Eng Mohamed Taher MOUNI, is an industrial engineer with a background of Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. He held several positions as head of Performance and Industry 4.0 in Aerospace, Automotive and Pharma. With a decade of experience in deploying IIOT for real time monitoring, digital transformation assessments and Cobots in several industries. He’s also a founding expert of the Alliance for Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing in Africa (AISMA), an initiative launched by UNIDO.

1. Could you please explain the concept of Smart Factory Academy and how it could support the expansion of Industry 4.0 in Africa?  

The Smart Factory Academy (SFA) is a competence center focusing on Industry 4.0. SFA is an important tool for African countries to support the development of the innovation ecosystem and distribute knowledge and contact between stakeholders (Technology providers, SMEs/Corporates, startups, universities, ministries, incubators, clusters …). The aim of SFA is to reduce the barriers for African SMEs to approach the I4.0 topic, as SMEs typically have limited time and resources. The SFA propose live tours through the facility, interactive workshops and hands-on training sessions, that can help african manufacturers benefit from insightful, inspiring knowledge on how they can transition to Industry 4.0.

2. What are the critical success factors / best practices to follow in order to establish a Smart Factory Academy? 

Several critical success factors can be mentioned as :

• The obligation to clearly articulate the purpose, target audience, and desired outcomes.  
• As the project is a non profit one, it is necessary to secure sponsorship for running the academy.
• Identify skill gaps & develop training, workshops & simulations to respond to the market needs.
• The facility must provide to the stakeholders a state of the art infrastructure that can help replicate the real world conditions for better outcome.
• Hiring experts & instructors with practical experience in smart factory technologies, capable to teach change management & digital transformation
• Another key factor is strong partnerships with academia, technology providers & industry associations.
• Participate in benchmark sessions with other smart factories academies worldwide to learn about the smart manufacturing challenges worldwide.

3. How a country like Morocco could benefit from the establishment of a Smart Factory Academy? 

The SFA can accelerate the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and best practices across Moroccan industries by training a skilled workforce, showing the path & ROI to C level & especially to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship between different stakeholders. One of the benefits also is having a skilled workforce and a focus on advanced manufacturing can make Morocco a more attractive destination for foreign investors.