Where do we start? Guidance for technology implementation in maintenance management for manufacturing.

Area of Science:

• Industrial Engineering
• Human Factors Engineering
• Manufacturing Systems

Background:

• Smart Manufacturing (SM) utilizes sensing, communication, and computational platforms for real-time data analysis, but implementation strategies and human factors are often overlooked.
• Current maintenance management systems lack synergy between human expertise and digital tools, leading to inefficiencies and underutilized potential.
• Integrating new technologies into manual, human-driven maintenance operations presents challenges in aligning technological capabilities with organizational needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the challenge of effectively selecting where and when to implement Smart Manufacturing technologies in manufacturing operations.
• To develop a framework that accounts for human-driven activities and integrates human intelligence with technological support in maintenance.
• To propose a hybridized systems approach that augments human problem-solving skills with advanced decision support tools.

Main Methods:

• Adopting established error mitigation frameworks from human factors experts to guide the integration of technology in maintenance.
• Developing a tiered mitigation strategy to systematically insert Smart Manufacturing technologies into human-dominated maintenance processes.
• Focusing on organizational and cultural problems to ensure effective implementation of new technologies in maintenance management.

Main Results:

• The study proposes a novel tiered mitigation strategy for integrating Smart Manufacturing technologies into maintenance.
• This strategy guides decision-makers on the optimal placement and timing for technology insertion within human-centric maintenance workflows.
• The approach aims to create synergy between human intelligence and digital tools, avoiding functional cannibalization.

Conclusions:

• A hybridized systems approach, augmenting human intelligence with technology, is crucial for effective maintenance management.
• The proposed tiered mitigation strategy provides a clear roadmap for implementing Smart Manufacturing solutions in human-dominated environments.
• Successful integration requires addressing core organizational and cultural issues to maximize the benefits of new technologies in manufacturing maintenance.