Efficient Plant Nov./Dec. 2022 - 6

column | implementations
Is Industry
5.0 Anything
New?
Dr. Klaus M. Blache
Univ. of Tennessee Reliability
and Maintainability Center
(RMC)
I
N PREVIOUS OFFERINGS,
I've referenced the Industry 4.0
evolution/revolution as it relates to
reliability and maintainability (R&M).
During this evolution, my list of tools
Success with Industry 5.0 will be determined by how well
you integrate human factors with technology.
Based in Knoxville, Dr. Klaus M. Blache is director
of the Reliability & Maintainability Center at the
Univ. of Tennessee, and a research professor in the
College of Engineering. Contact him at
kblache@utk.edu.
6 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
and technologies focuses on four
" zones of uncertainty " (when companies
know about the new tools and
technologies, but were not sure when,
how much, and how fast to implement
them). In the R&M space, I estimated
that there were initially " zones
of uncertainty " about 30 years apart
until around 2010. For the next ten
years, the " zone of uncertainty was
about precision maintenance, Internet
of Things, real-time data, big data,
edge computing, more comprehensive
analytics, prescriptive maintenance,
augmented reality, machine learning,
artificial intelligence, and 3D and 4D
printing. Then, about 2020, there was
the next " zone of uncertainty. " With
ongoing technology improvements,
COVID, and changed expectations
about work, along with the already
recognized need for more human
factors in Industry 4.0 tools, I see the
big challenges as deciding:
How fast and how best to integrate
digital asset-management transformation,
especially when so many companies
don't appear to trust the plant-floor
data to make tough decisions. This is
further exacerbated by not enough
focus on the people (technicians/trades)
side of the business. This was the most
mentioned item of concern in my 2010
R&M survey. It was frequently stated
that if this is not improved, the reactive-maintenance
percentage (31%) will
stop improving. It has.
Human factors will play a larger
role in gaining worker acceptance,
making technologies more useful,
improving cognitive skills and decision
making, and helping workers be more
productive in a safe and meaningful
way. As a certified human-factors
practitioner, I've seen the benefits of
proper ergonomic applications in
reduced accidents and medical visits.
At that time, technology and automation
were primarily focused on
production throughput. Ergonomics
was focused on the physical aspects of
human interaction, such as reducing
repetitive-motion injuries and lifting
stresses. Today's emphasis is more on
the collaboration of machines and technologies
with humans (while keeping
people at the center). This defines the
intent of Industry 5.0, which is people-centric.
It still supports robots and
automation, but also involves sustainability
and resilience/reliability.
Changing your business model to
be able to keep up with the high rate of
change.
Now that we have many more
digital tools and technologies, there's a
shortage of workers. At the same time,
too many plant-floor workers still don't
have the needed digital and computer
skills to efficiently and effectively function
on the plant floor.
The success of transforming your
workforce to Industry 4.0/5.0 is about
how you can best meet your current
workforce at their level of digital and
technology skills to initiate a positive
transformation. Whether Industry 5.0
is new, or old values renewed, the time
to start was yesterday. It will cost you
less to retrain your current workforce
and they are more likely to stay. EP
NOV/DEC 2022
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Efficient Plant Nov./Dec. 2022

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