TY - JOUR A1 - Wotschack, Philip A1 - Vladova, Gergana A1 - de Paiva Lareiro, Patricia A1 - Thim, Christof T1 - Learning via assistance systems in industrial manufacturing BT - an experimental study in an Industry 4.0 environment JF - Journal of workplace learning N2 - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how learning solely via an assistance system influences work performance compared with learning with a combination of an assistance system and additional training. While the training literature has widely emphasised the positive role of on-the-job training, particularly for groups that are often underrepresented in formalised learning situations, organisational studies have stressed the risks that emerge when holistic process knowledge is lacking and how this negatively affects work performance. This study aims at testing these negative effects within an experimental design. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a laboratory experimental design to investigate how assistance-system-guided learning influences the individuals’ work performance and work satisfaction compared with assistance-system-guided learning combined with theoretical learning of holistic process knowledge. Subjects were divided into two groups and assigned to two different settings. In the first setting, the participants used the assistance systems as an orientation and support tool right at the beginning and learned the production steps exclusively in this way. In the second setting, subjects received an additional 10-min introduction (treatment) at the beginning of the experiment, including detailed information regarding the entire work process. Findings This study provides evidence that learners provided with prior process knowledge achieve a better understanding of the work process leading to higher levels of productivity, quality and work satisfaction. At the same time, the authors found evidence for differences among workers’ ability to process and apply this additional information. Subjects with lower productivity levels faced more difficulties processing and applying additional process information. Research limitations/implications Methodologically, this study goes beyond existing research on assistance systems by using a laboratory experimental design. Though the external validity of this method is limited by the artificial setting, it is a solid way of studying the impact of different usages of digital assistance systems in terms of training. Further research is required, however, including laboratory experiments with larger case numbers, company-level case studies and analyses of survey data, to further confirm the external validity of the findings of this study for the workplace. Practical implications This study provides some first evidence that holistic process knowledge, even in low-skill tasks, has an added value for the production process. This study contributes to firms' training policies by exploring new, digitalised ways of guided on-the-job training and demonstrates possible training benefits for people with lower levels of (initial) abilities and motivation. Social implications This study indicates the advantage for companies and societies to invest in additional skills and training and points at the limitations of assistance systems. This paper also contributes to training policies by exploring new, digitalised ways of guided on-the-job training and demonstrates possible training benefits for people with lower levels of (initial) abilities and motivation. Originality/value This study extends existing research on digital assistance systems by investigating their role in job-related-training. This paper contributes to labour sociology and organisational research by confirming the importance of holistic process knowledge as opposed to a solely task-oriented digital introduction. KW - information technology KW - training KW - knowledge KW - workplace learning KW - new technology Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1108/JWL-09-2022-0119 SN - 1366-5626 SN - 1758-7859 VL - 35 IS - 9 SP - 235 EP - 258 PB - Emerald CY - Bradford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vladova, Gergana A1 - Wotschack, Philip A1 - Lareiro, Patricia de Paiva A1 - Gronau, Norbert A1 - Thim, Christof T1 - Lernen mit Assistenzsystemen T1 - Learning with assistance systems BT - vor lauter Aufgaben den Prozess nicht sehen? BT - not seeing the process for the tasks? JF - Industrie 4.0 Management : Gegenwart und Zukunft industrieller Geschäftsprozesse N2 - Der Beitrag beschreibt die Konzeption und Durchführung und bietet einen Einblick in die ersten Ergebnisse einer Untersuchung mit experimentellem Design in einer simulierten Prozessumgebung im Forschungs- und Anwendungszentrum Industrie 4.0 in Potsdam. Im Mittelpunkt stehen Anlernprozesse im Bereich der Einfacharbeit (Helfertätigkeiten) und ihre Gestaltung durch den Einsatz digitaler Assistenzsysteme. In der Arbeitsforschung finden sich Hinweise darauf, dass mit dem Einsatz dieser Systeme Prozesswissen verloren geht, im Sinne einer guten Kenntnis des gesamten Arbeitsprozesses, in den die einzelnen Tätigkeiten eingebettet sind. Das kann sich als Problem erweisen, vor allem wenn unvorhersehbare Situationen oder Fehler eintreten. Um die Rolle von Prozesswissen beim Einsatz von digitalen Assistenzsystemen zu untersuchen, wird im Experiment eine echte Fabriksituation simuliert. Die Probanden werden über ein Assistenzsystem Schritt für Schritt in ihre Aufgabentätigkeit angelernt, einem Teil der Probanden wird allerdings am Anfang zusätzlich Prozesswissen im Rahmen einer kurzen Schulung vermittelt. N2 - The paper describes the conception and implementation as well as offers an insight into the first results of a study with experimental design in a simulated process environment at the Research and Application Center Industry 4.0 in Potsdam. The focus is on learning processes in the field of simple work and their organization through the use of digital assistance systems. In labour research, there are indications that process knowledge is lost with the use of these systems, in the sense of a good knowledge of the entire work process in which the individual activities are embedded. To investigate the role of process knowledge in the use of digital assistance systems, a real factory situation is simulated in the experiment. KW - Assistenzsysteme KW - Industrie 4.0 KW - Prozesswissen KW - Lernfabrik KW - assistance systems KW - industry 4.0 KW - process knowledge KW - learning factory Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.30844/I40M_20-3_S16-20 SN - 2364-9208 VL - 36 IS - 3 SP - 16 EP - 20 PB - GITO mbH Verlag CY - Berlin ER -