Human-Centered Optimization of Assembly Systems with the Help of Design Thinking

Learning factories often focus on manual assembly systems to teach elementary production and lean principles. The implementation of Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 is also creating new technological opportunities to optimise industrial workplaces. These optimisations generally aim to avoid errors and improve quality or minimise manufacturing costs. In the course of this growing technification of manual workplaces, the needs of workers are often insufficiently considered. This is a problem because these new technologies also have their downsides. Examples of this can be the usual work process changes, employees feel monitored, etc. Classical approaches to production optimisation only take these factors into account to a limited extent. With Design Thinking, a methodology is currently establishing in companies that shows promising results for the user-centred solution of complex problems. The question is whether and how Design Thinking can be used in the context of assembly optimisation to improve user-centricity in this typically technical process. For this purpose, the classic Design Thinking approach is adapted to assembly optimisation and tested in the context of manual assembly in a learning factory. The article concludes with a critical reflection of the findings.