Knowledge Sharing on the Shopfloor

Technological progress has made significant advances in manufacturing companies during the fourth industrial revolution. Production machines and their operation are leading to a sharp increase in the demands placed on personnel. Set-up processes on machines and systems are generally characterized by a high level of manual effort and complexity, which means that they are knowledge-intensive activities. Therefore, there is a strong need for research into knowledge- and expertise-sharing practices and their accompanying technical assistance, which has a long tradition in the academic field of computer-supported cooperative work. This book addresses these discussions by exploring manual set-up processes, seeking to provide insight into how cyber-physically embedded augmented reality (AR) technologies should be designed to support knowledge and expertise sharing processes. Based on design case studies in manufacturing companies, the main design implications are first derived from a practice-oriented perspective and then translated into implementations of AR technologies.
 
About the Author
 
Sven Hoffmann completed his PhD at the FernUniversität in Hagen and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Information Systems and New Media at the University of Siegen. His research focuses on supporting skilled workers and circular processes in industrial contexts using digital technologies.