Augmented Workforce: A Case Study on integrating Operator Assistance Systems for Repair Jobs into Human-centric Production

While technology is an important catalyst in manufacturing, people are expected to remain integral contributors on future shop floors. For example, it is not always effective to assign tasks such as error diagnosis and repair to autonomous systems. Even more, where total automation is not the preferred option, augmentation technology and Operator Assistance Systems (OAS) provide opportunities to realize the best combinations of people and technological capabilities. However, there is a limited understanding of how to systematically integrate OAS into production systems from a human-centric, value-driven perspective. This is crucial in so far as the successful adoption of OAS often depends on the way it was co-developed and deployed. This paper explores how to integrate OAS into a complex repair process that involves up to 162 diagnosis items. This is realised by applying the Augmented Workforce Canvas – a framework for guiding human-technology integration – as part of a case study in the repair center for display panels of an electronics manufacturer. A result of the study is that OAS can decrease technicians’ perceived stress level during the error diagnosis.