Millions invested strengthens logistics education in Brainport

Summa, dozens of companies, and educational institutions are investing over €5,1 million over the next five years in better logistics education for Brainport. Through the Smart Logistics for Brainport project, they aim to train more students and career changers for a sector struggling with severe staff shortages. The partners are jointly contributing over €3,4 million; the Ministry of Education is supplementing this with over €1,7 million from the Regional Investment Fund for secondary vocational education.

“Without logistics, everything grinds to a halt,” says Annemarie Moons, Chair of the Executive Board of Summa. “The demand for well-trained professionals is growing in Brainport. That is why we want to introduce more young people, employed professionals, and career changers to transport and logistics and train them for work the region urgently needs.”

New factories, high-tech companies, and international flows of goods are creating an increasing demand for well-trained professionals in transport and logistics. After all, behind every chip machine, production line, or high-tech factory lies a world of smart logistics that ensures everything arrives at the right place on time.

With Smart Logistics for Brainport, Summa and partners will continue to build modern and practice-oriented logistics education in the coming years. In doing so, students are increasingly learning in the field directly from the companies themselves. The focus is on smart logistics in and around large manufacturing companies. Themes such as automation, robotization, electric transport, and digital working play an important role in this.

Within the project, education, government, and the business community collaborate intensively. Dozens of companies from Southeast and Northeast Brabant participate in the network. The collaboration is also being further expanded to include the Koning Willem I College and Gilde Opleidingen. This creates a broader partnership between MBO institutions in Brabant and Limburg in the field of logistics education and labor market development.

The investment aligns with Summa's previous practice-oriented collaborations in the region. For instance, the Logistics Vocational School at DAF Trucks and the partnership with ASML were established earlier. Vocational schools and practice-oriented partnerships now also exist in Eersel and Acht, where students combine learning and working in collaboration with regional companies.