Future-Ready Manufacturing Starts with People – Upskilling, Collaboration and Fast Reconfiguration for Europe’s Industry
The two-webinar series “Future-Ready Manufacturing Starts with People” has successfully brought together a group of EU-funded projects to exchange insights, compare approaches and reflect on a key question for the future of European industry:
How can we transform innovative research into real, sustainable and market-ready manufacturing solutions—starting from people?
Through two interactive sessions, projects including RaRe2, CREDIT, R3GROUP, MULTIMOLD, RESTORE, VOLTAGE, RENÉE and BIOGEMSE engaged in an open dialogue, sharing experiences, challenges and practical approaches to support the transformation of manufacturing systems across Europe.
Session #1
“People Driving Future Manufacturing: Skills, Mindset and Adoption of New Industrial Technologies”
The first webinar focused on the human dimension of industrial transformation, highlighting that technologies alone are not enough—people, skills and mindset are the real enablers of change.
One of the key takeaways was the importance of understanding skills gaps in a structured and dynamic way. Several projects presented tools and methodologies to assess workforce capabilities, starting from real industrial needs. For example, approaches based on skills gap detection tools, surveys and interviews with managers and employees showed how companies often lack a clear overview of existing competencies—and struggle to define what skills are actually needed.
Another central theme was the role of training and learning approaches. Projects highlighted the importance of combining interactive training materials, workshops and certifications, ensuring that learning paths are tailored to the current level of workers. The idea of adaptive and personalised training emerged as crucial, especially in rapidly evolving industrial environments.
At the same time, participants discussed the barriers to technology adoption. Among the most common challenges identified:
- lack of digital and technical skills
- resistance to change within organisations
- difficulties in integrating new tools into existing systems
- limited awareness of available technologies
The discussion clearly showed that technology adoption is not just a technical issue, but a cultural and organisational one.
Another important insight concerned the need to build a culture of collaboration and co-creation. Many projects are developing participatory approaches—such as stakeholder engagement processes, co-creation platforms and interactive workshops—to actively involve companies and workers in the innovation process.
Finally, the session addressed the integration of sustainability into daily work practices. This is not only about adopting green technologies, but about changing how people make decisions, how processes are designed, and how awareness is built across organisations.
The final discussion confirmed these trends, highlighting:
- lack of skills and organisational resistance as major barriers to adoption
- the importance of digital, data and collaboration skills
- the effectiveness of hands-on and collaborative training approaches
Overall, the first webinar provided a clear message:
To make manufacturing future-ready, we must first invest in people.
Watch the video:
Session #2
“From Skills to Action: Training, Exploitation and Market Pathways”
Building on these insights, the second webinar shifted the focus from understanding to implementation, exploring how EU project results can move from research to real industrial uptake and market application.
A key topic was the transition from research to industrial application. Projects shared examples of:
- industrial pilots and demonstrators
- testing solutions in real company environments
- applying technologies in specific use cases
These experiences showed that validation in real contexts is essential to make solutions credible and usable for industry.
The discussion then moved to exploitation and market pathways, highlighting the importance of going beyond research outputs. Projects are exploring different strategies, including:
- development of digital platforms and services
- creation of business models and value propositions
- collaboration with industrial clusters and stakeholders
A concrete example presented during the session was the AVANTI solution developed within MULTIMOLD, which demonstrates how project results can evolve into tangible, market-oriented tools supporting industrial processes.
Another key aspect was the role of training as a pathway to technology adoption. Participants emphasised that training should not end with the project, but must become:
- scalable
- accessible to companies (especially SMEs)
- continuously updated
The webinar also highlighted the importance of collaboration between projects and ecosystems.
The final discussion reinforced these points, showing that industrial adoption and unclear business models remain key barriers, training, collaboration and pilot projects are seen as the most effective strategies for uptake.
Watch the video:
Closing the loop – Key takeaways from the series
Across both sessions, a clear and shared vision emerged:
- People are the starting point: Without the right skills, mindset and awareness, even the most advanced technologies cannot be effectively adopted.
- Training is a strategic tool: Not just support activity, but a core driver for innovation uptake and long-term impact.
- Real application is essential: Industrial pilots, demonstrators and real use cases are key to bridging the gap between research and market.
- Collaboration creates impact: Stronger connections between projects, companies and ecosystems are needed to scale solutions.
- Exploitation must be concrete: Projects need clear pathways to transform results into usable, scalable and market-ready solutions.
By fostering dialogue and collaboration among EU projects, the initiative contributed to building a shared understanding of how to make European manufacturing more sustainable, adaptive and future-ready.