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Research paper−77−Synthesiology - English edition Vol.3 No.1 pp.77-85 (Jul. 2010) is emphasized. Many researchers in the basic fields feel this is a hindrance. In this paper, we shall also discuss how the demand, “develop a technology that can be used on site,” affected the R&D scenario.2 Outline of the skills investigated2.1 Skill and tacit knowledgeThe gino or “skill” of manufacturing that will be investigated as the subject of this study is defined as “the ability to take actions and to make decisions that are useful in manufacturing, from design to production, although the exact reason why cannot be explained.” The opposing concept is the gijutsu or “technology.” Technology is defined as “something for which the rationale and the mechanism of actions taken and decisions made can be explained clearly to a third party, and the third party can reproduce the actions and decisions based on that explanation.” The jukuren gino or an “expert skill” is used in this paper to mean a skill that was learned through the long experience of working in manufacturing, and is generally highly advanced and highly useful. A worker who works for a manufacturing company and has this ability is a jukuren ginosha or an “expert skilled worker.” Therefore, the method for acquiring expert skills is the method for replacing the skill with technology. This is sometimes called “turning a skill into technology.” The method for acquiring expert skills in this research can be considered a method for turning the skill into technology.Tacit knowledge is a term related to skills. Michael Polanyi, who was the first to propose tacit knowledge, discusses tacit knowledge in terms of the knowledge associated with physical action that cannot be described verbally, such as the knowledge of riding a bicycle[1]. On the other hand, tacit knowledge[2] in the SECI model of Ikujiro Nonaka is defined as “the knowledge based on experience and insight 1 IntroductionThe objective of this paper is to discuss the results of the research on the “Skill Acquisition Method” that was the subject of R&D in the “Project to Support the Transfer of Small Core Technology,” a project of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) conducted from 2006 to 2008, for the purpose of acquiring the skills of expert skilled workers of the small manufacturing factories and to smoothly transfer those skills to the successors. Changes in the research scenario will also be discussed. The content of the research described in this paper is the result of the effort of all who participated in the NEDO project, and the author, who was the project leader, shall outline the project as a representative.In this research, the aspects of physics and engineering were considered for the expert skills in manufacturing technology, while the aspects of cognitive science and business management were eliminated as much as possible. Such a stance was not clearly defined in the initial research scenario. In the beginning, we did not consider the significance of clearly setting such a stance. However, as the research progressed, it became necessary to clarify the positioning of the skill research.Since this project was supported by the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, the purpose was to support the small companies. Therefore, the output of the project should be a skill transfer tool that could be used effectively by the small companies. Rather than being an innovative research, the development of an evaluation index which would be popularly used among the companies was important. The recent R&Ds through competitive funding have promoted the so-called outcome orientation where the contribution to the creation of a market after the completion of the project - Visualization and substitution of skills in manufacturing -Norio MatsukiDigital Manufacturing Research Center, AIST Tsukuba East, 1-2-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-8564, Japan (current affiliation: Collaboration Promotion Department, AIST Central 2,1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba 305-8567, Japan)*E-mail : Original manuscript received September 17, 2009, Revisions received December 17, 2009, Accepted December 21, 2009For the purpose of assisting skill transfer training in small and medium manufacturing industry, an acquisition method of judgment skills of experienced factory workers on shop-floors of metal processing such as forging, casting and plating is proposed. Several software applications based on the method that have been developed and evaluated in the manufacturing factories are also presented. The future vision of skills and skilled workers in the manufacturing industry is also discussed.Acquisition of skills on the shop-floorKeywords : Skill, tacit knowledge, skill acquisition, skilled worker[Translation from Synthesiology, Vol.3, No.1, p.47-55 (2010)]

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