Development of an Expert System to Support the Decision-Making Process on the Shop Floor

Abstract

This paper discusses a new multidimensional approach to create a smart, digitally supported workplace. The approach is based on the development and use of an expert system to support the decision-making process of managers when designing smart workplaces on the shop floor. To derive the rules of the expert system, comprehensive literature research was done, resulting in the allocation of organizational, personnel, data, technology, and acceptance dimensions. These dimensions were used for the formulation of the corresponding problem–solution pairs of the decision tree. Implementation of the expert system was done in the KnowWE software tool with further validation in a research and learning factory, the Smart Production Lab at FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences, Austria, within the research project Smart Workplaces. Being implemented, the proposed approach will help industrial companies to increase the awareness and effectiveness of decision-making on the shop floor.