Acceptance of Technology Implementation in Industrial Intralogistics

Abstract

According to the assessment of rather pessimistic publications (Frey/Osborne 2013; Bowles 2014; Bonin et al. 2015; F.A.Z.-online 2018; PWC 2018) regarding the effects of digitization and industry 4.0 - in the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-American area also known as “the second machine age” (Brynjolffsson/McAfee 2014) or “third industrial revolution” (Rifikin 2011) - which have a decisive influence on the international and national discourses on the “fourth industrial revolution” (Forschungsunion/acatech 2013; Bauernhansl 2014, p. 5-36), a disruptive change is taking place in conjunction with numerous job losses - i.e. substitution of work. The change to the digital world of work is characterized, among other things, by polarization tendencies in the sense of “lovely and lousy jobs” (Goos/Manning 2007; also Hirsch-Kreinsen 2015, pp. 11-13) and increased control potentials through technology. These often technology-driven perspectives are contrasted by publications that tend to assume a quantitative increase in the number of jobs (BCG 2015; Vogler-Ludwig et al. 2016, p. 80) and qualitative changes in some activity elements (Ittermann et al. 2016, p. 13 -18; BMAS 2016, p. 100ff.) as well as the emergence of new occupations (IGBCE 2017, p. 22-32) as future developments in industrial and industry-related sectors. It is undisputed, however, that the digital transformation will bring opportunities with it but also risks. This results in changes in work and employment structures for different groups of employees.