In the article problems related to human labor and factors affecting the increasing use of

industrial robots are discussed. Since human factors affect the production processes stability,

robots are preferred to apply. The application of robots is characterized by higher performance

and reliability comparing to human labor. The problem is how to determine the real

difference in work efficiency between human operator and robot. The aim of the study is to

develop a method that allows clearly definition of productivity growth associated with the

replacement of human labor by industrial robots. Another aim of the paper is how to model

robotized and manual operated workstation in a computer simulation software. Analysis of

the productivity and reliability of the hydraulic press workstation operated by the human

operator or an industrial robot, are presented. Simulation models have been developed taking

into account the availability and reliability of the machine, operator and robot. We apply

OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) indicator to present how availability and reliability

parameters influence over performance of the workstation, in the longer time. Simplified

financial analysis is presented considering different labor costs in EU countries.

The problem of production flow in steel casting foundry is analysed in this paper. Because of increased demand and market competition, a reorganisation of the foundry process is required, including the elimination of manual labour and the implementation of automation and robotisation of certain processes. The problem is how to determine the real difference in work efficiency between human workers and robots. We show an analysis of the production efficiency of steel casting foundry operated by either human operators or industrial robots. This is a problem from the field of Operations Research for which the Discrete Event Simulation (DES) method is used. Three models are developed, including the foundry before and after automation when taking into consideration parameters of the availability of machines, operators and robots. We apply the OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) indicator to present how the availability, performance and quality parameters influence the foundry’s productivity. In addition, stability of the simulation model was analysed. This approach allows for a better representation of real production processes and the obtained results can be used for further economic analysis.

his study explores the impact of augmented reality (AR) on worker performance in manufacturing contexts through an analysis of case studies extant in the literature. Two specific analyses were conducted to assess the impacts of AR technologies on worker performance in terms of objective and subjective metrics, and in terms of their age, experience with the task and experience with the AR device. Regarding objective metrics, the results showed that the task completion time was reduced for some AR devices (projectors, monitors, tablets, smartphones), whereas the use of the head-mounted display (HMD) increased task-completion time; moreover, the error rate was reduced with any AR device compared with traditional methods. Regarding subjective metrics, the analysis underlined that operator perceived a lower workload with the HMD or the monitor compared with traditional methods. The age of operators did not influence performance, while the operators’ experience allowed for the improvement of human performance.