Fabian Lindner, research assistant at the Faculty of Business Administration and Industrial Engineering at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, recently presented initial approaches to human-centered design of modern production systems at the IEEE Network Operations and Management Symposium (NOMS) Workshop on Management for Industry 5.0 (MFI5.0) in Miami, Florida, as part of the Factory4Future project.

In his concluding presentation, Fabian Lindner emphasized the importance of humans in modern production environments, despite or perhaps because of new technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), collaborative robots, big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). He explained how these technologies can provide targeted support at work by adapting to employees and taking into account individual characteristics such as prior knowledge, skills, preferences and states while performing work. As a result, both ergonomic (mental and physical) and process-related improvements in terms of time and quality can be achieved.

Some applications of these technologies include individualized VR training to train employees without negatively impacting ongoing production and the use of wearables such as smartwatches that can detect potential fatigue and injury risks and prevent corresponding activities.

In the workshop, Fabian Lindner led a discussion with the participating researchers from the field of production informatics. They discussed issues relating to the human-centered design of digital twins, their successful introduction and use by employees and the necessary ethical and legal framework conditions. One concern was, for example, the meaningful individualization with the help of these technologies without endangering the privacy of employees.

The exchange between experts in the information technology design of modern production systems and their application to improve human-centered processes proved to be extremely valuable. Both sides were able to learn from each other and promising synergies for future cooperation were identified. The Factory4Future project is dedicated to an internationally topical research subject that can offer promising solutions, particularly for small and medium-sized regional companies facing major demographic challenges.