Abstract
The manufacturing industry is among the top wealth generating sectors of the global economy and accounted for 15.3% and 10%, respectively, of the total European and American workforce in 2018 [1], [2]. Despite its crucial role, manufacturing is facing a critical challenge based on a reduction of skilled labor availability. This trend is impos- ing a bottleneck on growth due to the demands of an increasingly competitive market. The aging workforce is not helping this shortfall either, as the available workforce is less able to perform burdensome industrial tasks in an efficient and productive manner.