- Email: [email protected]
Developing, Implementing and Assessing Human-Centred Control and Information Technology
IFAC
()
Copyright © IFAC Automated Systems Based on Human S!d !l , Paianga, LITHUANIA , 1998
•
DEVELOPING, IMPLEMENTING AND ASSESSING HUMAN-CENTRED CONTROL AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Dietrich Brandt" and Janko Cernetic
**
*Department of Computer Science in Mechanical Engineering (HDZIIMA), University of Technology (RWTH) , Dennewartstr. 27, D-52068 Aachen, Germany email: [email protected] **1. Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, SI-IOOO Ljubljana, Slovenia email: [email protected]
Abstract: In this report , the concept of Human-Centred Technology will briefly be describyd. Its different aspects will be illustrated by a series of case studies representing several European countries . The report discusses the roles of control and information technology in enterprises today and the strategies of designing and implementing such technology taking into account the specific aspects of human-centred systems . Keywords: Human-centred systems, information technology , production control
1.
THE CONCEPT OF HUMANCENTRED SYSTEMS
1.1
Technology , People and Organisation
concept of Anthropocentric - or Human-Centred Technology. In around 1989, Cooley and others suggested this concept as a strategy to overcome some of the difficulties which have become visible in European countries over the past years : mainly the problems of mass production, which is not sufficiently flexible to respond to the dynamics and challenges of the world market. In the following report, this concept of HumanCentred Technology will be described. The emphasis is on technology: the roles of control and information technology in enterprises today and the strategies of designing and implementing such technology taking into account the specific aspects of human-centred systems.
"Results of indiscriminate attempts to replace humans by machines have led to serious difficulties with machine-dependent systems which are vulnerable to disturbance and frequently lack robustness and flexibility . There is a need to examine the scope of anthropocentric technologies which link the skill and ingenuity of humans with advanced and appropriate forms of technology in a true symbiosis of work and technology . Europe should concentrate on those areas that require order-bound manufacturing and hence experience in flexible specialization, with an appropriate flexible production system and skilled workforce. This would shift Europe to a comparatively favorable position that could assume considerable competitive advantages . " (Cooley, 1989,4)
Production today is increasingly shaped by technology e.g., the automation of production, computer-supported information and cooperation networks, multimedia applications in production planning and control. Such systems, however, are not merely technical systems: they are always Sociotechnical Systems comprising besides technology - people and their personal communication and tasks , views, organizational structures, cooperation etc ..
This quotation characterizes the beginning of a widespread European discussion about the
5
the most careful consumption of resources (labour, materials, energy etc.), and without damage to the environment. It may not always include using more technology; it may rather concentrate on re-designing work organisation to achieve its aims. The unique opportunity exists today to overcome the antagonism between rationalization on the one hand, and designing human-oriented work environments on the other hand (e.g. , VD!, 1988).
The technical, social and organizational system elements - technology, people and organization are of most importance when describing sociotechnical systems . These three terms are widely used to understand the behaviour of such systems . They have the most relevance for all professional activities within society today, whether it concerns individual work, cooperation in groups or networks etc . (see Rosenbrock, 1990; Rauner, Rasmussen and Corbett, 1987; Hancke, 1995).
As an example, these concepts have been followed further in Germany through the research programs 'Humanization of Work' and 'Work and Technology', both funded by the German Federal Government. There are also several similar state-funded and Europe-funded research programs . These research programs characterize the governments ' strategies to support and assist European industry in its difficult transition from 'manufacturing' to 'automation'. Presently, these programs are in Germany continued under the heading 'Production 2000' (1995-1999 - see Martin, 1997) .
1.2 Human-centred Systems in Practice: Some Observations In this section, some observations are reported on how this concept has been used, and which other developments have taken place which may counteract the implementation of this concept on a larger scale . The recent developments in industry have shown that changes in workplaces and working life have, on the one hand , frequently led to considerable improvements experienced by the workers and employees: many unhealthy and dangerous jobs have disappeared in all industrialized countries, group work and decentralization have been introduced in many branches of industry; automation has taken off many burdens from workers etc ..
ThiS view of industrial development in Germany may be compared with developments in other European countries . As an example, recent observations in Slovenia will be considered here .
On the other hand, jobs have vanished worldwide in the wake of these changes at an alarming rate. Furthermore, changes of company ownership have made entire work sites disappear although considerable improvements in the economic viability of these plants may have been achieved through human-centred design of technology and work. The concept of 'shareholder value' has become more important than long-term viability concepts.
2.
CONTROL AND INFORMA nON TECHNOLOGY IN SLOVENIA
2.1
Success factors in automation
Slovenia is one of the countries of the former Eastern Block bordering besides other neighbours - Austria and Italy. The country is very fast developing towards integration into the European Union. This country is particularly committed to fast technological renewal in order to qualify for close inter-European industrial cooperation. Hence several substantial research projects have been performed during recent years in order to both keep track of the changes in industry, and suggest political and technological strategies for further steps of development.
These - and other - developments seem to counteract attempts to further improve production and service performance towards human-centredness. Dissatisfaction, however, is already spreading. It concerns the general economic strategies which are frequently termed 'rationalization', or lean production, down-sizing etc.. Today, rationalization may rather be understood as the continuous effort of humans to achieve optimum system performance through
The first research project briefly reported here, deals with the question of how much Slovenian industry is aware of the links between
6
implementing organization.
new technology and changing 30
In 1995, a group of leading industrialists was, thus, asked the following question: 'Which are, in your opinion and, according to your experience, the most important factors affecting the success of introducing computer -based automation, e.g., in the case of your company?'
Figure 1: Relative importance of six success factors of introducing automation
2.2 The respondents were subsequently asked to assign an assumed relative weighting (percentage) to each factor mentioned , all weightings added up to 100 %. The questionnaire listed the following success factors (Cernetic and Strmcnik, 1991) : - Clear vision of enterprise development and support of the management (MANAG) - Proper knowledge and education (EDUC) - Economic justification and monitoring of effects (ECON) - Proper organization (ORGAN) - Proper technology (TECH) - Consideration of human , social and cultural aspects (HUSOCU)
The concept of IT Culture
The second research project described here , considers slightly different aspects: managers of new information technology (IT) systems and their 'bosses' need to cooperate very closely in their endeavour to make such IT systems work. With the integration of Slovenia into the European and international business, better IT exploitation management becomes very important. Thus, a case study of the situation in some greater Slovenian business systems was performed (Milicic, 1994) . The main findings may contribute to the development of the management-culture concept for both information and control technology.
The results of this inquiry (Fig. 1) clearly show that the respondents assigned considerably higher importance to management issues than to purely technology issues. They assigned, however, relatively low importance to human orientation and organizational issues relating to control technology . This opinion may reflect the present state of general development in Slovenia. Obviously, the problems related to other success factors (particularly those of management and education) drastically outweigh the problems of human orientation and organization. It may be envisaged that the latter problems will be addressed once the present problems are better mastered.
The design of the enquiry was based on the following two premises : a) a successful IT management strategy must be an essential part of the overall business strategy of an enterprise; b) the success of IT management depends vitally on the kind and degree of cooperation of the top managers and their IT managers in an enterprise . According to the research, the following three main factors characterise IT exploitation management in Slovenia: • desired human skills : incentives/motivation, interdisciplinary skills, team-working, communication, leadership; • proposed organisational measures : better coordination, new organisational structures, new management paradigms, career planning, special training/education of managers, continuing education of employees in the above-mentioned human skills; issues : VISIon of • important business exploitation strategy, development, IT integrative role of IT, investment criteria,
7
Tec/loology based design
external factors (such as, e .g. , changing business environment, etc .).
I
In many of these keywords a concept is implicit that can be called "IT management culture". This concept may assist in how to act and behave in the more and more complex (if not chaotic) future of IT exploitation. Social scientists say that "culture consists of learned ways of acting, feeling and thinking ... to have an advantage in the struggle for survival ... " (Bohannan, 1990). In the context considered in this study, this citation may end like " . .. survival in the modern fast-changing and sometimes cruel business world". A new IT (management) culture may help in better utilisation of both human skills, and information and automation technology.
DESIGNING AND EVALUATING HUMAN-CENTRED SYSTEMS
3.1
The 'Dual Design Approach'
fully·automated
partly· automated computer·asSisted
I I
Working·process based design
L
manuat
Figure 2: The Dual Design Approach of designing Human-Machine Systems The Dual Design Approach is a set of principles to ensure appropriate development of both technical and human aspects of human-machine systems . Usually project engineers tend to head for fully automated concepts. This kind of approach - the technology based design - is represented by the left-hand triangle of Fig. 2. Here the major part of design efforts, creativity and research is used to obtain a fully-automated system. However, at a certain stage of the development, it becomes obvious that some elements of the system cannot be fully automated . This may be due to economic reasons or to limited technical possibilities . It means that humans are becoming part of the concept at a late stage. However, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain jobs which take advantage of the strengths and competencies of people.
One model of how to integrate both human issues, and technology design and use is described in the following section. 3.
I
Today, the design of a technical system is often understood as the design of a system to be automated as much as possible. The vision of the robot-run factory may be popular. It appears, nevertheless, impossible to implement this vision as many experiences have shown. The design of a technical system will always be the design of a human-machine system.
Therefore, it is necessary to introduce a second approach, the working-process based design, in order to consider the human work situation as well . Contrary to the technology based design , a working-process based design raises the issue of how to solve the problem with a lower level of automation or computer use. This will result in a concept where tasks are performed by people . It means that the main part of design efforts, creativity and ideas will be put into this approach (see Fig. 2, right-hand triangle) . It will help the systems designer to gain a better understanding of the system to be designed .
The aim is thus to design the system so as to find a balance of human action and machine action which makes best use of human skill. Thus the question to be dealt with here, refers to the process of designing such a system. One approach is the 'Dual Design Approach' as illustrated in Fig. 2 (Henning and Ochterbeck, 1988).
Both the technology-based design and the working-process-based design should be used in parallel to obtain an optimum. This is the basic idea of the Dual Design Approach. It is complementary in the technology based design and in the working-process based design . The advantages and disadvantages of both concepts have to be compared and analyzed. A continuous
8
exchange between both design processes is indicated by the two arrows in Fig. 2. It leads to concepts of human-machine systems which correspond to the demands of both, the technical processes and the process of human work . Concepts created by this approach make the best use of both the technical and the human resources of a company. The approach may thus be considered as one way to achieve economic advantages combined with designing meaningful workplaces.
3.3
In 1995 this questionnaire was used in Slovenia in order to investigate how well these humanorientation criteria can be used as systematic guidelines during the design of complex largescale control systems. The questionnaire was applied to a pulp cooking control system in Slovenia which had recently been introduced as a newly developed system (Hvala et aI. , 1993). The pulp cooking control system was developed entirely using domestic know-how at the J. Stefan Institute for the pulp and paper mill at Krsko, Slovenia, producing about 130,000 tons of pulp per year (data for the period 1983-85) . The objective was to upgrade the existing, primarily manually operated controls, for seven 3 175 m batch digesters using a computer-based control system. The purpose of modernization was to increase the production rate, improve pulp quality and reduce the steam consumption of existing facilities as efficiently as possible . Simultaneously, the new control system was to improve process safety in order to reduce the the risks of environmental emergencies.
One important question coming up in these case studies is as follows: how can the concept of the working process based design be used to develop different technological systems? This strategy relies on having sets of criteria available in order to assess the degree of human-centredness of such sociotechnical systems . Thus, the concept of the sociotechnical system to be designed has to be broken down into sets of questions. These questions can be asked by the design engineer during the design process, or subsequently, during implementation and first use of the system designed - ' or its prototype. Such a set of questions is described in the following section based explicitly on the Dual Design Approach.
3.2
Some Slovenian experiences
The design of the control system included some advanced functions , such as : supervisory batch control, model-reference control, on-line estimation of model parameters, real-time cooking process simulation, coordination of multipJe digesters on two parallel production lines and the smoothing of steam consumption by a set of microcomputer-based controllers . In the context of this example, it is important to note that a relatively high degree of human-computer interaction was built into the design of the control algorithms . Thus, one aim was to keep the skilled human operators in the control loop.
Applying the Approach
The Dual Design Approach can be structured by the following four aspects: - The Degree of Automation achieved through implementing this technology, The Degree of Networking implemented with this new technology , The Degree of Dynamics of changes, e.g. , in work and society, accompanying the implementation of this technology, The Degree of Formalization of human communication and cooperation to be accepted by humans using this technology .
The results of the pulp cooking control system assessment can be described as follows for each of the four criteria groups : -- In terms of the Degree of Automation criteria, the flexibility of system use is low because the variability in human-machine dialogues of the system is relatively narrow . On the other hand, the control algorithms support, to a great extent, the involvement of human competence in problem solving. - In terms of the Degree of Networking, the control system appears, on average, to be
These four aspects of applying the Dual Design Approach are the basic concept of designing technology today - and they also form the basic concept of evaluating this technology in use. For this purpose, criteria have been developed which make it possible to apply the evaluation approach to certain technologies in use. (FuchsFrohnhofen, 1994; Veldkamp, 1996).
9
moderately to highly human-oriented, except for the user's freedom of decisions on how to work with the system . - The system has the highest positive assessment rate according to the Degree of Change Dynamics . The reason for this rating may be that the design of control algorithms was made after careful consideration of existing manual (human) control procedures . Thus, the system integrates and supports human work patterns rather than replacing them through automation . - Within the last group of criteria (Degree of Formalization of Human Communication and Cooperation), human-human communication and cooperation continue to be possible and encouraged, as well as 'real 'problem-solving. It is obviously due to the specific choice of the Degree of Automation. From the users' point of view, however, there is not sufficient system feedback and human skills development built into the new control system. This corresponds to observations of most automation systems today and would need to be improved in the future . 4.
REFERENCES Bohannan, P. (1990): Culture. In: The World Book Encyclopaedia, Chicago, p. 1186 Cernetic, J. and S. Strmcnik (1991). Automation success factors as seen from a developing country. Proc . 1st IFAC Workshop Cultural Aspects of Automation. 16.18. 10.1991, Krems, Austria, 34-41. Cooley, M. (1989) . European Competitiveness in the 21st Century. FAST, Brussels Fuchs-Frohnhofen, P . (1994). Designing useroriented CNC production systems. Augustinus Pub!., Aachen [German] Hancke , T . (1995) . The Design of HumanMachine Systems : The Example of Flight Decks. Augustinus Pub!.. Aachen Henning. K. and B. Ochterbeck (1988). Dualer Entwurf von Mensch-Maschine-Systemen. In: P. Meyer-Dohm et a!. (Eds.), Der Mensch im Unternehmen. Bern, Stuttgart Hvala, N., J. Cernetic and S. Strmcnik (1993). Study of pulp cooking control using the Systems Approach. Int. Journal of Systems Science, 24. 4, 707-720. Martin, T . (1997) . Production 2000 - Trying to Jointly Improve Technology , Organisation and Qualification. 6th IFAC Symposium on Automated Systems Based on Human SkiIJ, 17.-19.9.1997. Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Milicic , M . (1994). Management of information infrastructure as a company success factor (in Slovene) . PhD. dissertation, University of Maribor, School of Business and Economics, Maribor, Slovenia Rauner, F., L.B. Rasmussen and M . Corbett (1987) . The social shaping of Technology and Work - a conceptual framework for research and development projects in the CIM-area. ESPRIT-project 1217 (1199), Bremen Rosenbrock, H.H. (1990). Machines with a purpose. Oxford University Press ., Oxford, U.K. VDI (1988). Rationaiisierung Heute (Rationalisation Today). VDI, Diisseldorf Veldkamp, G. (1996). Future-oriented design of information technology systems. Augustinus Pub!., Aachen [German]
CONCLUSIONS
Th is report on implementation of control technology in different European countries today may serve as an example of how less industrialized countries are advancing in order to draw level with the whole of Europe. As a special example Slovenia has been very successful in this process . The country is highly regarded as an interesting industrial partner and is coping well on the world market. This is partly due to the careful consideration in companies of what kind of technology may be best to be implemented : human-centredness should be one important aspect of this process.
Br/Ki 15 .05.98
10
()
Copyright © IFAC Automated Systems Based on Human S!d !l , Paianga, LITHUANIA , 1998
•
DEVELOPING, IMPLEMENTING AND ASSESSING HUMAN-CENTRED CONTROL AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Dietrich Brandt" and Janko Cernetic
**
*Department of Computer Science in Mechanical Engineering (HDZIIMA), University of Technology (RWTH) , Dennewartstr. 27, D-52068 Aachen, Germany email: [email protected] **1. Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, SI-IOOO Ljubljana, Slovenia email: [email protected]
Abstract: In this report , the concept of Human-Centred Technology will briefly be describyd. Its different aspects will be illustrated by a series of case studies representing several European countries . The report discusses the roles of control and information technology in enterprises today and the strategies of designing and implementing such technology taking into account the specific aspects of human-centred systems . Keywords: Human-centred systems, information technology , production control
1.
THE CONCEPT OF HUMANCENTRED SYSTEMS
1.1
Technology , People and Organisation
concept of Anthropocentric - or Human-Centred Technology. In around 1989, Cooley and others suggested this concept as a strategy to overcome some of the difficulties which have become visible in European countries over the past years : mainly the problems of mass production, which is not sufficiently flexible to respond to the dynamics and challenges of the world market. In the following report, this concept of HumanCentred Technology will be described. The emphasis is on technology: the roles of control and information technology in enterprises today and the strategies of designing and implementing such technology taking into account the specific aspects of human-centred systems.
"Results of indiscriminate attempts to replace humans by machines have led to serious difficulties with machine-dependent systems which are vulnerable to disturbance and frequently lack robustness and flexibility . There is a need to examine the scope of anthropocentric technologies which link the skill and ingenuity of humans with advanced and appropriate forms of technology in a true symbiosis of work and technology . Europe should concentrate on those areas that require order-bound manufacturing and hence experience in flexible specialization, with an appropriate flexible production system and skilled workforce. This would shift Europe to a comparatively favorable position that could assume considerable competitive advantages . " (Cooley, 1989,4)
Production today is increasingly shaped by technology e.g., the automation of production, computer-supported information and cooperation networks, multimedia applications in production planning and control. Such systems, however, are not merely technical systems: they are always Sociotechnical Systems comprising besides technology - people and their personal communication and tasks , views, organizational structures, cooperation etc ..
This quotation characterizes the beginning of a widespread European discussion about the
5
the most careful consumption of resources (labour, materials, energy etc.), and without damage to the environment. It may not always include using more technology; it may rather concentrate on re-designing work organisation to achieve its aims. The unique opportunity exists today to overcome the antagonism between rationalization on the one hand, and designing human-oriented work environments on the other hand (e.g. , VD!, 1988).
The technical, social and organizational system elements - technology, people and organization are of most importance when describing sociotechnical systems . These three terms are widely used to understand the behaviour of such systems . They have the most relevance for all professional activities within society today, whether it concerns individual work, cooperation in groups or networks etc . (see Rosenbrock, 1990; Rauner, Rasmussen and Corbett, 1987; Hancke, 1995).
As an example, these concepts have been followed further in Germany through the research programs 'Humanization of Work' and 'Work and Technology', both funded by the German Federal Government. There are also several similar state-funded and Europe-funded research programs . These research programs characterize the governments ' strategies to support and assist European industry in its difficult transition from 'manufacturing' to 'automation'. Presently, these programs are in Germany continued under the heading 'Production 2000' (1995-1999 - see Martin, 1997) .
1.2 Human-centred Systems in Practice: Some Observations In this section, some observations are reported on how this concept has been used, and which other developments have taken place which may counteract the implementation of this concept on a larger scale . The recent developments in industry have shown that changes in workplaces and working life have, on the one hand , frequently led to considerable improvements experienced by the workers and employees: many unhealthy and dangerous jobs have disappeared in all industrialized countries, group work and decentralization have been introduced in many branches of industry; automation has taken off many burdens from workers etc ..
ThiS view of industrial development in Germany may be compared with developments in other European countries . As an example, recent observations in Slovenia will be considered here .
On the other hand, jobs have vanished worldwide in the wake of these changes at an alarming rate. Furthermore, changes of company ownership have made entire work sites disappear although considerable improvements in the economic viability of these plants may have been achieved through human-centred design of technology and work. The concept of 'shareholder value' has become more important than long-term viability concepts.
2.
CONTROL AND INFORMA nON TECHNOLOGY IN SLOVENIA
2.1
Success factors in automation
Slovenia is one of the countries of the former Eastern Block bordering besides other neighbours - Austria and Italy. The country is very fast developing towards integration into the European Union. This country is particularly committed to fast technological renewal in order to qualify for close inter-European industrial cooperation. Hence several substantial research projects have been performed during recent years in order to both keep track of the changes in industry, and suggest political and technological strategies for further steps of development.
These - and other - developments seem to counteract attempts to further improve production and service performance towards human-centredness. Dissatisfaction, however, is already spreading. It concerns the general economic strategies which are frequently termed 'rationalization', or lean production, down-sizing etc.. Today, rationalization may rather be understood as the continuous effort of humans to achieve optimum system performance through
The first research project briefly reported here, deals with the question of how much Slovenian industry is aware of the links between
6
implementing organization.
new technology and changing 30
In 1995, a group of leading industrialists was, thus, asked the following question: 'Which are, in your opinion and, according to your experience, the most important factors affecting the success of introducing computer -based automation, e.g., in the case of your company?'
Figure 1: Relative importance of six success factors of introducing automation
2.2 The respondents were subsequently asked to assign an assumed relative weighting (percentage) to each factor mentioned , all weightings added up to 100 %. The questionnaire listed the following success factors (Cernetic and Strmcnik, 1991) : - Clear vision of enterprise development and support of the management (MANAG) - Proper knowledge and education (EDUC) - Economic justification and monitoring of effects (ECON) - Proper organization (ORGAN) - Proper technology (TECH) - Consideration of human , social and cultural aspects (HUSOCU)
The concept of IT Culture
The second research project described here , considers slightly different aspects: managers of new information technology (IT) systems and their 'bosses' need to cooperate very closely in their endeavour to make such IT systems work. With the integration of Slovenia into the European and international business, better IT exploitation management becomes very important. Thus, a case study of the situation in some greater Slovenian business systems was performed (Milicic, 1994) . The main findings may contribute to the development of the management-culture concept for both information and control technology.
The results of this inquiry (Fig. 1) clearly show that the respondents assigned considerably higher importance to management issues than to purely technology issues. They assigned, however, relatively low importance to human orientation and organizational issues relating to control technology . This opinion may reflect the present state of general development in Slovenia. Obviously, the problems related to other success factors (particularly those of management and education) drastically outweigh the problems of human orientation and organization. It may be envisaged that the latter problems will be addressed once the present problems are better mastered.
The design of the enquiry was based on the following two premises : a) a successful IT management strategy must be an essential part of the overall business strategy of an enterprise; b) the success of IT management depends vitally on the kind and degree of cooperation of the top managers and their IT managers in an enterprise . According to the research, the following three main factors characterise IT exploitation management in Slovenia: • desired human skills : incentives/motivation, interdisciplinary skills, team-working, communication, leadership; • proposed organisational measures : better coordination, new organisational structures, new management paradigms, career planning, special training/education of managers, continuing education of employees in the above-mentioned human skills; issues : VISIon of • important business exploitation strategy, development, IT integrative role of IT, investment criteria,
7
Tec/loology based design
external factors (such as, e .g. , changing business environment, etc .).
I
In many of these keywords a concept is implicit that can be called "IT management culture". This concept may assist in how to act and behave in the more and more complex (if not chaotic) future of IT exploitation. Social scientists say that "culture consists of learned ways of acting, feeling and thinking ... to have an advantage in the struggle for survival ... " (Bohannan, 1990). In the context considered in this study, this citation may end like " . .. survival in the modern fast-changing and sometimes cruel business world". A new IT (management) culture may help in better utilisation of both human skills, and information and automation technology.
DESIGNING AND EVALUATING HUMAN-CENTRED SYSTEMS
3.1
The 'Dual Design Approach'
fully·automated
partly· automated computer·asSisted
I I
Working·process based design
L
manuat
Figure 2: The Dual Design Approach of designing Human-Machine Systems The Dual Design Approach is a set of principles to ensure appropriate development of both technical and human aspects of human-machine systems . Usually project engineers tend to head for fully automated concepts. This kind of approach - the technology based design - is represented by the left-hand triangle of Fig. 2. Here the major part of design efforts, creativity and research is used to obtain a fully-automated system. However, at a certain stage of the development, it becomes obvious that some elements of the system cannot be fully automated . This may be due to economic reasons or to limited technical possibilities . It means that humans are becoming part of the concept at a late stage. However, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain jobs which take advantage of the strengths and competencies of people.
One model of how to integrate both human issues, and technology design and use is described in the following section. 3.
I
Today, the design of a technical system is often understood as the design of a system to be automated as much as possible. The vision of the robot-run factory may be popular. It appears, nevertheless, impossible to implement this vision as many experiences have shown. The design of a technical system will always be the design of a human-machine system.
Therefore, it is necessary to introduce a second approach, the working-process based design, in order to consider the human work situation as well . Contrary to the technology based design , a working-process based design raises the issue of how to solve the problem with a lower level of automation or computer use. This will result in a concept where tasks are performed by people . It means that the main part of design efforts, creativity and ideas will be put into this approach (see Fig. 2, right-hand triangle) . It will help the systems designer to gain a better understanding of the system to be designed .
The aim is thus to design the system so as to find a balance of human action and machine action which makes best use of human skill. Thus the question to be dealt with here, refers to the process of designing such a system. One approach is the 'Dual Design Approach' as illustrated in Fig. 2 (Henning and Ochterbeck, 1988).
Both the technology-based design and the working-process-based design should be used in parallel to obtain an optimum. This is the basic idea of the Dual Design Approach. It is complementary in the technology based design and in the working-process based design . The advantages and disadvantages of both concepts have to be compared and analyzed. A continuous
8
exchange between both design processes is indicated by the two arrows in Fig. 2. It leads to concepts of human-machine systems which correspond to the demands of both, the technical processes and the process of human work . Concepts created by this approach make the best use of both the technical and the human resources of a company. The approach may thus be considered as one way to achieve economic advantages combined with designing meaningful workplaces.
3.3
In 1995 this questionnaire was used in Slovenia in order to investigate how well these humanorientation criteria can be used as systematic guidelines during the design of complex largescale control systems. The questionnaire was applied to a pulp cooking control system in Slovenia which had recently been introduced as a newly developed system (Hvala et aI. , 1993). The pulp cooking control system was developed entirely using domestic know-how at the J. Stefan Institute for the pulp and paper mill at Krsko, Slovenia, producing about 130,000 tons of pulp per year (data for the period 1983-85) . The objective was to upgrade the existing, primarily manually operated controls, for seven 3 175 m batch digesters using a computer-based control system. The purpose of modernization was to increase the production rate, improve pulp quality and reduce the steam consumption of existing facilities as efficiently as possible . Simultaneously, the new control system was to improve process safety in order to reduce the the risks of environmental emergencies.
One important question coming up in these case studies is as follows: how can the concept of the working process based design be used to develop different technological systems? This strategy relies on having sets of criteria available in order to assess the degree of human-centredness of such sociotechnical systems . Thus, the concept of the sociotechnical system to be designed has to be broken down into sets of questions. These questions can be asked by the design engineer during the design process, or subsequently, during implementation and first use of the system designed - ' or its prototype. Such a set of questions is described in the following section based explicitly on the Dual Design Approach.
3.2
Some Slovenian experiences
The design of the control system included some advanced functions , such as : supervisory batch control, model-reference control, on-line estimation of model parameters, real-time cooking process simulation, coordination of multipJe digesters on two parallel production lines and the smoothing of steam consumption by a set of microcomputer-based controllers . In the context of this example, it is important to note that a relatively high degree of human-computer interaction was built into the design of the control algorithms . Thus, one aim was to keep the skilled human operators in the control loop.
Applying the Approach
The Dual Design Approach can be structured by the following four aspects: - The Degree of Automation achieved through implementing this technology, The Degree of Networking implemented with this new technology , The Degree of Dynamics of changes, e.g. , in work and society, accompanying the implementation of this technology, The Degree of Formalization of human communication and cooperation to be accepted by humans using this technology .
The results of the pulp cooking control system assessment can be described as follows for each of the four criteria groups : -- In terms of the Degree of Automation criteria, the flexibility of system use is low because the variability in human-machine dialogues of the system is relatively narrow . On the other hand, the control algorithms support, to a great extent, the involvement of human competence in problem solving. - In terms of the Degree of Networking, the control system appears, on average, to be
These four aspects of applying the Dual Design Approach are the basic concept of designing technology today - and they also form the basic concept of evaluating this technology in use. For this purpose, criteria have been developed which make it possible to apply the evaluation approach to certain technologies in use. (FuchsFrohnhofen, 1994; Veldkamp, 1996).
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moderately to highly human-oriented, except for the user's freedom of decisions on how to work with the system . - The system has the highest positive assessment rate according to the Degree of Change Dynamics . The reason for this rating may be that the design of control algorithms was made after careful consideration of existing manual (human) control procedures . Thus, the system integrates and supports human work patterns rather than replacing them through automation . - Within the last group of criteria (Degree of Formalization of Human Communication and Cooperation), human-human communication and cooperation continue to be possible and encouraged, as well as 'real 'problem-solving. It is obviously due to the specific choice of the Degree of Automation. From the users' point of view, however, there is not sufficient system feedback and human skills development built into the new control system. This corresponds to observations of most automation systems today and would need to be improved in the future . 4.
REFERENCES Bohannan, P. (1990): Culture. In: The World Book Encyclopaedia, Chicago, p. 1186 Cernetic, J. and S. Strmcnik (1991). Automation success factors as seen from a developing country. Proc . 1st IFAC Workshop Cultural Aspects of Automation. 16.18. 10.1991, Krems, Austria, 34-41. Cooley, M. (1989) . European Competitiveness in the 21st Century. FAST, Brussels Fuchs-Frohnhofen, P . (1994). Designing useroriented CNC production systems. Augustinus Pub!., Aachen [German] Hancke , T . (1995) . The Design of HumanMachine Systems : The Example of Flight Decks. Augustinus Pub!.. Aachen Henning. K. and B. Ochterbeck (1988). Dualer Entwurf von Mensch-Maschine-Systemen. In: P. Meyer-Dohm et a!. (Eds.), Der Mensch im Unternehmen. Bern, Stuttgart Hvala, N., J. Cernetic and S. Strmcnik (1993). Study of pulp cooking control using the Systems Approach. Int. Journal of Systems Science, 24. 4, 707-720. Martin, T . (1997) . Production 2000 - Trying to Jointly Improve Technology , Organisation and Qualification. 6th IFAC Symposium on Automated Systems Based on Human SkiIJ, 17.-19.9.1997. Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Milicic , M . (1994). Management of information infrastructure as a company success factor (in Slovene) . PhD. dissertation, University of Maribor, School of Business and Economics, Maribor, Slovenia Rauner, F., L.B. Rasmussen and M . Corbett (1987) . The social shaping of Technology and Work - a conceptual framework for research and development projects in the CIM-area. ESPRIT-project 1217 (1199), Bremen Rosenbrock, H.H. (1990). Machines with a purpose. Oxford University Press ., Oxford, U.K. VDI (1988). Rationaiisierung Heute (Rationalisation Today). VDI, Diisseldorf Veldkamp, G. (1996). Future-oriented design of information technology systems. Augustinus Pub!., Aachen [German]
CONCLUSIONS
Th is report on implementation of control technology in different European countries today may serve as an example of how less industrialized countries are advancing in order to draw level with the whole of Europe. As a special example Slovenia has been very successful in this process . The country is highly regarded as an interesting industrial partner and is coping well on the world market. This is partly due to the careful consideration in companies of what kind of technology may be best to be implemented : human-centredness should be one important aspect of this process.
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