Worker-Centric Workplaces in Smart Factories (FACTS4WORKERS)

The objective of the Horizon 2020 project FACTS4WORKERS is to create attractive and intelligent work places in a factory of the future. Increasing digitization and specialization of many work areas renders many traditional job profiles obsolete, while simultaneously generating exciting opportunities for new, more modern ones. A key question is hence, how practices on the shop floor can be supported through human-centred information and communication solutions.

The objective of FACTS4WORKERS’ first working package, which is led by UZH, is to explore workers’ and organisations’ needs and requirements for information- and knowledge-based support. The UZH project team is studying on-site at six industry partners and will find answers to the following research questions:

• How do individuals work and learn? (analysing their working practices)
• Which potentials can new technologies leverage to increase the worker’s satisfaction? (elaborating requirements)

The results of this research project are supposed to initiate a new industrial era, which is characterized by the so-called “Smart Factory”. The “Smart Workers” - in its centre - will be supported by information and communication technology around them in order to improve the manufacturing process regarding flexibility, efficiency, and reliability. This results in a local benefit in competition, and European production locations can be secured in the long term.

Contact

• Dr. Alexander Richter