Cobots

The introduction of new technologies poses a major challenge, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). At the same time, SMEs must rise to this challenge in order to keep pace technologically and economically. Employee acceptance is an important factor in ensuring that both the introduction and the long-term use of a technology are successful. At the same time, the introduction process also has a central influence on acceptance in the long term. This article uses the implementation of collaborative robotics as an example for examining such an introduction process, identifying the key factors that influence employee acceptance and the important role played by advanced employee training. It serves to highlight how the introduction process and employee training are seamlessly interlinked.

Any networked information system that is used in the context of manufacturing and logistics in a factory can be referred to as factory software. This article describes six trends that will significantly influence the way software is used in factories in the near future. The trends are described in ascending order in terms of significance of impact.

Collaborative robots (so-called cobots) that enable secure hand-in-hand collaboration with construction workers without physical separation are regarded as a promising future technology for manufacturing companies. In practice, there are some cases in which people interact with cobots, but very few in which collaboration in a narrower sense takes place. What are the reasons for this lack of collaborative applications? What role does the cobots’ ability to enable collaboration play in practice? The study is based on qualitative evidence gathered in four German small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).