Open AccessBoundary Crossings: Collaborative Robots and Human Workers
Author(s) -
PIETRYKOWSKI BRUCE,
FOLSTER MICHAEL
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
ethnographic praxis in industry conference proceedings
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1559-8918
pISSN - 1559-890X
DOI - 10.1111/1559-8918.2019.01290
Subject(s) - agency (philosophy) , automation , business , operations management , engineering , robot , task (project management) , production (economics) , quality (philosophy) , process (computing) , knowledge management , industrial organization , computer science , management , economics , artificial intelligence , sociology , mechanical engineering , microeconomics , social science , philosophy , epistemology , operating system
Agency and automation is explored through three case studies of the use of Cobots – collaborative robots – in three different auto production firms. The business challenges faced by these firms include labor shortages, quality control and reduction of waste. The Cobot solution resulted in different effects on agency through (1) agency task displacement, (2) agency enhancement and (3) agency expansion. In addition, the individual characteristics of the workplace structure also mediated the effects of Cobots on agency. In the first case (Uno Motors) Fordist technology and the presence of a union ensured that Cobots were deployed instrumentally. The second case (Duo Global Technologies) was one in which Cobots were flexibly deployed to meet changing production demands. The third case (Trio) went furthest in integrating Cobots into the production process as co‐workers requiring new workplace relationships together with the potential to recognize new forms of agency.