September 8, 2023 | Author: Christin Senftleben | Reading time: approx. 6 minutes
New work = new production?
Basically, New Work means that people and their needs should be placed at the center of work organization and design. However, the discussion about the trend usually relates to knowledge-intensive areas of work such as administration or IT. This is an unnecessary restriction of New Work, as more added value, attractive workplaces and efficient tools are also important topics in production areas. There is enormous potential in this area.
People still have their place in the smart factory. According to experts, it is not so much the level of automation achieved that will determine a company's success, but rather its ability to master the growing complexity of production. And this requires above all qualified, flexible and motivated employees.
In terms of working conditions, this means more support, guidance and relief for each individual employee in individual, manual production processes. New Work in production with digital worker guidance offers decisive advantages here.
A starting point for new working models
Efficiently designed work processes, modern workplaces and cross-team collaboration are important success factors for value creation in production. However, rigid structures often hinder further development. With digital worker guidance, companies can establish new mechanisms and thus increase execution efficiency and product quality.
The example of the assembly of complex modules demonstrates the change brought about by New Work with digital worker guidance. The medium-sized company Alpha Verteilertechnik manufactures control cabinets that are made up of 4,000 assemblies, which in turn consist of over 30,000 individual parts. Customers can use a configuration module to put together their own individual control cabinet. The increasing complexity of the products and the growing shortage of skilled workers have led Alpha Verteilertechnik to strategically realign itself in order to ensure its assembly quality.
Previously, all assemblies/individual parts were managed in a database, which formed the basis for the assembly orders and assembly instructions. Excel was used to create the parts lists for the corresponding order from the database and the configuration data, which were also the instructions for the worker or at least specified the order in which the assemblies were to be assembled.
Depending on the configured control cabinet, the worker had to observe different conditions such as electrical parameters, dimensions of the housing, cross-sections of copper rails, etc. during assembly. The information required for this was stored in different software programs. As a result, the information did not come with the parts lists from the work preparation department, but had to be collected by the worker himself during assembly. As a result, intensive work with parts lists, (CAD) drawings, mechanical values etc. was essential. Around 20 percent of the total assembly time was needed just to search for the right information for the work step.
New work in production: employees benefit from worker guidance
In the case of Alpha Verteilertechnik, the digital worker guidance system weasl makes a significant contribution to improving efficiency in work preparation and assembly. It also reduces the workload of employees in quality control.
Parts lists and assembly instructions are now generated generically by the worker guidance system, which has reduced the manpower required for work preparation. The skilled workers who have been freed up are now deployed for other productive activities and the workers in assembly no longer have to gather their information themselves. The system guides them step by step through each assembly process and displays the relevant information.
The working conditions for employees in quality control have also been improved through the use of the worker guidance system. weasl automatically logs every work and inspection step carried out. This has significantly reduced the time and effort required for documentation and verification obligations. In addition, the reliable worker guidance system has increased quality and reduced expensive rework.
„With a growing shortage of experienced and qualified employees, weasl is the lever to ensure assembly quality.“
Elmar Reuter | Retired Managing Director | Alpha Verteilertechnik GmbH
Conclusion: Efficient and motivated with the right support
With digital worker guidance, you are using a powerful tool in your production that helps you to relieve workers, ensure quality and optimize processes. A worker guidance system allows your workers to concentrate on their value-adding activities and relieves them of a significant amount of work preparation and documentation. At the end of the day, you save valuable time and resources, thereby increasing your competitiveness.
We show you how weasl can reduce your employees' workload
New Work in production starts with the employee and gives them the secure feeling of being able to work on time and without errors. Our worker guidance system weasl is an excellent basis for this. Contact us and we will give you a live demonstration of weasl - free of charge and without obligation.
New work in production with worker guidance: find out more about weasl
weasl reduces your employees' workload and guides them through their work orders without errors. Our system documents all progress digitally and ensures seamless verification. Get to know the ideal support for your workers live.
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