Human-Centred Dissemination of Data, Information and Knowledge in Industry 4.0

The manufacturing industry faces immense challenges for maintaining and increasing their productivity and flexibility. In this context, it is important for companies to ensure that their employees have the relevant data, information and knowledge necessary to make well-informed decisions. Due to recent development with Industry 4.0 enabling technologies that create new possibilities, the amount of available data, information and knowledge increase rapidly, but the insights into how to utilize it to its full potential are still lacking. In this paper, a human-centred perspective has been applied, aiming at improving how to cognitively support humans at work with new Industry 4.0 enabling technologies. Heavy emphasis is placed on people’s requirements and preferences of data, information and knowledge for enhancing their performance and satisfaction at work. This paper examines the relationship between existing literature on dissemination of data, information and knowledge within the manufacturing industry with state-of-the-art research on Industry 4.0. The outcome of the research recognizes the increased importance of utilizing data, information and knowledge for people at work, facilitated by exploiting the new possibilities from Industry 4.0. To accomplish this, it is concluded that there exists an urgency to design: both a holistic framework for identifying and accommodating individuals’ needs and expectations of relevant data, information and knowledge; and demonstrators and concepts to simplify the implementation of Industry 4.0 enabling technologies that support the aforementioned dissemination of data, information and knowledge.