Automation and Digitization to Address Productivity and Workforce Challenges in the Manufacturing and Food Processing Sectors

康内斯托加理工学院是滑铁卢地区唯一的理工教育提供者，拥有300多个以职业为重点的课程，包括安大略省唯一完全认可的大学工程学位。在2019冠状病毒病大流行之后，为了应对我们区域行业合作伙伴的业务挑战，康内斯托加建议利用我们现有的能力和专业知识，开展一系列应用研究项目，提供创新和技术，以支持我们地区关键部门的经济复苏。大滑铁卢地区（包括基奇纳、剑桥、圭尔夫、布兰特福德）是大量制造公司的所在地，仅在滑铁卢就有1850多家制造公司，涉及汽车、航空航天、机器人、塑料和制造金属等不同领域。滑铁卢地区拥有加拿大第四大制造业劳动力，也是加拿大第一大雇主，拥有57,000个工作岗位。安大略省的食品和饮料加工行业也是加拿大最大的，拥有4000多家公司，雇员超过95000人，多伦多-滑铁卢-圭尔夫走廊是该省最大的食品制造地区。加拿大制造商和出口商确定了两个主要驱动因素，这是帮助制造商在摆脱疫情后恢复并提高竞争力的关键因素；1)获得制造业所需的工人，2)刺激对创新和先进技术的投资。滑铁卢惠灵顿杜弗林劳动力规划委员会还将技能短缺和现金流挑战确定为疫情后经济复苏的最大不确定性来源。我们提出了三个相互关联的研究主题，这些主题符合我们的行业合作伙伴从全球大流行带来的挑战中恢复过来的需求。1. 自动化-机器人解决方案和机械或软件自动化，以支持流程改进和提高效率。2. 数字化和人工智能（AI）——通过机器学习、可视化和分析，实现数据捕获（传感器、机器视觉等）和利用的数字化转型，以帮助改进产品和流程。应对劳动力挑战的技术——基于增强/虚拟现实（AR/VR）的培训解决方案，解决技能差距问题；自动化解决方案，解决劳动力短缺问题；辅助技术，解决因受伤而损失的时间，并支持从代表性不足的群体中招聘和留住员工

Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Adv. Learning is Waterloo region's only provider of polytechnic education with more than 300 career-focused programs, including Ontario's only fully accredited, college-based engineering degrees. To address the business challenges of our regional industry partners in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conestoga proposes to leverage our existing capacity and expertise to undertake a set of applied research projects providing innovation and technology to support the economic recovery in key sectors in our region.The greater Waterloo region (including Kitchener, Cambridge, Guelph, Brantford) is home to a large number of manufacturing companies, more than 1,850 in Waterloo alone, in such diverse sectors as automotive, aerospace, robotics, plastics and fabricated metals. Waterloo region has the 4th largest manufacturing workforce in Canada and is the #1 employer by sector, representing 57,000 jobs. The Ontario food and beverage processing sector is also the largest in Canada, with 4,000+ companies employing more than 95,000 people, and the Toronto-Waterloo-Guelph corridor is the largest food manufacturing area in the province.Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters has identified two main drivers as key to helping manufacturers recover and become more competitive as they emerge from the pandemic; 1) getting the workers that manufacturers need and 2) stimulating investment in innovation and advanced technologies. The Waterloo Wellington Dufferin Workforce Planning Board has also identified skills shortages and cash flow challenges as the greatest sources of uncertainty for post-COVID economic recovery. We propose three interrelated research themes that align with the needs of our industry partners as they recover from the challenges caused by the global pandemic. 1. Automation - Robotics solutions and mechanical or software automation to support process improvement and enhance efficiency. 2. Digitization & Artificial intelligence (AI) - Digital transformation for data capture (sensors, machine vision, etc.) and utilization via machine learning, visualization, and analytics to help improve products and processes.3. Technology for Workforce Challenges - Augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) based training solutions to address skill gaps, automation solutions to address labor shortages, and assistive technologies to address lost time due to injury and support recruitment and retention from underrepresented groups