GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW: ZORAN VUKOVIC, DIRECTOR OF THE ADULT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION INSTITUTION WMTA (WOOD AND METAL TECHNICAL ACADEMY)
Zoran Vukovic is the Director of the Adult Vocational Education Institution WMTA (Wood and Metal Technical Academy). Zoran is an expert in wood industry with 21 years of practical experience in developing quality, technical, technology, prototyping, HR and products in SMEs. In the past 16 years, he initiated, participated and implemented several local, regional and international projects in consulting and practical adult education in wood, metal, ICT, 3D modeling (CAD/CAM and CNC machine) and related sectors such as tourism/local development and inter-sectorial ‘’CROSS sector’’ cooperation.
Founded in 2012, the Adult Vocational Education Institution WMTA (Wood and Metal Technical Academy) from Banja Luka is an organization focused on practical education of adults in the wood, IT, metal and related sectors in the wider region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Can you tell us more about the origins of WMTA and how it was started?
The beginning of the activities and work of today’s Institution for Vocational Adult Education WMTA Banja Luka (hereinafter WMTA) dates back to 17 years ago when the Association of Forestry and Wood Processing INTERFOB Banja Luka through its activities to improve adult education in the wood and later metal industry, as well as professional internships for students and pupils, began the first “pioneering” steps in this area in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The first trainings in 2005/2006 were still dedicated to “in-house” trainings in companies for the needs of the wood processing sector (CNC operators, carpenters, furniture fitters, upholsterers, wood painters, carvings), and later metal and other related sectors from the sister organization INTERFOB Banja Luka.
WMTA will later in 2011/2012 grow into the WMTA Training Center (Wood Metal Technical Academy) as a Training Center for Adult Education, which was founded by the Association of Forestry and Wood Processing INTERFOB Banja Luka in cooperation with 10 companies and 10+ professionals from the wood processing and metal sector of Banja Luka, Laktasi, Srbac, Prnjavor and Teslić.
In 2015, WMTA was re-registered in the Institution for Adult Vocational Education WMTA Banja Luka according to the Law on Adult Education of Republika Srpska in order to improve its work and better cooperation with Institutes for Adult Education and other relevant institutions, ministries and organizations from Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since then, the WMTA has been operating throughout BiH and the region.
From its very beginning until today, WMTA Institution has developed a self-sustainable concept of networking of all stakeholders at local, regional and higher levels because we believe that the only way to quality networking and self-sustainability can be achieved through cooperation with companies, schools, universities, local and private development agencies, municipalities, other educational and development institutes and institutions and competent Ministries, NGOs and other stakeholders. Among our partners, you can find 54 companies (from Bosnia and Herzegovina), 10+ foreign partner companies, 7 SME clusters (5 Wood Clusters, 1 Metal Cluster, 1 IT Cluster), 3 Universities, 8 schools, 4 Municipalities and developing agencies, 2 private developing agencies, 3 innovative developing centers, more than 80 expert associates and 3 expert institutes. The above-mentioned organizations and institutions are our long-term partners, so we can say that we have achieved the concept of networking which is an ongoing process all the time.
WMTA currently offers training and adult education opportunities in over 20 formal and informal learning programs in the wood and metal industry, as well as other sectors as required by companies and other stakeholders. What are the different types of training courses offered by your institute?
Our work is focused on practical and verified trainings of unemployed people, students (University/High school) existing workers, social categories and future workers in wood, IT and related sectors. All programs (20+) were developed and adapted for the needs and requests for deficit staff in these sectors on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The different types of training we offer can be divided by sectors and by type of practical-professional training.
We provide both, in-person and online education (for MSMEs companies, adults, social categories/students/trainees/retraining, training/education of children and youth to hard-to-employ categories).
Practical and professional trainings for deficit occupations that we train are 1/3 (demonstration theoretical software part) and 2/3 (practical work on machines/devices/software) — all software we work on are licensed.
The most common trainings we provide are:
CNC Operator (wood/metal); CNC programmer (wood/metal); Designer and design of furniture/interior in 3D Corpus software (CAD/CAM) and other related software. Technical preparation-designer of machine parts Solidworks/Solid CAM program. Wood varnish; Upholstery; Furniture restoration, furniture carpenter, solid wood carpenter; Carpenter for panel furniture; Carpenter-Woodcutter; Joiner for building joinery; Designer in BIM 3D design-technologies; E-Academy (training for middle and senior management in companies in the wood and metal industry) to optimize production processes, logistics and business improvement; TOT-Training for trainers for future practitioners and lecturers in Institutions such as WMTA, training centers, schools, companies, etc. Welding (three processes; TIG/MIG-MAG and E-process); Development of wood products, furniture. Trainings for manufacturers of souvenirs made of wood and useful objects, Training for surface training for Epoxy resins for wood, Training for manufacturers of wooden buildings (log cabins, canopies, benches, tables-garden furniture), Trainings and services 3D printing and scanning (additive production and prototyping).
Development of new curricula and training programs according to the DACUM methodology. Development of professional literature, procedures, work instructions and standards. Trainings from EU standards and norms (EN CE, ISO, FSC COC, EN PLUS …)
Besides, we are offering technical support in product design (3D printing/Scan/prototyping) and production development and 3D modelling furniture/interiors in software CORPUS (partner of this software in BH region) for domestic companies. We are official representatives in BH for software in: 3D Corpus/SIM LAB, SketchupPro/ArCADiaBIM Software/Twinmotion/V-Ray/ Rhinoceros 3D; + partners with Maretta / FirmKontrol.
In 2021, WMTA together with EDGE organized a webinar on the optimization and digitalization of processes in the production of furniture using specialized CAD/CAM software. What were the key takeaways from this webinar — what are the biggest challenges currently facing furniture manufacturers, and how can CAD/CAM software contribute to improved productivity?
WMTA together with EDGE organized a webinar on the optimization and digitalization of processes in the production of furniture using specialized CAD/CAM software 3D Corpus in the year 2021 and it was my first very nice experience with the EDGE team and project.
The conclusions from this webinar were that there are excellent digital-software solutions (such as 3D CORPUS software that I presented), which have been tested in practice and aligned with the needs of small, medium and large companies that produce furniture, design interiors and work in wood industry. 3D CORPUS CAD/CAM offers complete solutions from basic 3D furniture/interior drawings (customer offer, 3D render/VR interior rendering view) to technical documentation for production processes (cutting lists, material lists, drilling, assembly lists, process monitoring), exports to CNC machines, use and monitoring of production via bar codes/QR codes, nesting, multi-machining. Tracking work orders and scheduling is linked to the additional Firmkontrol program. All processes of implementation of the above software solution significantly improve optimization/digitalization of any production processes, productivity and significantly increases quality and reduce errors to a minimum.
As one of the USAID EDGE grantees, together with your partners from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia you are implementing the Balkan Digital Innovation 3D HUB project that aims to improve the performance of small-scale furniture and wood enterprises in the Western Balkan. What activities do you plan to implement over the next 11 months to achieve the desired results?
As one of the USAID EDGE grantees, together with our partners from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia we are implementing the project Balkan Digital Innovation 3D HUB that aims to improve the performance of small-scale furniture and wood enterprises in the Western Balkan which are the transfer of knowledge of our many years of practical experience gathered around HUBs where companies have all the necessary technical and technological support and expertise in one place.
The proposed project has several levels of impact on the wood/furniture industry in the Western Balkan region:
In a short-term (one year in 11 months) — the impact is viewed in the creation of training capacities in the region through the formation of the two new training hubs and the improved capacity of the existing one. During the project implementation, there will be:
· 4 trainers will undergo the ToT training;
· 20 companies will go through the training on CAD/CAM;
· 6 companies (18 participants) will go through the E-Academy education and consulting;
· 4 combined B2B/Networking/Lecturing live (or online) events which will be attended by a total of at least 100 participants.
In a mid-term (two years) — the impact can be viewed in the improvement of productivity of the 6 companies from the E-Academy training, as well as 6 practical examples as case studies on how optimization of processes combined with digitalization can help the companies improve productivity.
In a long-term (five years) — the proposed grant activities will contribute to gradual improvement of productivity of the companies in the wood/furniture industry in the region through the trainings and support to the industry provided by the three Hubs with potential for replicating this in other countries in the region.
The key activities of the project are divided into 4 part-activities:
Activity no. 1: (May — July) 2022 — Procurement of computers/3D equipment and software for HUBs (1x HUB North Macedonia; 1x HUB Montenegro and 1xHUB BH);
Activity no. 2: (June — Oct) 2022 — Education (Training/TOT-Train of Trainers/Training/E-academy for companies);
Activity no. 3: (October 2022 — January 2023) — B2B meetings/Crossborder Networking/expert presentations Know-How;
Activity no. 4: (May 2022 — March 2023) — Sustainability of HUBs and activities towards companies and other networked stakeholders in the Balkan region during and after the project — self-sustainability.
Demonstrations that the project will solve or diminish the identified problem/need. The project proposal activities will affect the key market barriers and shortcomings in the region related to the market needs for digital and online technical HUB that will support and educate domestic Balkan companies online and provide training services for deficient staff, product development and 3D design and rapid development prototypes of new products. This problem of support for companies in a technical, digital and online sense has all key sectors in the Balkan region, and most of them have domestic companies from the wood, IT and other related sectors. In these sectors, which are closely related (cross-sector cooperation) in which there is a need for product development and design, scanning of complex positions and products, and then a 3D model is made in specialized software and printed on 3D printers as prototypes ready for serial and mass23 production. In this way, the wood and IT sectors can be networked with other related sectors. It is becoming more and more expensive for SMEs exporting companies to hire experts who have practical knowledge for more specific things, such as technical support and development within the company, so the EU and the World trends are increasingly outsourcing such specific jobs.
For effective implementation of the main activities, WMTA requires adequate teaching tools, including modern and up-to-date educational software. For that purpose, with the financial support of the EDGE project, WMTA managed to procure a specialized 3D CAD education software and product design tool. How can this software help improve your business’s growth, and who are the target participants interested in training for 3D CAD modelling?
3D CORPUS software is software that has been tested in practice for the last 20 years and it was growing with practical need of wood/furniture companies over the years. Since the Corpus program adapts to production and the company, as well as the designer, it is user-friendly as software and has the highest ratings of practical application and reasonable prices and capabilities compared to other similar world-famous software. Given that Software is a compact solution and aligned with the needs of small, medium and large companies that produce furniture, design interiors and work in the wood industry which is growing we see the progress of its business in the long run in this area. We also see our business improvement and our partners primarily in activities carried out through HUBs, such as: professional training, technical and technological support, production of furniture databases, 3D and BIM models, furniture scanning, production of new designer furniture, innovation, prototyping 3D models and much more.
Since 3D CORPUS CAD/CAM offers complete solutions from basic 3D furniture/interior drawings to technical documentation for production processes (cutting lists, material lists, drilling, assembly lists, process monitoring), exports to CNC machines, use and monitoring of production via bar codes/QR codes, nesting, multi-machining target participants interested in this 3D CAD/CAM software solutions are all companies, furniture designers, future and existing workers, experts who want to develop their skills, export-oriented companies, young and experienced professionals who want to improve their knowledge, Schools, Faculties, work and production processes thus being competitive in the market.
Companies are considering investments in digitalization of processes as a solution to improved efficiency and productivity. What would you recommend to the companies in the wood and furniture industry before they start with the digitalization of their operations?
Before making a decision on which solution, a digital-software solution is best for companies and their production, they should first analyze with an expert their production processes and the overall functioning of the company in order to optimize production processes, logistics and quality monitoring. Such processes can be done in a short time (up to 8 weeks) and for a significantly lower price than the classic consulting that lasts much longer through E-Academy training (WMTA develop this training with INNOTECH Germany partner in last 4 years in BH) which offers optimization of production processes + logistics for middle management and senior management, where you accurately identify and analyze narrow problems, bottom neck, downtime, manufacturing errors as the first step of digitization. The second step of digitalization is the introduction of software/equipment/processes that digitize but also significantly improve all aspects of the company’s work, its productivity and quality of work and their operations.
