The main idea behind connected workers as a technology is providing you as a manufacturer real-time visibility into all your processes by digitizing and augmenting operator workflow.
Digitizing the workflow helps in improving the effectiveness of your workforce and how is this achieved?
It is achieved by linking all your workers with access to information to make better decisions. In any industry, especially industry 4.0, frontline workers need timely access to information to effectively do their jobs. This timely access to information is what a connected worker solution provides.
Choosing a Solution
These solutions are all digital software tools that are combined with mobile and wearable devices to improve communication, collaboration, guidance and support in complex industrial scenarios like manufacturing.
Now you are faced with the conundrum of choosing the perfect solution for your company. Ask yourself these questions to help you make your decision:
Who Are You Connecting?
The whole idea is connecting workers ergo the term connecter worker so who exactly do you need to connect? The answer to this question will help you pick which path suits your needs best.
You could connect field workers in remote sites or operators on high-mix assemblies. Beyond answering this question, you need to figure out exactly what you need from the solution. Do you only want to connect them or augment some management features as well?
Basically, identifying who you are connecting will establish a foundation of exactly what you need from a solution so it’s easier to pick a solution in the review process.
What Are They Doing?
In this step, consider what your workers are doing and how connectivity will help them do their jobs considerably better.
What Systems Do Workers Interact With?
Answering this question will help you see which workers are part of which connected system and how they are part of it. Consider just how connected to the system the workers need to be.
Answer some secondary questions like which software will they interact with, what IoT devices are involved and which machines are involved.
Another important question you shouldn’t overlook in this step is what will the solution add to these systems that doesn’t already exist? You may need to incorporate some asset management solutions in this step to monitor information on all systems.
How Do the Connected Workers Actions Affect the Work That Gets Done?
This question all boils down to worker contributions in the manufacturing process. In a way it doubles up on the first question. These solutions act as asset management solutions in the monitoring of the result of human/worker action in the manufacturing lines.
To optimize this step, identify those contributions from your personnel that technology cannot do and pick a solution that optimizes human performance with regard to said contributions.
Proneness to Error
They say man is to error and as true as that is, it’s not always a result of human poor performance. Sometimes, poor system design contributes to human error.
That said, ask yourself exactly where in the production line the workers are making errors and what kind of errors they are. While at it, identify the root cause of these errors as well.
What Data Will Make a Difference for You?
The main reason for connected worker technologies goes way beyond just making humans more efficient. The part of data collection about human action is often overlooked.
You want the solution you settle on to have a difference in your operations – a significant difference at that. Consider 4 things:
What do you want to know? What do you already know? What data is difficult to collect with the current technology? And how much paper are you using?
You know what they say about information being power and well, data is just information. These solutions are crucial tools for collecting data that matters.
