Abstract
Although automation of physical work is continuously accelerated by advances in information technology, many complex tasks, such as in manufacturing, assembly or maintenance still require human work. In this context, Smart Physical and Manual Task Assistance Systems (SPMTAs) support workers by adapting to their current situation or task. Since the importance of physical work is still evident in a digitized economy, there is a need for properly designed SPMTAs in order to increase job satisfaction and performance of workers by taking off physical and cognitive strain. However, scientific literature on how to design SPMTAs is sparse. Combining sociotechnical systems and work design theory, we derived propositions and conducted interviews with workers of a German car component manufacturer as part of a design science project. The company uses three SPMTAs for assembly, final inspection, and tool management. As a result, we elicited 18 design requirements for SPMTAs to increase job satisfaction and performance. In this research-in-progress paper, we present our preliminary results and discuss next steps.
Recommended Citation
Knote, Robin, (2019). "TOWARDS SMART ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS FOR PHYSICAL AND MANUAL TASKS". In Proceedings of the 27th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), Stockholm & Uppsala, Sweden, June 8-14, 2019. ISBN 978-1-7336325-0-8 Research-in-Progress Papers.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2019_rip/79