Production takes place in globally distributed production networks. They are understood as complex, networked systems that must adapt to constantly changing structures. In times of the VUCA world, these networks are facing increasing complexity and dynamics as well as an increasing number of variants. In order to survive in such a volatile environment, companies must be able to adapt their production network as well as their individual locations to the changing conditions. Digitization and Industry 4.0 come into the fore in this context. Their advance offers opportunities in particular for communication and collaboration in the production network. The technological enabler of collaboration is the availability of data from production processes and a common collaboration platform for the exchange of processed data. Therefore, the goal of this work is a competence development approach set in a learning factory, which makes the topics of network planning and collaboration tangible. Specifically, it shall train employees and managers to promote collaboration solutions in the production network. The idea of the learning factory concept is to let participants gain hands-on experience on the step-by-step planning and on the change process of a production network, starting with a single location that supplies all markets worldwide, and ending with a global production network that is interconnected through digitalization. Within this process, the participants learn how to evaluate make-or-buy decisions, how to adapt the network configuration to new circumstances, and how collaboration helps to manage the increasing complexity.