Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reveal how information and communication technology (ICT) can empower shop floor workers in collaborative manufacturing environments.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors gather data from a mobile maintenance department of a steel manufacturing company and apply the method of a scenario-based design. The authors use data from interviews, observations and company documents to create problem and activity scenarios. The authors also demonstrate the development of a worker-centric digital design in multiple demonstration and evaluation cycles.
Findings
The authors find that ICT can be used to ensure that empowerment is not only a concept, but can sustainably empower daily operations.
Research limitations/implications
The authors contribute to theory by showing how structural empowerment can be used as a guiding theoretical lens to design ICT for shop floor workers in collaborative manufacturing work environments. These implications are limited to findings from a single case study.
Practical implications
The results provide an overview of different empowerment dimensions, namely, the access to information, resources, support and opportunities, that can support employees in collaborative manufacturing environments.
Originality/value
This paper is first in suggesting a framework of how ICT designs can be used to empower shop floor workers in collaborative manufacturing environments.
Die "Digitalisierung der Industrie" und Schlagworte wie "Industrie 4.0" und "Smart Factory" sind aktuell in aller Munde. Doch gleichzeitig fällt es vielen Praktikern und Forschern schwer, diese Begriffe einzuordnen, um konkrete Anwendungsfälle für Innovationsprojekte zu identifizieren. Insbesondere die (neue) Rolle des Mitarbeiters beschäftigt Unternehmen und Angestellte. Hier setzt der vorliegende Beitrag an. Es wird ein aktuell laufendes EU-Projekt vorgestellt, das sich mit der Entwicklung von Informations-und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) für Produktionsarbeiter der Zukunft auseinandersetzt. Vier aus dem Projektkontext gewählte Fallbeispiele illustrieren, wie IKT sich in Industriebetrieben einsetzen lassen, um den Menschen in den Mittelpunkt der Fabrik von morgen zu rücken. Darauf aufbauend wird gezeigt, inwiefern die Befähigung der Produktionsmitarbeiter in den vier Bereichen (1) Autonomie, (2) Kompetenz, (3) Verbundenheit und (4) Abwechslungsreichtum in der Fabrik von morgen durch neue IKT gesteigert werden kann. So ermöglicht der Beitrag einerseits die Orientierung an konkreten Anwendungsfällen und deren Reflexion sowie andererseits die Entwicklung eines ganzheitlichen Verständnisses für die sich derzeit und in den kommenden Jahren vollziehenden Veränderungen in vielen Industrieunternehmen.
Recently, the use of social software has gained enormous popularity in many organizations. However, despite its development from a trend topic to a well established technology, there is little theoretical study on how to measure the success of this kind of information system. Allowing for the unique characteristics of social software, the author assumes that existing IS success models are not applicable to social software without modifications. Therefore, this article aims to develop a model for measuring social software success, which is based on theoretic foundations and the findings of a multiple case study. Results show that existing models are not able to represent all dimensions which are relevant in this context. Especially social aspects related to the organization and the people within have to be taken into account.
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