A method for decision support for the allocation of functions and the design of jobs in manufacturing, based on knowledge requirements

We discuss an approach based on the configuration of knowledge required to carry out manufacturing functions. It is intended to address the design of new business processes, rather than upgrades of cells, or similar entities. The basic premise is that an organisation can be construed as a configuration of knowledge, embodied in humans and machines, which utilises data to create information (e.g. the product data model), and its physical manifestation (products for sale). The problem is to optimise this configuration of knowledge and its allocation to humans and machines. The starting points for this are: the internal and external operating environment of the manufacturing process; a knowledge taxonomy for manufacturing; and a function-based description of the activities in the process. We outline a methodology, developed in research and consultancy projects, which acts as a decision support tool in the allocation of functions, the definition of human roles, and the distribution of management functions to these roles. Thus, at the time that the engineers are developing the technical view of the facility, the ergonomists can be defining roles and organisational structures as an input to this process, a long-sought goal of ergonomics.