Effects of Information Content in Work Instructions for Operator Performance

Paper in proceeding, 2018

Operators remain as important resources in complex final assembly. To sustain a multi-variant production, it is necessary for operators to manage high demands from a cognitive workload perspective. In such situations, work instructions can support operators cognitively. However, work instructions are often insufficient or unused in final assembly. In this paper, results from testbed experiments are presented where assembly work was supported by different types of work instructions with differing information content. Results indicate that operator performance in terms of perceived cognitive workload and information quality are affected by the presented content of information in work instructions.