TO COLLABORATE OR NOT TO COLLABORATE? HOW TO DETERMINE THE MOST SUITABLE LEVEL OF AUTOMATION TO INCREASE WORKFORCE SUSTAINABILITY AND PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY

With the beginning of Industry 5.0, semi-automated processes such as collaborative robots have become increasingly popular. However, currently, there is a lack of procedures to determine the level of automation required, given the inimitable human skillset. The current paper presents a human factors analysis to display the importance of tacit knowledge when introducing automation to optimise workforce sustainability and operators’ psychophysical work needs and requirements. The Andreu World use case demonstrated two manufacturing processes: sanding and painting. Tacit knowledge and task duration was captured during both processes using eye tracking technology and semi-structured interviews. The results found that tacit knowledge was required for both processes, however, were utilised in separate ways by conducting a task analysis which specified performance-based levels. The painting process relied on visual inspection and procedural knowledge, whilst the sanding process relied on tacit and procedural knowledge. Hence, indicated that various levels of automation were required for each process to maximise human skillset and capability.
The observations display the usage of tacit knowledge for everyday manufacturing tasks that provide a measure of how much automation is required within processes. Nevertheless, the paper paves a way for the factories of the future to focus on the implementation of automation with human skillset at the core of assembly lines.