Customized training programs are replacing one-size-fits-all sessions. Intel, for example, creates specialized educational content—particularly about artificial intelligence—and distributes it to schools and colleges.

Intel’s Petrick calls this “snackable content”—certificate programs and constantly evolving one-off courses provided through public/private partnerships that target an organization’s specific needs. Many don’t require pursuit of a formal degree, and the emphasis is often retraining and upgrading workers’ existing skills for smart-factory technologies.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Labor Department awarded Arizona State University an $8 million grant to create a workforce development partnership for advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, and information technology. Over the next four years, the program plans to train and place at least 2,000 participants with industry-recognized credentials in additive manufacturing, robotics and automation, and new battery technologies.

The technologies that power smart factories are rapidly changing, so companies need to adopt a culture of continual development of new skills, worker-training experts say. In large part, that means tapping into the critical-thinking skills of workers, says Mike Yost, creator of Project IGBYS, which matches volunteer experts with business owners seeking to move into smart manufacturing.

Yost’s organization’s website cites a quotation from philosopher Eric Hoffer: “In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves beautifully equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”