Fanuc's University-Industry Collaboration

"The Future is Now with Fanuc" project launched in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir Fanuc, a Japan-based leading manufacturer of CNC, robotics and machinery, took an important step in university-industry collaboration to address the need for qualified personnel in the automation sector. Aware that lack of skilled workers is the most critical problem across all sectors in Turkey today, Fanuc has launched a significant Corporate Social Responsibility project.

"We believe the training and internship program we have developed will bring significant benefits to students. Some of them will hold internationally recognized certificates issued by a leading firm with validity worldwide, learn robot programming, participate in applied processes and gain hands-on experience with robots and systems, and go through a qualified internship period working alongside industry professionals. At this point, many institutions on the industry side are opening their doors to our students and offering internship opportunities. Many important brands such as Erkul Cosmetics, Ceramics, Torun Copper, Intecro are among our project partners. On the other hand, universities we have identified in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir are other organizations we work with. IEEE is one of the most important student organizations among this project's partners."

It is now clear that the lack of qualified personnel is the most critical problem across all sectors in Turkey today. Fanuc, a Japan-based leading manufacturer of CNC, robotics and machinery, has launched a significant Corporate Social Responsibility project to address the need for qualified personnel in the automation sector with this awareness. Under the motto "We are preparing today's talented youth for tomorrow's business models with future technology", the brand "The Future is Now with Fanuc" aims to provide young people with theoretical and practical training. Within the scope of the project, Fanuc has identified 14 universities and important companies in the sector as partners in 3 pilot regions for the first year, and will provide youth with a total of 48 hours of basic-level robot and CNC programming training. Following the training provided under the Fanuc Academy, students will have the opportunity to do internships at partner companies.

"Our aim is to produce competent students"

Teoman Alper Yiğit, General Manager of Fanuc Turkey, said they set out to identify the needs of the automation sector, develop the most appropriate solutions to this problem and support the country's economy. He emphasized that automation and robot use has become a necessity for Turkey, which aims to be among the world's top 10 largest economies by 2023. Yiğit, stating that within the project scope they aim to produce students competent in automation and robot use, noted that Turkey's future is directly related to increased use of automation in industry and consequently to an increase in the number of skilled personnel.  

"Manufacturing is the essence of development and strong economies"

Yiğit said that within the project scope, Fanuc focused on the most important problem in the automation sector. "At Fanuc, we manage the technology and professions of the future, and in our business processes we identified that the way to address this gap is to support university education with practical training rather than theory alone. By providing practical training to students while they are still in school, we know that young people can reach much better positions in working life. Therefore, we know that with such a contribution to employment, Turkey's economy will become stronger. Manufacturing is the essence of development and strong economies. This year we are implementing our 'The Future is Now with Fanuc' project, emphasizing quality over quantity," he said.

"We operate with the philosophy of 'quality in products, efficiency in production'"

Yiğit, stating that the essence of the project is a vocational training and internship program for university students, said: "Our aim as Fanuc is to promote automation and robot use in Turkey as a manufacturing method of the new era rising on the foundation of 'quality in products, efficiency in production'. For this, we want to enable students to gain firsthand experience in programming and operating state-of-the-art industrial robots in an internationally competitive, fast-paced technological environment." Yiğit, indicating that they will identify young people who want to develop themselves in the field of factory automation and who are interested in this sector, said: "As Fanuc, within the scope of the project, we will provide students in whom we believe have the enthusiasm a total of 40 hours of 5 full days of basic-level robot and CNC programming training. This training will be conducted through Fanuc Academy, which contains more than 30 training packages within our organization. Students receiving training from this academy will be included in the program at one of the companies in their region, in line with the department where they wish to do their internship. During this period they will also witness the company's R&D and innovation activities closely. Subsequently, the process will be shaped in line with the student's demonstrated performance and the company's needs," he said. Yiğit, saying that at the end of the project students will both gain experience and receive a certificate from an international brand, emphasized that the project will add value for both companies and students.