EXPERTISE

Problem definition

Employees must be involved in the digital transformation of procurement and supply management, with particular attention being paid to the so-called silver workers (the older generation), who find it more difficult to access digital solutions. Society and companies cannot afford to lose skilled workers for tasks in digitalized purchasing and supply management. On the other hand, experienced employees have valuable knowledge that must be retained and integrated even in the age of Industry 4.0.

Objective

The EXPERTISE project(short for: Experienced Purchasers Education Research Transfer for Industry 4.0 Skills Expertise) aims to enable silver workers in the field of purchasing and supply management to expand their digital skills so that they can collaborate inclusively with digital natives and develop solutions for the current challenge. EXPERTISE secures the employability of individual employees in the Industry 4.0 transformation and at the same time the competitiveness of employers. Finally, the project promotes the skills development of buyers in different regional labor markets within the EU.

The objectives are as follows:

• Silver workers in purchasing and supply management are to be qualified so that they can operate successfully in the digitalized environment and be integrated into the organizational transformation.
• To enable an individual skills analysis for silver workers in purchasing and supply management that takes into account the challenges of digitalization in terms of working methods, technologies and tasks.
• Learning materials adapted to the needs of silver workers for the development of digital skills in PSM are to be made available.
• A qualification program tailored to the individual user is to be created so that the individually relevant skills are improved efficiently.
• The skills analysis tool and the corresponding learning materials are to be developed and disseminated throughout Europe in close cooperation with industry partners.

Approach

EXPERTISE is developing an online skills assessment tool and learning materials for silver workers in purchasing and supply management to meet the individual and organizational challenges of digitalization. In view of the increasing relevance of Industry 4.0, the simultaneous shortage of skilled workers and the ageing population, the project focuses both on the employability of existing employees and on the long-term competitiveness of companies