A sociotechnical perspective of the Operator 4.0 factory: A literature review and future directions

In this study, I illustrate the sociotechnical perspective of the Operator 4.0 factory, where advanced Industry 4.0 technologies – such as robots, the internet of things, virtual reality are deployed to collaborate with operators and help them to their activities within manufacturing organisations. There is a lack of studies exploring how Operator 4.0 factory operates through the interplay between technologies and workers. I address this gap by conducting a systematic literature review employing the sociotechnical theory. This theory sees an organisation as a work system, composed of social and technical systems and helps understand how the work system operates. Thus, I portray the novel role of Operator 4.0, the enabling technologies of the Operator 4.0 factory and the challenged to implement them, and the instrumental and workforce benefits. The results show that studies are focused on both systems meaning that operator 4.0 plays a crucial role in this factory in conjunction with Industry 4.0 technologies. Organisations adopting such production systems experience instrumental benefits related to a more efficient production process and better workforce conditions. I conclude by proposing some future research avenues