Challenges in introducing automated guided vehicles in a production facility – interactions between human, technology, and organisation

Figures & data

Table 1. Human-related aspects used in this paper related to terms in previous research.

Human-related aspects in this paper	Terms used to present human-related aspects in the literature	Daniellou (2006)	Neumann et al. (2021)	Vijayakumar et al. (2021)	Karltun et al. (2017)	Sgarbossa et al. (2020)	Kadir, Broberg, and Conceição (2019)	Longo, Nicoletti, and Padovano (2019)
Physical	Physical		x	x	x	x	x	x
	Biological	x
Cognitive	Perceptual		x	x		x
	Cognitive	x	x		x		x	x
	Mental			x		x
	Knowledge		x
Psychosocial	Psychosocial		x	x		x
	Psychological	x			x			x

Figure 1. The adapted HTO model used in this paper.

A Venn diagram is depicted with three overlapping circles. The circles are called, Human, Technology and Organisation. The intersection of the human and technology, and technology and organisation are highlighted.

Table 2. Overview of interviews and shop floor visits conducted for the paper.

Case	Interview/Shop floor visit	Duration	Employee role(s)	Description of role/content of visit
Case 1	Face-to-face interview	96 and 70 min	Reliability engineer #1/project manager #2	When the introduction of AGVs was complete, project manager #2 became involved in the daily operations of the AGVs as a reliability engineer. Responsible for the operation of the AGV system. Involved in the development of the AGVs and training new employees. Involved in project management during the introduction.
	Face to face	42 min	Logistics operator	Transports material alongside the AGVs at the shop floor.
	Face to face	52 min	Production operator #1	Operator in the production cells. Receives material from the AGVs, sometimes needs to fetch materials themself. Involved in error management of the AGVs.
	Face-to-face group interview	54 min	Production operator #2	Same as Production Operator #1.
			Project manager #1	Project manager during the introduction of the AGVs.
			Production technician	A production technician is an expert on the different machines and equipment in the production.
			Safety representative	Responsible for managing accidents should they occur.
	Digital	48 min	Reliability engineer #2	Responsible for the same work tasks as reliability engineer #1. This interview was conducted to verify the proposed actions.
	Shop floor visit and informal Q&A	≈120 min	Production operators, logistics operators, reliability engineer	Shop floor visits where informal interviews with different employees were conducted and an understanding of the AGV operations was achieved.
Case 2	Face to face	85 min	Logistics developer #1	Project manager during the introduction of the AGVs.
	Digital	74 min	Logistics developer #1 and logistics developer #2	Logistics developer #2 was also involved in the AGV introduction but did not manage the introduction project.
	Digital	58 min	Production technician	Supports the operations with technical knowledge of machines and other technical systems.
	Digital	59 min	Team leader and AGV superuser	Team leader in logistics. Has additional responsibilities regarding the AGVs.
	Digital	54 min	Logistics operator	Operator in the logistics operations, driver of forklift or tugger train.
	Digital	56 min	Logistics developer #1, logistics developer #2, and logistics developer #3	This interview was conducted to discuss the proposed actions.
	Shop floor visit and informal Q&A	≈ 300 min	Logistics operators, team leaders, AGV superusers, logistics developer #1, logistics developer #2	Shop floor visits where informal interviews with different employees were conducted and an understanding of the AGV operations was achieved.

Figure 2. Organisational structure surrounding the AGV in case 1.

An organisational chart is shown where reliability engineer is on the top position. Reporting to the reliability engineer are operators and team leaders.

Figure 3. Organisational structure surrounding the AGVs in case 2.

A hierarchical organisational chart is shown where production technicians is at the top position in the chart. Reporting to the production technicians is AGV superusers. Team leaders are reporting to the AGV superusers and on the lower level, operators report to the team leaders.

Figure 4. Challenges in the interaction between human and technology.

The same Venn diagram as in Figure 1 with three overlapping circles is shown in which the intersection between the Human and the Technology circles is in focus. Challenges in this intersection are presented in the highlighted area.

Figure 5. Challenges in the interaction between technology and organisation.

The same Venn diagram as in Figure 1 with three circles is shown in which the intersection between the Technology and the Organisation circles is in focus. Challenges in this intersection are presented in the highlighted area.

Figure 6. Challenges in the interaction between human, technology, and organisation.

The same Venn diagram as in Figure 1 with three circles is shown in which the area where all circles intersect is highlighted, i.e. the intersection of human, technology, and organisation. Challenges in this intersection are presented in the highlighted area.

Figure 7. The proposed actions are connected to the phases of a project, indicating when a certain action could be relevant to perform during the introduction of AGVs.

The figure presents the challenges from Figure 5–7 in three boxes. Below the boxes are proposed actions for managing the challenges presented along a timeline consisting of four phases: initiation, planning, implementation, and closure. The proposed actions cover one or several of the phases, indicating in which phase a certain action could be suitable to perform.

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Data availability statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are available in the article and the research database of the study. The case companies do not wish to make it freely available.