Abstract
With the vision of Industry 4.0 and cobots, working conditions in industrial settings are starting to change. We review related literature from the fields of human-robot interaction, work and organizational psychology, and sociology of work, as well as an exemplary project case study, and identify research gaps regarding the implications of cobots for work environments. We argue that we are in a transition phase from automation to actual collaboration with robots in manufacturing, and that this will open up a new problem space for investigations, in which a practice lens will be crucial. Based on this, we propose a research agenda for social practice and workplace studies to explore the sociotechnical environment of Industry 4.0 involving cobots at the individual, team, and organizational levels.
Highlights
T HE promise of Industry 4.0 is to enable the factory of the future, including new types of intelligent information systems and automation as well as more flexible collaborative robots called “cobots.” As industry specialists have stated, full automation—that is, removing the human from manufacturing—is not considered viable [1]
Research in human–computer interaction and human–robot interaction (HRI) with regard to Industry 4.0, automation, and cobots has focused on operators’ experiences of working with these systems. When it comes to cobots, studies have predominantly focused on dyadic human–robot collaboration (HRC) scenarios in attempts to identify and support the appropriate levels of collaboration and automation [1]
Current studies report moderate job losses due to these structural changes in the labor market and work organization. We argue that these studies only show first indications of an increasing polarization of needed skills in specific sectors and the labor market in general, and that we need broader stakeholder involvement when studying the actual impact of cobots on the future of work in Industry 4.0
Summary
T HE promise of Industry 4.0 is to enable the factory of the future, including new types of intelligent information systems and automation as well as more flexible collaborative robots called “cobots.” As industry specialists have stated, full automation—that is, removing the human from manufacturing—is not considered viable [1]. Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) was the first research community in applied computer science to stress the importance of having an in-depth understanding of social practices when designing technology [4], [5]. This can be considered “the key achievement of the research field” [6]. In the healthcare sector, such studies have revealed the contextual nature of clinical knowledge and the challenges involved in digitizing it [11] It is these types of insights we are lacking for Industry 4.0 as it pertains to cobots in order to challenge preexisting narratives and enable actual robot-supported work. Practice studies can offer an understanding beyond typical dyadic HRC studies of how robot-supported collaborative work affects the sociotechnical environment of Industry 4.0
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
