Socio-technical capability assessment to support implementation of cyber-physical production systems in line with people and organization

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019. Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS) enable the intelligent, horizontal and vertical interconnection of people, machines and objects throughout the enterprise in real-time by information and communication technologies providing a basis for increasing transparency and productivity of production processes. However, especially small and medium-sized enterprises with limited resources and personal competencies need support in planning and evaluation of CPPS. Former developments, as the CIM-era, showed that changes in production systems focusing only on technology failed. Due to the interconnection of CPPS, a holistic approach, taking likewise humans, technology and organization into account is necessary. This paper presents requirements as well as an evaluation of existing approaches. Furthermore, this paper presents the approach of a socio-technical capability assessment, enabling companies to evaluate effects of CPPS as well as deriving implementation measures. It concludes with a validation based on a use case of a worker information system