Enabling Collaborative Situations in 4.0 Industry: Multiple Case Study

Abstract

The clinic of use [1] carries the idea that technology is the operator’s partner in his activity. However, it is not uncommon, within 4.0 industry, to observe technologies that don’t allow operators to develop their skills and capacities for action. It happens that some technologies are “technopush” implemented, which may explain the disappointing results of some projects with high technological goals. Our works objective is therefore to define criteria for an Human-Technology enabling collaborative situation (ECS), in order to guide conception projects at an early stage. The study of scientific literature leads us to define the ECS according to 3 criteria. These characteristics are considered essential from the point of view of the operator’s activity deployment: learn a new and more efficient way of doing things, increase the available possibilities and ways of doing things, and adjust the Human-Machine couple attributes according to the evolution of situations over time. We present here the results of a multiple case study of innovation projects. This case study is designed to confront the criteria of the ECS with the actors feelings (success or failure). These initial results suggest that the ECS would be an interesting way to understand the contrasted reality of projects, beyond the general positive feelings received in both cases. We hope that the ECS criteria will allows to guide more precisely and in a more demanding way the industrialists in their technological implementation projects.