Should firms use digital work instructions?—Individual learning in an agile manufacturing setting

Abstract

New technological innovations in robotics, automation, and digitization enable agile manufacturing, smaller lot sizes, and quicker changes to the product and the production process. In such environments, learning is important, since workers must learn new tasks and adapt to frequent changes quickly. In an experimental study, we compare digital work instructions with traditional paper-based ones, the latter still being common in today's quality management systems. Our analysis is based on subjects working in the demonstration factory of a large German university in a realistic work environment; it, therefore, guarantees high internal and external validity. We show that digitally animated, interactive work instructions are an effective way to foster faster learning and enhanced performance when new manufacturing tasks are being carried out. Our results indicate that a combination of digital and traditional paper-based instructions does not yield any advantages over a sole reliance on digital learning.