Socio-technical risk management for the introduction of Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 opens up promising opportunities for companies in Germany: from the improved management of their own value chains, to the networking of products and services, to the development of new digital business models. Nevertheless, many manufacturing companies are still reluctant to make the necessary investments. It is often not the technical challenges that make companies hesitate, but the risks that are difficult to assess in terms of economic efficiency, organization and people. Even if new technologies are implemented smoothly, their economic success also depends on whether, for example, affected processes are adapted, employee skills are expanded and staff acceptance is gained.

The aim of the SORISMA research project is to develop practical measures and methods to help small and medium-sized enterprises identify risks at an early stage and introduce Industry 4.0 solutions in a risk-optimized manner. This involves not only looking at technological developments, but also understanding Industry 4.0 as a socio-technical system with the three dimensions of technology, organization and people.

Which technologies can companies use to save resources? What influence do innovative forms of organization and new information and communication technologies have on production work? How can age- and needs-based work organization be supported? These and other questions are being researched in the project in order to develop socio-technical risk strategies for companies. The applicability of the project results in practice is ensured by the participating industrial partners Beulco, MIT - Moderne Industrietechnik, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG and Westaflex. They are testing the developed solutions in pilot projects.