Supporting shop floor workers with a multimedia task-oriented information system

This paper reports the work carried out as part of an industrial research project sponsored by a major telecommunication industry based in the UK. The main aim of the research was to investigate the extent to which a multimedia- based information system, developed for shop floor workers, has contributed to the increased efficiency and productivity Of manufacturing operations. To achieve this, the work has focused on the design and execution of the evaluation of the system. Due to the fact that the direct impact of the implementation of the information system developed was difficult to demonstrate, it was decided to adopt the system usage as a surrogate of the system's Success and the User acceptance of the system was evaluated using both the Technology Acceptance Model and the Task-Technology Fit model. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Evaluation of a manufacturing task support system using the Task Technology Fit Model

This paper presents an exploratory study of a Task Support System (TSS) supporting manufacturing task operations. The study investigated the degree to which a TSS, in use in a company, actually supports the task of the shop floor personnel. The approach has been to adopt the Task-Technology Fit (TTF) instrument to measure the degree of fitness between the TSS and the associated task. The analysis gives an indication of the state of the TSS and the potential improvements that can be made. The study also shows that the instrument can be used as a foundation for the development of a hypermedia TSS and a benchmarking tool for a TSS

Knowledge support in learning operative organisations

The aim of this study is to understand the requirements, critical success factors and outcomes of knowledge support, particularly in learning operative organisations. Initially, the work focused on support of individual employees performing individual work tasks, but it soon became evident that the perspective was too limited. First, it was expanded to cover smaller work units, and later the scope was extended to organisations. This study summarises many years of work, starting in the early 1990s and concluding on present day. It is based on five constructivist case studies, four of which address knowledge support of employees and teams performing light-weight end-assembly tasks, and one which addresses organisational learning and knowledge management in project organisations. The key findings include: Knowledge support system design and development requires system perspective, understanding that the system is an integral part of the work system and the work system may have to be re-engineered to accommodate the support system. User-centered design is essential for a successful knowledge support system, and this approach must include not only reader-users of the system but all the various user groups, particularly the author-users creating and maintaining the support content of the system. Improved organisational flexibility is one of the key goals and observed results of knowledge support systems. But in order to facilitate organisational flexibility, support systems need to be adaptable and tailorable in order to be able to react to rapid changes in the products, markets and the environment. Implementation is a particularly difficult stage of knowledge support system development. In several cases implementation has fully failed or it has had severe side effects. A knowledge support system can act as the technological infrastructure of a learning organisation. But in order to do this, a support system has to capture new knowledge created in the organisation in addition to distributing existing knowledge. While the results of a study consisting of case studies have limited generalisability, the results can be considered mostly valid in the domain of knowledge support of assembly work tasks. The assembly line cases studied had several similar key characteristics. But when it comes to findings concerning knowledge support in learning organisations, one should be more careful. Nevertheless, even those findings were most fascinating and indicate interesting possibilities for further research.reviewe

Tools for modelling support and construction of optimization applications

We argue the case for an open systems approach towards modelling and application support. We discuss how the 'usability' and 'skills' analysis naturally leads to a viable strategy for integrating application construction with modelling tools and optimizers. The role of the implementation environment is also seen to be critical in that it is retained as a building block within the resulting system

Organisational Policy and Shop-floor Requests in Design: Visualisation of the Argumentation behind an Information System for the Swedish Trade Union Movement

Design Rationale is an approach to the design of information systems which highlights the underlying argumentative reasoning and documentation of design decisions. The Argumentative Design (ArD) method extends Design Rationale to address organisational problem identification and the formulation of needs to be supported by the system. In this study, ArD was further modified and then applied in the early phase of the design of an information system for shop stewards in the Swedish trade union movement. The application of ArD revealed that both similarities and significant discrepancies existed between top-management information technology strategies and shop-floor needs, and that the strategies involve fundamental power-relation issues in terms of centralisation versus decentralisation and individualism versus collectivism. It is suggested that ArD can be of general benefit in early design phases by eliciting fundamental organisational issues and by illustrating what impact chosen information technology solutions may have on organisations. The study is of value for other unions wishing to learn from the Swedish experience and the modified ArD approach can also be used in other contexts where several interest groups are to be satisfied by a system

An approach to conceptualize learning enterprises in the manufacturing sector

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro TecnologicoO trabalho realizado discute a necessidade de 'Learning Enterprises' para fazer frente às crescentes globalização e customização de produtos e processos assim como a urgente necessidade de uma conscientização ambiental por parte das indústrias de manufatura. É abordada a necessidade de uma revisão da filosofia de produção e das estruturas organizacionais e gerenciais adotadas atualmente pela maioria das empresas do setor de manufatura. Trabalho também inclui um estudo de três elementos que podem ser utilizados como catalisadores para a obtenção de 'Learning Enterprises': Áreas Virtuais de Produção, representando o elemento organizacional, Sistemas Distribuídos de Planejamento Fino, Monitoração e Controle da Produção, como o elemento tecnológico e a 'Human Networking' obtida pelo Gerenciamento da Comunicação Humana, como o elemento necessário para o gerenciamento de sistemas dinâmicos centrados no homem. O resultado do estudo realizado em cada uma das áreas identificadas acima é, então, integrado segundo um procedimento sistemático originando um modelo de referência genérico para a concepção de uma 'Learning Enterprise'. A abordagem apresentada enfoca empresas de manufatura fabricantes de pequenos lotes e de produtos 'one-of-a-kind'

An artificial intelligence-based collaboration approach in industrial IoT manufacturing : key concepts, architectural extensions and potential applications

The digitization of manufacturing industry has led to leaner and more efficient production, under the Industry 4.0 concept. Nowadays, datasets collected from shop floor assets and information technology (IT) systems are used in data-driven analytics efforts to support more informed business intelligence decisions. However, these results are currently only used in isolated and dispersed parts of the production process. At the same time, full integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in all parts of manufacturing systems is currently lacking. In this context, the goal of this manuscript is to present a more holistic integration of AI by promoting collaboration. To this end, collaboration is understood as a multi-dimensional conceptual term that covers all important enablers for AI adoption in manufacturing contexts and is promoted in terms of business intelligence optimization, human-in-the-loop and secure federation across manufacturing sites. To address these challenges, the proposed architectural approach builds on three technical pillars: (1) components that extend the functionality of the existing layers in the Reference Architectural Model for Industry 4.0; (2) definition of new layers for collaboration by means of human-in-the-loop and federation; (3) security concerns with AI-powered mechanisms. In addition, system implementation aspects are discussed and potential applications in industrial environments, as well as business impacts, are presented

Towards Flexible and Cognitive Production—Addressing the Production Challenges

Globalization in the field of industry is fostering the need for cognitive production systems. To implement modern concepts that enable tools and systems for such a cognitive production system, several challenges on the shop floor level must first be resolved. This paper discusses the implementation of selected cognitive technologies on a real industrial case-study of a construction machine manufacturer. The partner company works on the concept of mass customization but utilizes manual labour for the high-variety assembly stations or lines. Sensing and guidance devices are used to provide information to the worker and also retrieve and monitor the working, with respecting data privacy policies. Next, a specified process of data contextualization, visual analytics, and causal discovery is used to extract useful information from the retrieved data via sensors. Communications and safety systems are explained further to complete the loop of implementation of cognitive entities on a manual assembly line. This deepened involvement of cognitive technologies are human-centered, rather than automated systems. The explained cognitive technologies enhance human interaction with the processes and ease the production methods. These concepts form a quintessential vision for an effective assembly line. This paper revolutionizes the existing industry 4.0 with an even-intensified human–machine interaction and moving towards cognitivity