The impact of technological innovations on work design in a cellular manufacturing environment

In this study, we highlight the impact of advanced new technical equipment on work design issues in a cellular manufacturing (CM) production environment. A large number of studies deal with the influence of technical systems on work design (e.g. Benders, 1993; McLoughin and Clark, 1994) or deal with work design issues in cellular manufacturing systems (e.g. Huber and Brown, 1991). However, as far as we are aware, the impact of advanced new technical machinery on jobs within cellular systems has been relatively under-investigated, which is somewhat odd in view of the fact that in CM literature, human factors are apparently a major issue. In this longitudinal case study, we wish to contribute to this field. A longitudinal approach has the advantage that it provides insight into the dynamics of the complex interrelationship between advanced technology, cellular manufacturing and work design. In the next section we will introduce a model that forms our paper’s rationale.