An analytical framework for assessing cognitive capacity and processing speed of operators in industry 4.0

Abstract The fourth industrial revolution introduced a new paradigm in manufacturing systems. The digital network is at the basis of the smart manufacturing and the physical context is strictly related to the artificial intelligence. This new manufacturing context drastically changed the role of the operator since the increasing adoption of innovative devices in manufacturing process modified the work activities and the operator is employed in more cognitive than physical tasks. Therefore, the purpose of this paper consists in developing an analytical framework to assess the human cognitive capacity occupancy and the human processing time of correct information known as the quality performance. The analytical framework presented allows to assess the human mental workload imposed by the task and how the processing speed of correct information changes when quality performance varies