Human Interventions in the Smart Factory – A Case Study on Co-Designing Mobile and Wearable Monitoring Systems with Manufacturing Staff
Matthias Baldauf, Sebastian Müller, Arne Seeliger, Tobias Küng, Andreas Michel, Werner Züllig
Abstract
So-called smart factories with networked physical machinery and highly automated manufacturing processes offer huge potential for efficiency and productivity increases. While respective user-centered research has been investigating assistance solutions for concrete maintenance or assembly tasks, this paper explores worker-oriented mobile and wearable systems for monitoring such complex and demanding manufacturing environments and for preparing for potential interventions. In four co-design workshops and focus groups, we investigated a manufacturing staff’s requirements for such monitoring systems and designed and evaluated low- and high-fidelity prototypes. Based on these insights, we derive a set of general design recommendations for mobile and wearable monitoring systems for smart factories.