Towards sustaining human-centered part manufacturing under workforce restrictions

Abstract

Part manufacturing is a key element of industrial production, in which a variety of manufacturing processes can be performed without manual human activities due to automation. However, human tasks (e.g., machine setup and monitoring) are still required to ensure continuous operation and part quality. Thus, part manufacturing is susceptible to reduced workforce situations (e.g. pandemics). Several technologies potentially enable new modes of collaboration based on interactive systems (remote assistance, remote maintenance, collaborative robots, and teleoperation) where an on-site worker and/or collaborative robot collaborates with a qualified remote worker. Due to the high complexity of the collaborations, a high usability needs to be the predominant goal during design. The Human-Centered Design (HCD) approach, which has not previously been adapted for this purpose, provides a suitable foundation to overcome existing limitations. Therefore, research needs to investigate how HCD can be adapted to design and realize collaboration systems that enable telework in part manufacturing and similar complex industrial environments to handle workforce reductions due to pandemics or staff shortages.