No abstract

Rapid advancements in an array of digital technologies and applications promote the transformation of industrial production into cyber-physical systems (CPS). This process is projected to lead to a completely new level of process automation, thereby redefining the role of humans and altering current work designs in yet unknown ways. However, existing literature is rather ambiguous and not explicit on how the transformation towards CPS affects work design. In this study, we therefore consider this transformation at a much more detailed level. Our main contribution is the development of a framework to assess work design changes in the transformation towards CPS, and the consideration of the role of management choice therein. The framework relates (future) capabilities of CPS on the machine, production line, factory and supply chain scope to functions of human information processing. We then evaluate how the potential automation or augmentation of those functions by CPS affects job characteristics. Automation in this context is defined as the transfer of control and decisionmaking from humans to CPS, while augmentation means that technology is used to enhance human productivity or capability. We expect that the transformation towards CPS and the resulting automation and augmentation of tasks will shift the majority of human work to jobs characterized by high levels of job complexity, job autonomy and skill variety. This effect will become more severe when tasks are increasingly automated in the transformation towards CPS. During this development, human skills and knowledge will presumably remain critical in near future industrial production. Nevertheless, the ultimate implications for work design are strongly dependent on management choice. Strategic decisions are required on (1) which functions to automate across different scopes of operations and (2) how to group the resulting pool of tasks into jobs. This may result in various work designs. However, this choice is to a certain degree limited, and the role of technology is to restrict, rather than determine management choice.what exactly leads to variations in these work designs (Parker, Morgeson, & Johns, 2017). One source of variation stems from the implementation of innovative digital technologies in industrial production, linked to the concept of Industry 4.0 (Hirsch-Kreinsen, 2016;Hirsch-Kreinsen & Ten Hompel, 2015). Industry 4.0 is an umbrella term comprising an array of different high-tech technologies and is characterized by Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) in the context of industrial production (Colombo, Karnouskos, Kaynak, Shi, & Yin, 2017;Hermann, Pentek, & Otto, 2016).In essence, CPS are systems of interconnected physical and computational objects, resulting in a close coupling of the cyber and physical contexts (Lee, Bagheri, & Kao, 2015). In industrial production, this means that physical objects, such as machines or products, are integrated with computational components. As a consequence, CPS are

Purpose – Many transportation companies struggle to effectively utilize the information provided by tracking technology for performing operational control. The research as presented in this paper aims to identify the problems underlying the inability to utilize tracking technology within this context. Moreover, this paper aims to contribute to solving these problems by proposing a set of design principles based on the concept of intelligent products. Design/methodology/approach – The study as described in this paper adopts a design science research methodology consisting of three phases. First, a case study in a transportation company has been performed to identify the problems faced when utilizing tracking technology. Second, to overcome these problems, a set of design principles has been formulated. Finally, a prototype system based on the design principles has been developed and subjected to experimental and observational evaluation. Findings – This paper identifies the problems associated with the utilization of tracking technology for the control of transport operations. Moreover, the proposed design principles support the development of information systems which overcome the identified problems and thereby enhance the utilization of tracking technology in a transportation context. Originality/value – The commonly held perception that tracking technology will improve the ability to perform operational control does not unequivocally stand up to empirical scrutiny. While it is widely demonstrated that tracking technology is able to accurately capture the detailed operational information, it remains a fundamental challenge to transform this abundance of information into accurate and timely control decisions. This research provides a valuable contribution with respect to tackling this challenge, by identifying problems and providing solutions related to the utilization of readily available tracking technology.

No abstract

No abstract