TY - JOUR
T1 - New team mates in the warehouse
T2 - Human interactions with automated and robotized systems
AU - Lorson, Fabian
AU - Fügener, Andreas
AU - Hübner, Alexander
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Despite all the technological progress in the arena of automated and robotized systems, humans will continue to play a significant role in the warehouse of the future, due to their distinctive skills and economic advantages for certain tasks. Although industry and engineering have mainly dealt with the design and functionalities of automated warehouses, the role of human factors and behavior is still underrepresented. However, many novel warehousing systems require human–machine interactions, leading to a growing scientific and managerial necessity to consider human factors and behavior, particularly for operational activities. This is the first study that comprehensively identifies and analyzes relevant behavioral issues of interactions between warehouse operators and machines. To do so, we develop a systematic framework that links human–machine interactions with behavioral issues and implications on system performance across all operational warehouse activities. Insights generated by interviews with warehousing experts are applied to identify the most important issues. We develop a comprehensive research agenda, consisting of a set of potential research questions associated to the identified behavioral issues. The discussion is enriched by providing theoretical and managerial insights from related domains and existing warehousing research. Ultimately, we consolidate our findings by developing overarching theoretical foundations and deriving unifying themes.
AB - Despite all the technological progress in the arena of automated and robotized systems, humans will continue to play a significant role in the warehouse of the future, due to their distinctive skills and economic advantages for certain tasks. Although industry and engineering have mainly dealt with the design and functionalities of automated warehouses, the role of human factors and behavior is still underrepresented. However, many novel warehousing systems require human–machine interactions, leading to a growing scientific and managerial necessity to consider human factors and behavior, particularly for operational activities. This is the first study that comprehensively identifies and analyzes relevant behavioral issues of interactions between warehouse operators and machines. To do so, we develop a systematic framework that links human–machine interactions with behavioral issues and implications on system performance across all operational warehouse activities. Insights generated by interviews with warehousing experts are applied to identify the most important issues. We develop a comprehensive research agenda, consisting of a set of potential research questions associated to the identified behavioral issues. The discussion is enriched by providing theoretical and managerial insights from related domains and existing warehousing research. Ultimately, we consolidate our findings by developing overarching theoretical foundations and deriving unifying themes.
KW - Warehousing
KW - behavioral operations
KW - human–machine interaction
KW - robotics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131753304&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/24725854.2022.2072545
DO - 10.1080/24725854.2022.2072545
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85131753304
SN - 2472-5854
VL - 55
SP - 536
EP - 553
JO - IISE Transactions
JF - IISE Transactions
IS - 5
ER -