Operator work design and robotics system performance: a serendipitous field study

The effect of increased operator control on the performance of a robotics line was examined. The introduction of a new payment system led operators to assume more responsibility for fault management. Data covering 101 shifts before and 127 shifts after the change showed a progressive improvement in system uptime. As predicted, initial gains were attributable to a quicker response to operating faults, shown by a reduction in downtime per incident; later additional gains were attributable to fault prevention. The implications of the findings for both theory and practice are discussed