The cognitive operator 4.0

While previous Industrial Revolutions have increasingly seen the human as a cog in the system, each step reducing the cognitive content of work, Industry 4.0 contrarily views the human as a knowledge worker putting increased focus on cognitive skills and specialised craftsmanship. The opportunities that technological advancement provide are in abundance and to be able to fully take advantage of them, understanding how humans interact with increasingly complex technology is crucial. The Operator 4.0, a framework of eight plausible scenarios attempting to highlight what Industry 4.0 entails for the human worker, takes advantage of extended reality technology; having real-time access to large amounts of data and information; being physically enhanced using powered exoskeletons or through collaboration with automation; and finally real-time monitoring of operator status and health as well as the possibility to collaborate socially with other agents in the Industrial Internet of Things, Services, and People. Some of these will impose larger cognitive challenges than others and this paper presents and discusses parts of the Operator 4.0 projections that will have implications on cognitive work

Designing the Smart Operator 4.0 for Human Values: A Value Sensitive Design Approach

Emerging technologies such as cloud computing, augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence and robotics, among others, are transforming the field of manufacturing and industry as a whole in unprecedent ways. This fourth industrial revolution is consequentially changing how operators that have been crucial to industry success go about their practices in industrial environments. This short paper briefly introduces the notion of the Operator 4.0 as well as how this novel way of conceptualizing the human operator necessarily implicates human values in the technologies that constitute it. Similarly, the design methodology known as value sensitive design (VSD) is drawn upon to discuss how these Operator 4.0 technologies can be design for human values and, conversely, how a potential value-sensitive Operator 4.0 can be used to strengthen the VSD methodology in developing novel technologies

Lean manual assembly 4.0: A systematic review

In a demand context of mass customization, shifting towards the mass personalization of products, assembly operations face the trade-off between highly productive automated systems and flexible manual operators. Novel digital technologies—conceptualized as Industry 4.0—suggest the possibility of simultaneously achieving superior productivity and flexibility. This article aims to address how Industry 4.0 technologies could improve the productivity, flexibility and quality of assembly operations. A systematic literature review was carried out, including 234 peer-reviewed articles from 2010–2020. As a result, the analysis was structured addressing four sets of research questions regarding (1) assembly for mass customization; (2) Industry 4.0 and performance evaluation; (3) Lean production as a starting point for smart factories, and (4) the implications of Industry 4.0 for people in assembly operations. It was found that mass customization brings great complexity that needs to be addressed at different levels from a holistic point of view; that Industry 4.0 offers powerful tools to achieve superior productivity and flexibility in assembly; that Lean is a great starting point for implementing such changes; and that people need to be considered central to Assembly 4.0. Developing methodologies for implementing Industry 4.0 to achieve specific business goals remains an open research topic

Digital Twins as a New Paradigm of an Industrial Enterprise

The aim of this research is to investigate the core principles and possibilities of using digital twin technology for the development of Russia’s industrial sectors, taking into account the international experience. Theoretical and methodological research has been based on the scientific works of domestic and foreign scientists on the use of digital technologies in the management of economic systems, including industry. The study was based on a set of quantitative and qualitative methods, including case analysis and text mining. A semantic analysis of scientific publications and industry literature was conducted to assess the condition of the problem field and determine trends in the digital transformation of industries from the standpoint of digital twin technology. In addition, an open-source collection of over 100 case files reflecting the practice of introducing digital twins into production processes was compiled. It has been proven that digital twins provide a wide range of possibilities for production enterprises: increased productivity, efficient use of resources, energy intensity and efficiency, reduction of different kinds of costs at all stages of the product life cycle, production of new types of products, and the modification of the organization’s business model. A SWOT analysis of economic entities using digital twins was undertaken, which made it possible to identify the opportunities and threats of their introduction into the production process. The study results have refined the model of a new generation industrial economic system based on the functionality of a digital twin, including the parameters of system and predictive analytics, as well as the Internet of Things platform

From Industry 4.0 to Society 5.0: Digital manufacturing technologies and the role of workers

New enabling technologies are shaping the transformation of production activities, characterised by growing digitization and inter-connectivity. A transformed industry has a transformative impact on society as well. From Industry 4.0 to society 5.0, the path described in this thesis accentuates a clear change from mass automation to the process of enhancing the capabilities of human workers. However, the diffusion of new technologies is very uneven, and firms display different adoption behaviours. By using data provided by Istat on a large representative sample of Italian firms, the patterns and determinants of new digital technology adoption are assessed. Furthermore, it is provided econometric evidence on the positive effects of human capital and training, showing heterogeneous results between large and small and medium-size firms

Public Innovation and Digital Transformation

Public innovation and digitalization are reshaping organizations and society in various ways and within multiple fields, as innovations are essential in transforming our world and addressing global sustainability and development challenges. This book addresses the fascinating relationship of these two contemporary topics and explores the role of digital transformation in promoting public innovation. This edited collection includes examples of innovations that emerge suddenly, practices for processing innovations, and the requirements for transformation from innovation to the "new normal". Acknowledging that public innovation refers to the development and realization of new and creative ideas that challenge conventional wisdom and disrupt the established practices within a specific context, expert contributions from international scholars explore and illustrate the various activities that are happening in the world of multiple digitalization opportunities. The content covers public administration, technical and business management, human, social, and future sciences, paying attention to the interaction between public and private sectors to utilize digitalization in order to facilitate public innovation. This timely book will be of interest to researchers, academics and students in the fields of technology and innovation management, as well as knowledge management, public service management and administration.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed