Human Factors in CIM: A Human‐Centered Perspective from Europe

Abstract

A number of European agencies, institutes, and firms have developed a decentralized “skill‐based” model of computer‐integrated manufacturing (CIM), arguably better adapted to European conditions than the more highly centralized “factory of the future” promoted by large U.S. computer‐based equipment vendors and the Department of Defense. This human‐centered or anthropocentric model, embodied in working systems and concrete design guidelines, provides a major challenge to more restricted views of the role of human factors in system design and innovation. This study reviews and describes the significance of this model.