Our University, Kayseri Chamber of Industry, and Kayseri Chamber of Commerce signed a cooperation protocol on 24 July 2019 under the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkey to establish a "Competence and Digital Transformation Center (Model Factory)" to increase the productivity of SMEs and Enterprises in Kayseri.
The stakeholders' common goals are organizing hands-on training, inspired by domestic or international best practices, on lean manufacturing techniques, production efficiency, and digitalization (Industry 4.0). They also aim at creating domestic and national opportunities through partnerships. Per the protocol, the facility and equipment of the Model Factory will be used for educational and research activities of the University's undergraduate and graduate degree programs on lean manufacturing, lean training techniques, lean transformation, digital transformation, etc. and the University academics will join the training and transformation activities at the Model Factory.
Thanks to the Center, most theoretical concepts about lean manufacturing and digital transformation of the industry will be put into practice. Businessmen will have the chance of learning by doing and applying and be able to use this experience in production processes at their own factories.
After the theoretical training at the Center, participants will begin the practical phase. Besides the theoretical and applied phases, there will also be learn-transform programs, university-industry cooperation projects, and research, product and system development training at the Center.
The manufacturing industry, other sectors, and the University bear huge responsibilities for increasing the productivity of our country as we need to work more efficiently than others to compete in a globalized world and help businesses make a profit. Undergraduate and graduate students and academics of the University will also benefit from the studies at the Model Factory in terms of training, research, and lab activities.
Hosting the Model Factory is a significant gain for the University considering its mission and vision as a 3rd generation state university because it will accelerate the efforts of becoming an international university with its world-class work and contribute to the national economy with its global projects tapping the English-medium education of our University.
The premises of the Model Factory have been leased to the Kayseri Model Factory JSC for three years, and the said Center has been active since 30 July 2020.