Information display preferences for assembly instructions in 6 industrial settings

We detail the results of an ongoing study into the preference of workers in 6 different industrial companies for assembly instruction display types and modalities for their tasks. This study is performed as a part of a project that aims to create a theoretical framework for understanding requirements for instruction presentation in industry, and providing guidance to the creators of assembly instructions. The study, as well as the project as a whole, aims to expand on approaches from the Industry 4.0 framework, with a particular focus on the more recent Operator 4.0 approach that adds a focus on more human-centric aspects of digitalisation in industry. The study being presented is comprised of facility visits to each partner company where the current state of practice was presented by each company, an examination of information presentation and operating procedures by the authors, and in-depth interviews with assembly workers at each site. All companies examined deal with variants in production, and the complexity of assembly spans from low to extremely high. The companies involved mostly rely on experienced workers, with high training, and relatively long times to train new personnel. The interviews led to findings such as simplified images being strongly preferred for both beginners and experienced workers, with an emphasis on the image matching the worker’s viewpoint to the product, and experienced workers preferring simplified images with highlighted markings for details that can be seen from where the task is performed, and more. The findings will be used in further work to create a theoretical framework around digital work instructions, as well as used directly to help partner companies better standardise their instructions to support the cognitive abilities and limitations of their assembly workers. The goal with this is to create safe, comfortable and profitable workplaces that fulfil goals of social sustainability in the long term.