The challenge of becoming a worker 4.0 - A human-centered maturity model for industry 4.0 adoption Academic Article in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • © 2021 IISE Annual Conference and Expo 2021. All rights reserved.Nowadays, enterprises show interest in embracing Industry 4.0 (I4.0) to reach higher productivity. Its implementation represents a notorious transformation due to advanced technologies' adoption, the interaction with ¿smart¿ devices, among other issues. For instance, employees are being challenged through the performance of digital tasks. Therefore, in current industrial scenarios, workers require developing a new I4.0 profile, which demands new skills and competencies. This characterization has been named ¿worker 4.0¿, a ¿smart¿ person capable of adapting to changes, working in multidisciplinary teams, and making decisions in real-time, supported by I4.0 technologies. Worker 4.0 is a key element in enterprises' transformation towards I4.0 implementation. However, defining the requested skills and competencies is not a trivial journey. Research works for adopting I4.0 report models that include a dimension for workers; nevertheless, they identify the set of skills desired in people, but a categorization of them and a strategic roadmap for their development are missing. The objective of this work is to propose a Maturity Model (MM) for I4.0 adoption based on a set of skills classified into competencies from a worker's point of view and to offer a roadmap for employees' development. The proposed model was integrated through a literature review analysis and a comparison with other I4.0 models. This MM helps managers to define a roadmap for embracing I4.0 while promoting their workforce success. Future work on the benefits obtained by particular job positions adopting technologies could be defined to propose a specific set of skills and competencies for each job.

publication date

  • January 1, 2021