Human factors and ergonomics in manufacturing in the industry 4.0 context – A scoping review

Arto Reiman,Jari Kaivo-Oja,Elina Parviainen,Esa-Pekka Takala,Theresa Lauraeus

doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101572

Abstract

Industry 4.0 revolution has brought rapid technological growth and development in manufacturing industries. Technological development enables efficient manufacturing processes and brings changes in human work, which may cause new threats to employee well-being and challenge their existing skills and knowledge. Human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) is a scientific discipline to optimize simultaneously overall system performance and human well-being in different work contexts. The aim of this scoping review is to describe the state-of-the-art of the HF/E research related to the industry 4.0 context in manufacturing. A systematic search found 336 research articles, of which 37 were analysed utilizing a human-centric work system framework presented in the HF/E literature. Challenges related to technological development were analysed in micro- and macroergonomics work system frameworks. Based on the review we frame characteristics of an organisation level maturity model to optimize overall sociotechnical work system performance in the context of rapid technological development in manufacturing industries.

Highlights

Industry 4.0 revolution is associated with various technological megatrends, such as digitalization, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, additive manufacturing, cyber-physical systems, cloud computing, and rapid increases in automation and robotics in the manufacturing processes [1,2]
By our work system categorisation, we provide a basis for under standing the challenges that manufacturing companies are facing or are expected to face due to the Industry 4.0 revolution and rapid technology development
We sum up the current knowledge on the challenges that are met in manufacturing processes on the 1) human, 2) technology, 3) work task, 4) work environment, and 5) organisational levels in the Industry 4.0 context

Summary

Introduction

Industry 4.0 revolution is associated with various technological megatrends, such as digitalization, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, additive manufacturing, cyber-physical systems, cloud computing, and rapid increases in automation and robotics in the manufacturing processes [1,2]. Technological development puts challenges for the companies and to the workforce inside the companies [6]. A need to better understand the complexity of such sociotechnical systems combining organisational, technological and human perspec tives is evident [7]. Obligations to safe human work have increased alongside the development in production technologies during the last century [8]. In profit-driven circumstances, such as in manufacturing, conflicts between human safety and production are still common [9]. Operators in production and manufacturing settings often have to cope with the system as it is con structed and not as it may have been envisioned [10]. A lack of or inadequate communication may exist between the system development and system operation, which may hamper safety in practice [10]

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion