Industry is digitally transforming, and actionable intelligence is key to implement the right technologies in a broader transformation strategy.

This postgraduate programme is jointly organised by Ghent University and KU Leuven. It focuses on the most relevant and essential industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and concepts related to operations and maintenance, for an industrial production context.

‘Operational excellence’ is an omnipresent objective in industry and is especially relevant for operationally intensive sectors, such as the manufacturing industry. They are subject to the I4.0 transformation, because operations in particular lend themselves to (flexible) automation.

Operations are inextricably linked to the maintenance phase. Maintenance is aimed at allowing operational processes to run as smoothly and undisturbed as possible by ensuring that all equipment and infrastructure required for production is always working 100% efficiently.

This programme teaches how both operational and maintenance processes can be optimised by making them 'smart', using new (I4.0) technologies, such as robotics, big-data analytics, digital twins, cloud computing, etc. The programme covers technologies that facilitate an advanced digitalisation of product and process information (e.g., smart sensors), technologies that are used in production and maintenance (e.g., cobots), and technologies that connect production equipment/assets and people (e.g., Industrial IoT platforms).

The postgraduate programme stands firmly on its own, but also opens the door to more. The programme forms an integral part of the upcoming Advanced Master of Science in Smart Operations and Maintenance in Industry (expected in 2023), in which students are able to register for one of three in-depth and hands-on elective tracks, and further improve themselves as Smart O&M specialists. Participants who successfully complete the courses in the postgraduate programme will be granted exemptions in pursuing the homonymous advanced master’s degree.

The one year postgraduate programme consists of four courses of 6 ECTS, 24 ECTS in total, spread evenly over two semesters.

Graduates are qualified to take up different roles in different (industrial) sectors, ranging from SMEs to international Captains of Industry. The skills developed, and the knowledge obtained will be more widely applicable than in the manufacturing industry alone. All operationally intensive sectors, including for example the food and pharmaceutical sector are eager to recruit engineers with a solid background in Smart O&M who can be the foundation of and an advisor in their digital transformation process.