Augmented Reality: A tool for Knowledge Transfer to machine operators

Abstract: With an increasing demand for customized products with short delivery times, high quality, and competitive prices, manufacturing firms have to be flexible, agile, effective, and productive. In Industry 4.0, the focus were on technologies as a response to the shifted business environment. Nowadays, the integration of humans with Industry 4.0 technologies has gained interest, also known as Industry 5.0. With an increasing focus on humans, Knowledge Management (KM) and Knowledge Transfer (KT) become essential for organizations to stay at the forefront and sustain competitive advantage. Consequently, this research investigates how a manufacturing company could improve its KT to operators, especially through the use of the technology Augmented Reality (AR). This study is an exploratory case study with an inductive research approach. From a scientific perspective, this research has used an interpretivist approach. The research consisted of several phases where data from interviews, internal documents, and observations were collected and compared with previous research on the subject. Through several data sources, triangulation of data was possible andthe research questions were answered. The approach of the thesis was to, firstly, analyze current KT methods within a manufacturing setting, secondly, to analyze the required knowledge, and, thirdly, to analyze the fit of AR within KT. It was found that KT through face-to-face communication was commonly used and could create a dependability on human interaction. It was also found that documents were used as a KT method and that a discrepancy in usage could occur. Moreover, it was found that the required knowledge by operators was related to operational, problem-solving, and innovative capabilities. With regard to this, it was found that AR primarily could aid explicit KT and enhance operational capabilities. It was also found that it could aid within additional areas as well, such as being a tool for problem-solving and interdivisional KT. The thesis contributes towards academics by connecting AR for operator support to the concepts of KT and KM. The thesis also contributes towards practice by giving recommendations on the usage of AR within a manufacturing context and contributes towards the discussion of aiding peers in their workplace development.