Abstract
Since the 1970s, the application of microprocessor in industrial machinery and the development of computer systems have transformed the manufacturing landscape. The rapid integration and automation of production systems have outpaced the development of suitable human design criteria, creating a deepening gap between humans and systems in which human was seen as an important source of errors and disruptions. Today, the situation seems different: the scientific and public debate about the concept of Industry 4.0 has raised awareness about the central role humans have to play in manufacturing systems, the design of which must be considered from the very beginning. The future of industrial systems, as represented by Industry 4.0, will rely on the convergence of several research fields such as Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS), Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), Internet of Things (IoT), but also socio-technical fields such as social approaches within technical systems. This article deals with different human social dimensions associated with CPS and IoT and focuses on their conceptual evolution regarding automated production systems’ sociability, notably by bringing humans back in the loop. Hereby, this paper aims to take stock of current research trends to show the importance of integrating human operators as a part of a socio-technical system based autonomous and intelligent products or resources. Consequently, different models of sociability as a way to integrate humans in the broad sense and/or the develop future automated production systems have been identified from the literature and analysed.
Highlights
IntroductionThe technical innovations related to the vision of Industry 4.0 implies the wide-spread adoption of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), the integration of products, smart factories, and the introduction of value chains into global business networks [2,3,4,5,6]
Automation has significantly increased in most production sectors, and the question remains whether there remains space for human autonomy and creativity at a working level
Does automation increase the dependency of the workers within these new systems? What are the qualitative changes of work on a shop floor level in regard to speed, expectations, demands and complexity of work? How are workers integrated into the configuration of these working arrangements? Why is the ongoing process of automation still implicitly a part of development?
Summary
The technical innovations related to the vision of Industry 4.0 implies the wide-spread adoption of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), the integration of products, smart factories, and the introduction of value chains into global business networks [2,3,4,5,6]. Such technical integration correlates with a vision of increased control of highly complex and globalised production processes, motivated by the expectation for a (partial) reshoring of production capacities. All these technologies are grounded on paradigms such as CPS or Internet of Things (IoT), where the continuous automation of processes plays a huge role [2]
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