset/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=32052550&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9PXax9KAGcKcmhuoQna80bRR4Jt4khrQ4977x3uP2ka9oHHE_Rp5LxXiQz___Sd_zmWDDVfxBYRb5OHUxJJlJyOlcmVg&_hsmi=32052550

Thanks dear Ljubomir,  nice article, the concept of thriving in industries is good.

Career pathways are a strategy for integrating education, workforce development, and human services, and aligning them to employer needs. By connecting these traditional “silos,” we can form a coherent system that provides holistic, comprehensive, and coordinated services.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/PCRN/docs/GWDC-Building-Partnerships-2014.pdf

Becoming digital in all activities is a demand on industries to change. Industries are being faced with the reality to engage an agenda to facilitate "change for development"

Human society at present is based on diversity of knowledge. National frameworks support to get knowledge in a specified field from certain (diverse) fields and input it for productions. The society is being turned into an information society where muscular power or energy resources are being turned less important. Information communication Technology (ICT) has promoted this environment. There is a challenge to get such education for some poor people and get adjusted in such society. It is hard to shift from one field to other different field, as human brain has limitations to learn. 

Patience, activity, rightness.

Good question! I think, creativity, flexibility, flow, responsability, languages, and namely soft skills.

Sharing link:

https://www.google.es/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.vdi.eu/fileadmin/vdi_de/redakteur/karriere_bilder/VDI-ASME__2015__White_Paper_final.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjixbaWhsfZAhVGyRQKHSG8DP0QFjACegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw2w2HYGpmNfqg0xqnw8Vi3n

Regards!

This is excellent resource which is available at RG.

Conference Paper A Discussion of Qualifications and Skills in the Factory of ...

I would like to bring some info from FESTO!

Industry 4.0 Qualification for the factory of the future

Industry 4.0 means that the tasks to be carried out are becoming more demanding, in both technological and organisational terms. Interdisciplinary competencies are growing in importance, which is why it is necessary to adapt the skills and abilities that are taught for the various trades. As the boundaries between the different functional levels are becoming ever more fluid, the need to adapt affects all technical professions...

Following

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328215836_INDUSTRY_40_-_PEOPLE_SKILLS_poster

How Automation is Helping Industry Adapt to Today’s Workforce Reality

Though it represents one of the greater job skill challenges for new entrants, technology is increasingly viewed as a key attractor for the next-generation industrial workforce...

https://www.automationworld.com/factory/workforce/article/21565029/how-automation-is-helping-industry-adapt-to-todays-workforce-reality?utm_source=Newsletters&utm_medium=AW+Factory+Automation+NL&utm_term=20210818&oly_enc_id=4913D7559689B1N

Manufacturers who have successfully developed a workforce proficient in digital skills and soft skills like collaboration and problem solving see positive results in productivity, efficiency, and worker safety...

https://www.automationworld.com/home/webinar/22093455/smart-manufacturing-needs-technology-and-people-common-sense-advice-to-enable-a-successful-smart-factory?utm_source=Newsletters&utm_medium=AW+Webinar&utm_term=20220310

Enabling the Industrial Workforce for a Mobile Future

Because the digital transformation of industry is so clearly focused on data and technology, it can be easy to lose sight of the human aspect of this change. But enabling humans—from frontline plant floor operators to corporate executives—to do their jobs better and make their businesses more efficient and profitable is, ultimately, why the digital transformation is taking place...

https://www.automationworld.com/process/workforce/article/22288604/enabling-the-industrial-workforce-for-a-mobile-future#previous-slide?utm_source=Newsletters&utm_medium=AW+Special+Report&utm_term=20220707&oly_enc_id=4913D7559689B1N#previous-slide

DeepMind aims to close STEM skills gap with new programme

AI-led business will develop resources and boost support for programmes aimed at teaching STEM subjects...

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252525429/Deepmind-aims-to-close-STEM-skills-gap-with-new-programme?utm_campaign=20220928_Fraudsters+adapt+phishing+scams+to+exploit+cost-of-living+crisis&utm_medium=EM&utm_source=MDN&source_ad_id=252525429&asrc=EM_MDN_247750113&bt_ee=IeDqlZewpwWdQF4QCpdwA20xGmijdkIV6fBWcQz7jRaxZ+%2Fh++YaWcRWZ8DgkqY5Mmt0TYFvcwj+5zd+34W8RA%3D%3D&bt_ts=1664360866902

Article Tacit knowledge elicitation process for industry 4.0

Manufacturers migrate their processes to Industry 4.0, which includes new technologies for improving productivity and efficiency of operations. One of the issues is capturing, recreating, and documenting the tacit knowledge of the aging workers. However, there are no systematic procedures to incorporate this knowledge into Enterprise Resource Planning systems and maintain a competitive advantage. This paper describes a solution proposal for a tacit knowledge elicitation process for capturing operational best practices of experienced workers in industrial domains based on a mix of algorithmic techniques and a cooperative game...

Today’s manufacturers are facing many challenges as they strive to adopt Industry 4.0 practices, next-gen applications, and IIoT technologies in order to remain competitive.

Pressures like skilled worker shortages, supply chain slowdown, data and tech gaps, and growing competition from emerging markets are among the top concerns for manufacturers as they look to improve their efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness through the implementation of smart factories and connected supply chains.

This whitepaper will explore the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities facing the ever-changing manufacturing industry, and reveals how organizations should embrace digitalization in order to stay ahead of the curve in the years to come...

https://info.aiscorp.com/pacing-the-path-digitalization-whitepaper-automation