This paper builds on the need to reinterpret industrial digital transformation and co-workership with the starting point that introducing and implementing digital initiatives is a multifaceted challenge for the manufacturing industry. Hence, this paper addresses how co-workership in manufacturing can be reinterpreted when navigating organizational and technological aspects of industrial digital transformation. To answer this, co-workers at different organizational levels have participated in five focus groups with a total of 25 participants to reinterpret industrial digital transformation over time, collaboratively structuring what the endeavors might entail. The results show that participants are positive towards digital technologies but critical towards organizational changes. It is argued that this affects the four conceptual pairs of the co-workership wheel. Thus, this paper contributes a revised model for co-workership for industrial digital transformation that contributes to the needed technological and organizational innovation

In this article, an employee perspective has been applied in aiming to explore how organizations face challenges and take responsibility for industrial digitalization, thus extending the research on the human-centric perspective in relation to Industry 4.0 technologies. To give emphasis to the human-centric perspective, the co-workership wheel was applied to identify and analyze data. The findings of an explorative longitudinal qualitative case study consisting of 35 in-depth interviews with informants from a manufacturing company were used. Additional data collection consisted of documents and project meetings. By applying a human-centric perspective, llessons learned from this case study show that taking responsibility for industrial digitalization is challenging and the importance of an adaptive organizational culture and a focus on learning and competence are crucial. We argue that the findings give useful implications for manufacturing organizations navigating the challenges of industrial digitalization to sense and seize the benefits of Industry 4.0 technologies.

Although widely adopted around the globe, emerging evidence suggests that digitalization investments often underperform. One potential reason is that firms lack organizational readiness to adopt these new technologies. Thus, in this paper, we evaluate both digitalization implementation and digital readiness in the Brazilian auto industry to ascertain how readiness potentially impacts the implementation of new digital technologies and processes. In reviewing the literature on digital transformation in the global automotive sector, a lack of studies was identified on the level of readiness and maturity of the automotive sector in relation to digitalization and innovation brought out by the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies.

To address this gap, a digitalization protocol was drawn up with the aim of verifying the maturity of companies and understanding the degree of readiness for digital transformation. Subsequently, the research was applied to thirteen companies in the automotive sector, including vehicle and engine manufacturers, as well as automotive parts and systems subcontractors in the automotive supply chain. The contribution of this paper identified that the use of digital technologies increases the quality and results of work, facilitates the achievement of objectives, and offers a competitive advantage. Further’ advantages come from improving customer experience, increasing innovation through data analysis, improving manufacturing processes, and bringing greater employee engagement.

Finally, it is highlighted that this study is aligned with the ninth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) proposed by the United Nations: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, which seeks to promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

The manufacturing industry is currently under extreme pressure to transform their organizations and competencies to reap the benefits of industry 4.0. The main driver for industry 4.0 is digitalization with disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things, digital platforms, etc. Industrial applications and research studies have shown promising results, but they rarely involve a human-centric perspective. Given this, we argue there is a lack of knowledge on how disruptive technologies take part in human decision-making and learning practices, and to what extent disruptive technologies may support both employees and organizations to “learn”. In recent research the importance and need of including a human-centric perspective in industry 4.0 is raised including a human learning and decision-making approach. Hence, disruptive technologies, by themselves, no longer consider to solve the actual problems.

Considering the richness of this topic, we propose an industrial work-integrated-learning research agenda to illuminate a human-centric perspective in Industry 4.0. This work-in-progress literature review aims to provide a research agenda on what and how application areas are covered in earlier research. Furthermore, the review identifies obstacles and opportunities that may affect manufacturing to reap the benefits of Industry 4.0. As part of the research, several inter-disciplinary areas are identified, in which industrial work-integrated-learning should be considered to enhance the design, implementation, and use of Industry 4.0 technologies. In conclusion, this study proposes a research agenda aimed at furthering research on how industrial digitalization can approach human and artificial intelligence through industrial work-integrated-learning for a future digitalized manufacturing.

The research in this thesis has investigated scheduling and Changeover Sensitive Heuristics (CSHs). The overall aim was to investigate the relationship between scheduling and changeovers and to develop and examine new scheduling heuristics that are intelligent enough to optimise both due dates and changeover requirements. Two new heuristics that incorporated the sequencing of jobs both according to product families and sub-product families were introduced. The new heuristics are named CSH12 and CSH12-K. A body of case studies have been undertaken. These are based on extensive data collected from the key collaborating company. In order to create generic data sets for a job shop environment, the case studies were extended to incorporate a range of parameters, such as several levels of processing times and job grouping strategies. Through discrete event simulation studies, the performance of the new heuristics has been compared to simple heuristics, semi-heuristics and existing changeover sensitive heuristics. In total, ten heuristics and two semi-heuristics were investigated. Scheduling according to product family (CSH1) compared to subproduct family (CSH2) was also studied and it is concluded that sub-product family sequencing performance better. Overall the new heuristics CSH12 and CSH12-Kshow a worthy performance and can reduce the changeover time the most through effective sequencing in a job shop environment with longer and shorter processing times. The research has also concluded that exhaustive heuristics perform better than non-exhaustive heuristics. Furthermore, CSHs are particularly effective for shorter processing times. This suggests that the choice of heuristic is more important for amix of jobs with shorter processing times. Or the reverse, a mix of jobs with comparatively long processing times is less sensitive to the choice of heuristic.

Additionally, the research revealed that product families with overall longer processing times result in higher percentage of tardy jobs. Thus, suggesting that dissimilar due date setting is beneficial for different product families. The research has determined the importance of considering appropriate scheduling and sequencing approaches, especially when changeovers have been addressed through design and organisational changes. The application of CSHs has demonstrated that an increase of jobs into the shop is possible. Hence, applying CSHs will achieve a strong competitive advantage.

Abstract. Production systems are being expanded to include Digital Twins (DTs)

as part of increased industrial digitalization. DTs can bring benefits e.g., increase

visibility, safety, and accessibility of the system. Further, digital experimentation

can reduce time and cost. Though, application of DT technologies involves

challenges i.e., model accuracy or errors in transferring data or codes between the

DT and the physical twin. Many studies on DTs focus on industrial applications.

However, DT technology has potential for implementation of digital labs in

education. This aspect of DTs is of rising importance as distance education has

increased over the last decade and access to physical laboratories can be restricted

due to factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, there is a need to study the use

of DT technology in higher education. To address this, we investigate possibilities

and challenges of applying DT technology in education to conduct industrial-like

labs virtually. A case of an automation line, with full scale industrial equipment,

based at a research center, is focused. Results emphasize that the application of DT

technologies require multi-domain expertise to understand the consequences of

every single decision in the design process on every piece of equipment involved,

making the modelling process complex and time consuming. Thus, when applied in

education, test procedures need to be designed to focus on students’ motivation,

improved learning and understanding of production systems. DTs are considered

enabling technologies supporting the concept of Industry 5.0, thus stressing the

human-centric aspects of advancing Industry 4.0. The predicted application of DTs

emphasizes the need for educational curricula that include laboratory applications

and theoretic understanding of DT technologies. This study focusses the application

of DT technologies in higher education curricula, but the result of the study can

contribute to other areas such as automation and virtual commissioning towards

smarter manufacturing

In the era of industry 4.0 businesses are pursuing applications of technological developments towards increased digitization. This in turn necessitates continuous and increasing demand for competence development of professionals. This paper reports a study of the design of university courses targeted towards professionals and investigate how such an educational incentive can act as a catalyst for application of technologies for industry 4.0, including simulation. Quantitative data is collected from fifteen courses addressing the competence need in manufacturing industry, and the qualitative data includes ten focus groups with course participants from companies. The results highlight that the course design enables knowledge exchange between university and industry and between participants. Moreover the pedagogy of working on real cases can facilitate opportunities for introducing new technologies to management. The study shows that the educational incentive explored can act as a catalyst for application of simulation and technologies within industry 4.0 in manufacturing industry.

Contemporary manufacturing organizations formulate strategies towards smart manufacturing. However, strategies often merely regard technological improvements of working processes and activities and pay limited attention to human-centric perspectives. This study addresses the complex phenomenon of reaching socially sustainable smart manufacturing by exploring the human-centric perspectives in the eras of Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0. Data were collected through an explorative qualitative case study with focus groups applying the history wall approach to document informants’ choices of activities that impact digitalization. To investigate informants’ interpretations and experiences of digital initiatives and prospects, the history wall approach was coupled with the analytical lens of the co-workership wheel, with its four conceptual pairs: trust and openness, community spirit and cooperation, engagement and meaningfulness, responsibility, and initiative. A total of 17 informants from different organizational levels at a case company participated. Activities, impacting digitalization, brought forward were grouped into technology, organization, and external impact. Results showed that human-centric and intangible perspectives surfaced as prerequisites when navigating industrial digitalization. Further, digital initiatives and prospects risk drowning in re-occurring organizational changes making successful implementation difficult. Thus, organizations cannot rely solely on technology, but must consider activities related to organizational aspects and impacts from the external environment, when introducing digital initiatives. Intrinsically, recognition of the co-workership concept, emphasizing human-centricity, can support the foundation necessary for bridging the gap towards socially sustainable smart manufacturing and strengthening the emerging I5.0 research.

Contemporary manufacturing companies are navigating industrial digitalization anticipating increased production efciency and competitiveness in a volatile environment. This study focuses on the implementation processes of digital tools for production planning and control (PPC), i.e., advanced planning and scheduling (APS) software, in relation to the application of analog planning with physical fow boards. Digital tools can support understanding the consequences of production changes and variations, hence facilitating adaptable and resilient manufacturing. However, technological changes can be daunting, and efective implementations require dynamic capabilities to remain competitive in elusive environments. The aim is to study the implementation processes of an APS software to understand the requirements of fruitfully moving from analog planning to next-generation digital tools for decision support in PPC. The paper presents an explorative case study, at a manufacturing company within the energy sector. The interview study took place over 9 months during 2020–2021, investigating current and retrospective aspects of the case across 2019–2021. The case study comprises 17 in-depth interviews with a range of company employees, e.g., logistics managers and functions responsible for digitalization development. The results highlight the challenges of implementing and especially trusting digital tools for PPC. To realize the value of digital tools for PPC, it is argued that it is imperative to simultaneously apply a human-centric perspective in decision making to ensure trustworthy, sustainable, and resilient human-data-technology nexus implementations towards smart manufacturing

New competences and knowledge needs arises as manufacturing industry evolves and becomes increasingly digitalized. Facing this transformation, one of the challenges is the continuous and growing need for novel initiatives for competence development.The case portrayed here stems from a Swedish cross-university project aiming to jointly develop and offer courses for competence development of professionals in the manufacturing and IT sectors. The ambition is to increase the impact of the universities' respective efforts of meeting industry competence needs, where the continuous digital transformation entails that employees must develop or even change their qualifications.

The case outlined focus co-production of a joint course package, at master level, between three universities and their respective company networks. Participating universities have long traditions in working closely with companies in research and education, where approaches for co-production have evolved over time. We make use of our joint understanding of the manufacturing industry's specific competence needs and our experiences of sustainable course formats for participants working full time.The joint course covers aspects of a manufacturing company on three levels: plant level i.e. material and production flows, cell level e.g. robotic simulation and visualisation, and system level i.e. data acquisition and monitoring through sensors. Each university is developing a course module of 2.5 ECTS, addressing a level respectively of their specialist competence. Participants are to complete assignments for each course module, i.e. for all three manufacturing levels, where the previous assignment provides an input to the next level, enabling the participants to encompass a holistic view of a manufacturing system. Participants need to combine study and work and at the same time they wish to extend their network, hence we are adopting a blended learning approach, where virtual labs and web conferences are mixed with physical meetings.A variety of challenges arise when designing such novel approaches: combining company networks, course design including online learning, planning of physical course meetings,

joint promotion, common admission and validation process, financial models and more. However, engaging in partnerships with industry for knowledge transformation and development has the potential to become rewarding for all parties.

Abstract. Needs for new competences and knowledge arise as industry 4.0 evolves

in increasingly digitalized production. This development entails that job

transformations and future skills need attention from the perspective of industry 5.0,

where human and machine find ways of working together to improve production

performance. Facing this perspective, one challenge is a growing need for novel

lifelong learning initiatives, to meet emerging and altering occupations for the

fulfilment of future skill requirements. This challenge is addressed here by

portraying a case where three Swedish universities have formed a distinctive

collaboration to develop a flexible (i.e. blended) course for professionals, in the

subject of Digitally-enabled production. The purpose is to develop a sustainable

collaboration between the universities and create a course format on master level

addressing lifelong learning for the increasingly digitalized production. The

ambition is to increase the impact of the universities respective efforts by sharing

resources and utilizing individual specialized expertise to develop a practical and

relevant course that can reach a larger target group. The course encompasses

industry 4.0 readiness on three levels of production systems; plant-, production cell-,

and component level; to adopt a holistic view of digitalization in production. We

followed an action research approach for continuously collecting and documenting

our experiences during the course development, implementation, and dissemination

of the course. Within the frame of action research, an explorative case study

describes and analyzes the initiative. The results highlight challenges and

opportunities for succeeding with this form of co-produced course. The joint course

gives professionals possibilities to work on cases from their own companies with

expert supervision from three manufacturing levels to address complex challenges

in industry 4.0 implementation. To conclude, the importance of lifelong learning in

relation to the human-centric approach of industry 5.0 is emphasized as a future

direction.

In a work practice of constant implementation of new manufacturing processes, competence development becomes crucial for practitioners within engineering fields such as production systems, additive manufacturing, industry 4.0 and machine learning. Industrial work is transforming and practitioners constantly need to learn both integrated in work practice and through flexible education.Given this, the purpose of this study is to analyse how participants engage in a unique initiative where courses targeting competence development for manufacturing industry have been co-constructed between one university and a network of companies. The longitudinal initiative (2013-ongoing) focus industry knowledge needs and e-learning design aiming for industrial work integrated learning. Over time a course format of five-week flexible e-learning courses of 2.5 ECTS, on master level, has evolved, and 30 courses within e.g. robotics, additive manufacturing and industrial digitalization, have been designed.

The uniqueness lies in the opportunities continuously taken for co-construction of course design throughout and this has brought about a combination of different practices for collaboration between academia and industry. Course participants perspectives are specifically explored through focus group studies and a questionnaire survey. Between 2014 and spring 2019 a total of 367 participants took part in focus group sessions at the end of each course instance. The questionnaire was distributed in spring 2019 to 638 individuals and the response rate was 12% (77 respondents) of which 56 had completed one or more courses. While the response rate of the questionnaire is low, results confirm the findings from the focus group studies and indicates new aspects for further study.

Outcomes from the focus groups show that practitioners feel that their own motives for learning are key for course participation. This is corroborated by the questionnaire results where 79% say they apply for the courses with ambition to study built on their own desire. The flexible e-learning format including virtual laboratories, web-conferencing and practical cases, is essential when combining full time work with competence development. This coupled with 89% of the questionnaire respondents finding the course content useful in relation to their own work, indicates the uniqueness of the initiative. Challenges persisting are the university's lack of capacity to swiftly respond to companies' skills needs and the nurture and development of the growing network that requires continued coordination. However, participants perspectives reveal the potential of how to empower co-construction of knowledge for industrial work integrated learning.

Smart manufacturing needs to handle increased uncertainty by becoming more responsive and more flexible to reconfigure. Advances in technology within industry 4.0 can provide acquisition of large amounts of data, to support decision making in manufacturing. Those possibilities have brought anew attention to the applicability of discrete event simulation for production flow modelling when moving towards design of logistics systems 4.0. This paper reports a study investigating challenges and opportunities for initiation of discrete event simulation, as a tool for decision making in the era of industry 4.0 manufacturing. The research has been approached through action research in combination with a real case study at a manufacturing company in the energy sector. The Covid-19 pandemic fated that adjusted and new ways of communication, collaboration, and data collection, in relation to the methods, had to be explored and tried. Throughout the study, production data, such as processing times, have been collected and analyzed for discrete event simulation modelling. The complexity of introducing discrete event simulation as a new tool for decision making is highlighted, where we emphasize the human knowledge and involvement yet necessary to understand and to draw conclusions from the data. The results also demonstrate that the data analysis has given valuable insights into production characteristics, that need addressing. Thus, revealing opportunities for how the initiative of introducing discrete event simulation as an anew tool in the wake of industry 4.0, can act as a catalyst for improved decision making in future manufacturing. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

New and elevated competences and knowledge needs arise as industry evolves and manufacturing is increasingly focusing digitalisation and sustainability. Facing those aspects of transformation one of the challenges is the continuous and growing need for competence development of professionals. In a work practice of constant implementation of new manufacturing processes, competence development becomes crucial for professionals within engineering fields such as production systems, product development and logistics. This paper reports a study of the design of courses within manufacturing logistics aimed at competence development for industrial professionals. We investigate how such courses can be designed to enable improved logistics practices in manufacturing industry. The course mode and its development are outlined, explaining the university and industry co-production of the incentive. The courses and their specified content are developed jointly with collaborating companies, and the courses are given free of charge as regular university courses advertised as free-standing courses. Data is collected between the period of spring semester 2019 – to spring semester 2021 from five completed courses of 2.5 ECTS on master level within manufacturing logistics. The data comprise quantitative data, such as throughput rate for course participants and qualitative data from focus groups. The focus groups emphasis the perspectives of the course participants and take place at the end of a completed course. Those focus groups serve as course evaluation coupled with highlighting themes of co-production and knowledge exchange between university and industry. The course concept of 2.5 ECTS credits on master level given during a period of five weeks has proven successful as regards meeting competence development need for professionals that are required to study in parallel with full time work. The results highlight participant’s perspectives, revealing that they value the potential of knowledge exchange enabled through the pedagogy of the course concept. Further, we emphasize that co-production between university and industry is beneficial to successfully design education aiming to meet real competence needs and challenges faced by manufacturing companies. To conclude, the results accentuate how the presented course concept can create and encourage conditions that lay the foundation for increased application of, at the companies, previously untried manufacturing logistic methods and new practices within logistics. 

Purpose New technological advancements and global societal changes continuously reshapes manufacturing industry creating increasing competence needs for professionals, as new skill needs, both up-skilling and re-skilling are evolving simultaneously (European Commission, 2021). Thus, industry is struggling with skill shortages at the same time as higher educational institutions (HEIs) traditionally are not structurally organised to design for and meet the new educational demands that are progressively surfacing. Those challenges are addressed here by depicting a case where a Swedish university in collaboration with around 50 external partners, mainly from the manufacturing industry, have co-produced an educational model with short courses, at master level, targeting competence development of professionals (Hattinger and Eriksson, 2020). Such models have evolved over the past decade (Kashyap and Agrawal, 2019) with the content of the courses consecutively adapted to the shifts in industry competence needs (Eriksson et al., 2021). Those initiatives have seen many phases, e.g., calibration of co-production activities between industry and academia (Brunel et al., 2010; Holland, 2019; Sannö et al., 2019) and finding suitable course formats for professionals (Hattinger and Eriksson, 2015). However, the aspects of corresponding and necessary organisational changes to traditional academic structures to successfully encompass such new educational models into the regular education prospects is still challenging and thus needs further understanding. The new educational models mean changes to many functions within HEIs, emphasising that knowledge between functions needs to be transferred, shared, and exchanged. Hence, the aim is to study the changes in the organisation's knowledge from the perspective of organisational learning (Argote, 2013). Following this, the research question asked is: How can academic structural changes, for creating an agile and sustainable university educational model meeting industrial competence needs in a changing society, be understood from the perspective of organisational learning? Case description and outline of the study The case focuses on an educational model developed in co-production between academia and industry, spanning the years 2013-2020. The model is designed with short courses in hybrid format of 2.5 European Credits (ECTS) given over five weeks in the field of production technology. Competence needs and co-production between university and industry has been studied over the years (Hattinger and Eriksson, 2020). However, it is realised that it is essential with joint refection among different functions at HEIs for facilitating organisational changes of traditional academic structures . . .

Purpose – Technological advancements and global societal changes reshapes manufacturing industry emphasizing needs for competence development of industrial professionals. The purpose of this paper is tostudy how organizational learning supports the development of academic structures, creating agile and sustainable formal educational models meeting novel competence needs.

Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative case study, part of a longitudinal research study,focuses on internal academic processes supporting a new formal educational model. Qualitative datawas collected through five focus groups, incorporating 32 informants from different HEI function categories.

Findings – Changing traditional academic structures requires joint engagement between all HEI functions,emphasizing organizational learning with subprocesses of searching, creating, sustaining and exchangingknowledge in a learning loop. Results show a consensus among the different HEI functions regarding thevalue of the HEI’s coproduction with society; however, bureaucracy and academic structure hinder flexibility.Cross-functional teams building a “chain-of-trust” throughout the HEI coupled with full management supportshow opportunities to progress into a learning organization.

Practical implications – Organizational learning within HEIs requires trustful and open communication,multifunction knowledge exchange, holistic views of processes and system thinking, achieved through crossfunctional teams and continuous improvement through learning loops.

Social implications – Industry-academic collaboration on formal education for lifelong learning needs to become both agile and resilience to meet technological advancement and sustainability.

Originality/value – Novel technology, digitalization and sustainability gain ground and require thatsociety and organizations, including academia, change and learn. This means that academia is meeting new challenges and needs to develop internal processes.

Purpose 

Both technological and human-centric perspectives need to be acknowledged when combining lean production practices and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies. This study aims to explore and explain how lean production practices and I4.0 technologies may coexist to enhance the human-centric perspective of manufacturing operations in the era of Industry 5.0 (I5.0).

Design/methodology/approach

The research approach is an explorative and longitudinal case study. The qualitative data collection encompasses respondents from different job functions and organizational levels to cover the entire organization. In total, 18 interviews with 19 interviewees and five focus groups with a total of 25 participants are included.

Findings

Identified challenges bring forth that manufacturing organizations must have the ability to see beyond lean production philosophy and I4.0 to meet the demand for a human-centric perspective in socially sustainable manufacturing in the era of Industry 5.0.

Practical implications

The study suggests that while lean production practices and I4.0 practices may be considered separately, they need to be integrated as complementary approaches. This underscores the complexity of managing simultaneous organizational changes and new digital initiatives.

Social implications

The research presented illuminates the elusive phenomena comprising the combined aspects of a human-centric perspective, specifically bringing forth implications for the co-existence of lean production practices and I4.0 technologies, in the transformation towards I5.0.

Originality/value

The study contributes to new avenues of research within the field of socially sustainable manufacturing. The study provides an in-depth analysis of the human-centric perspective when transforming organizations towards Industry 5.0.

The need for human-centric perspectives on smart automation are increasing as new technological advancements and global societal changes continuously re-shapes the manufacturing industry. Meeting this need is challenging and cannot be accomplished by one sole field of research expertise and requires university-industry collaboration. The research presented combines expertise from different disciplines, i.e., industrial engineering, automation and control, business administration, management, informatics, and work-integrated learning. The research group has extensive experience of such collaborations and is presently applying previous research and experiences in studies of human-centric smart automation striving to build unique research. Transdisciplinary research offers many opportunities; however, challenges include, combining methodologies, communication jargon, mutual respect for different disciplines and designing joint research studies. The research presented addresses such challenges by taking a transdisciplinary and collaborative approach bringing forth the human-centric perspective when advancing smart robotic automation. The aim is to exemplify and illustrate how to design transdisciplinary research in collaboration with industry for knowledge exchange and co-creation of new knowledge. The collaborative design emphasises the value of a transdisciplinary approach in university-industry collaboration when studying, understanding, and evolving the human-centric perspective of technological advancement in the manufacturing industry. Findings contribute design for synergizing technology development and manufacturing management to reach human-centric smart automation. The implication of the research relates to broader societal issues aligned with Industry 5.0, placing humans at the centre when introducing novel production processes and new technologies.

Increased environmental awareness is driving the manufacturing industry towards novel ways of energy reduction to become sustainable yet stay competitive. Climate and enviromental challenges put high priority on incorporating aspects of sustainability into both strategic and operational levels, such as production scheduling, in the manufacturing industry. Considering energy as a parameter when planning makes an already existing highly complex task of production scheduling even more multifaceted. The focus in this study is on inverse scheduling, defined as the problem of finding the number of jobs and duration times to meet a fixed input capacity. The purpose of this study was to investigate how scheduling can be formulated, within the environment of discrete event simulation coupled with reinforcement learning, to meet production demands while simultaneously minimize makespan and reduce energy. The study applied the method of modeling a production robot cell with its uncertainties, using discrete event simulation combined with deep reinforcement learning and trained agents. The researched scheduling approach derived solutions that take into consideration the performance measures of energy use. The method was applied and tested in a simulation environment with data from a real robot production cell. The study revealed opportunities for novel approaches of studying and reducing energy in the manufacturing industry. Results demonstrated a move towards a more holistic approach for production scheduling, which includes energy usage, that can aid decision-making and facilitate increased sustainability in production. We propose a conceptual framework for scheduling for minimizing energy use applying discrete event simulation as an environment for deep reinforcement learning.

The procurement process of investing in new manufacturing equipment can be time-consuming and complex. This is especially prevalent in manufacturing companies specializing in production of cutting-edge low volume components. The focus of increased digitalization in the era of industry 4.0 has brought to light novel technologies, such as virtual commissioning, factory scanning, digital twins, and their respective digital models. The aspects of virtual commissioning in relation to the procurement process were investigated through a case study at a manufacturing company.

The data collection was explorative and qualitative, including mapping of the case company procurement process and four in-depth interviews with industry experts, performed during spring 2023. The industry experts were selected to enlighten the procurement process from different angles, i.e., project management, electrical installations, robot programming, and maintenance.

The findings from the study are fourfold. First, the existing procurement process was mapped and holistically explained from the viewpoints of different work functions. Secondly, improvements to the current procurement process were identified. Thirdly, the current use of virtual commissioning in the procurement process was brought to light. Finally, challenges and possibilities for using virtual commissioning in the procurement process were brought forward.

The conclusion displays possible improvements to flow and time aspects of the procurement process and thus application of virtual commissioning is worthwhile to consider. However, the industrial experts, taking part in the interviews, bring forth certain skepticism and challenges of using virtual commissioning. Thus, to move forward, it is important to proactively engage experts and other employees concerned with sought development. This emphasizes the industry 5.0 perspectives of humans’ interaction and critical thinking when facing challenges of industrial digitalization. Future research is therefore encouraged to involve joint discussions between industrial experts in focus group settings and extending the study to incorporate more functions i.e., managers and machine operators.

Purpose – The wood construction industry has been described as slow in adapting efficiency-increasingactivities in its operations and supply chain. The industry is still facing challenges related to digitalization, suchas fragmentation, poor traceability and lack of real-time information. This study evaluates the status ofdigitalization in construction supply chains by thematically analyzing the existing literature and mappingresearch trends.Design/methodology/approach – A review of the key literature from 2016 to 2021 was performed. Theresults highlight various technologies and their applications within supply chains and identify research gaps,especially between theoretical frameworks and actual implementation using a scientometric-thematic analysis.Findings – This paper provides a conceptual framework to further aid researchers in exploring the currenttrends in Supply Chain 4.0 and its applications in the wood construction industry compared to other moreadvanced industries. Suggested directions for future research in the wood construction Supply Chain 4.0 areoutlined.Originality/value – The existing literature still lacks a comprehensive review of the potential of a digitalizedsupply chain, especially in the construction industry. This framework is pivotal to continue explaining andobserving the best ways to accelerate and implement Supply Chain 4.0 practices for digitalized supply chainmanagement (SCM) while focusing specifically on the wood construction industry. The literature review resultswill help develop a comprehensive framework for future research direction to create a clearer vision of thecurrent state of digitalization in supply chains and focus on the wood construction supply chain, thus, fullyachieving the benefits of Supply Chain 4.0 in the wood construction industry.

Building information modelling (BIM) is becoming a necessity for the wood construction industry, this is due to its high level of prefabrication and complex digital procedures using wood sawing machines and sophisticated cuttings. This research examines the levelof BIM implementation in the wood construction industry in Sweden from industry experts prospective. Data was collected through interviews with industrial practitioners and academics. This research provides an important list of challenges that need to be considered to increase the level of BIM implementation in the wood construction industry. The research also provides recommendations for future research to aid in increasing the level of BIM implementation in the wood construction industry in Sweden.

Purpose –

Perceived benefits of building information modelling (BIM) have been discussed for some time, but cost–benefit benchmarking has been inconsistent. The purpose of this paper is to investigate BIM feasibility and evaluate investment worth to elucidate and develop the current understanding of BIM merit. The aim of the study is to propose a research agenda towards a more holistic perspective of BIM use incorporating quantifying investment return.

Design/methodology/approach –

An in-depth examination of research patterns has been conducted to identify challenges in the assessment of the investment value and return on investment (ROI) for BIM in the construction industry. A total of 75 research articles were considered for the final literature review. An evaluation of the literature is conducted using a combination of bibliometric analysis and systematic reviews.

Findings –

This study, which analysed 75 articles, unveils key findings in quantifying BIM benefits, primarily through ROI calculation. Two major research gaps are identified: the absence of a standardized BIM ROI method and insufficient exploration of intangible benefits. Research focus varies across phases, emphasizing design and construction integration and exploring post-construction phases. The study categorizes quantifiable factors, including productivity, changes and rework reduction, requests for information reduction, schedule efficiency, safety, environmental sustainability and operations and facility management. These findings offer vital insights for researchers and practitioners, enhancing understanding of ’BIM’s financial benefits and signalling areas for further exploration in construction.

Originality/value –

The ’study’s outcomes offer the latest insights for researchers and practitioners to create effective approaches for quantifying ’BIM’s financial benefits. Additionally, the proposed research agenda aims to improve the current limited understanding of BIM feasibility and investment worth evaluation. Results of the study could assist practitioners in overcoming limitations associated with BIM investment and economic evaluations in the construction industry.

Abstract. The wood manufacturing industry has been described as slow in adopting

efficiency increasing activities in its operations and supply chain, the industry is still

facing challenges relating to digitalization such as fragmentation, poor traceability,

and lack of real-time information. The integration of industry 4.0 technologies can

enhance the supply chain performance in terms of efficiency, collaboration, quality,

and transparency. This paper aims to evaluate the current status of digitalization in

supply chains, by analysing the existing literature and mapping research trends. in an

aim to create a clearer vision of the current state of digitalization in supply chains in

general and focusing on the wood manufacturing supply chain in particular, the

results of the literature review will be used to develop a comprehensive framework

for future research direction, to fully achieve the benefits of supply chain 4.0 in the

wood manufacturing industry. This framework serves as a departure point to continue

explaining and observing the best way to accelerate and implement Supply Chain 4.0

practices for digitalized supply chain management while focusing specifically on the

wood manufacturing industry. To achieve the overall purpose, a literature review of

the key literature from 2016 to 2021 has been performed. using a bibliometric and

content review analysis, the results shed light on various technologies and their

applications within supply chains and identify research gaps especially between

theoretical frameworks and actual implementation. This paper provides a conceptual

framework to further aid researchers in the exploration of knowledge regarding the

most current trends in Supply Chain 4.0 and its applications in the wood

manufacturing industry compared to other advanced industries, as well as the

directions of the new research in the wood manufacturing Supply Chain 4.0.

Purpose

This study addresses the critical imperative of quantifying building information modeling (bimalliance) benefits by augmenting existing methodologies, with a focus on monetization. Engaging industry practitioners, the research develops a comprehensive framework through an exhaustive literature review and a survey in the Swedish construction industry, incorporating insights from 128 respondents.

Design/methodology/approach

The framework, validated by industry experts, systematically assesses tangible BIM benefits against associated costs. It introduces a novel method in construction, addressing the lack of a unified approach. The resulting framework facilitates nuanced feasibility determinations by systematically evaluating BIM benefits against costs.

Findings

Despite its acknowledged limitations, the framework effectively captures a comprehensive range of costs and benefits, providing a more accurate and detailed estimation of BIM’s impact on project outcomes.

Practical implications

With practical implications, the framework enhances BIM understanding and application, contributing to effective project management throughout the construction supply chain lifecycle. Moreover, it aims to improve efficacy within the architecture, engineering, construction and operations industry.

Originality/value

The study empowers organizations and decision-makers with a bespoke tool for evaluating BIM feasibility, contributing to decision-making through a clarified numerical representation.

This research delves into the tangible economic impact of Building Information Modelling within the Swedish construction industry, with a particular focus on exploring the relationships among the level of BIM implementation, company size, and the perceived benefits derived from BIM.

The study's methodology involved conducting a questionnaire survey, from which a dataset of 128 responses was collected for comprehensive analysis. The study's findings challenge prevailing assumptions by suggesting that the size of a company does not necessarily dictate its likelihood of implementing BIM. This contradicts earlier notions that larger companies have a more significant propensity for BIM adoption. Additionally, the research uncovers a positive correlation between higher levels of BIM implementation and the realization of greater benefits. This correlation underscores the potential of BIM in significantly enhancing construction project outcomes. By bridging empirical insights from industry professionals and a robust questionnaire survey, this study provides valuable contributions to the understanding of how BIM can improve performance in the construction sector. 

These results emphasize the importance of considering BIM's potential benefits beyond the scope of company size and offer fresh perspectives on the dynamics between BIM implementation and perceived advantages in the construction project context.

Purpose: This study aims to present a state-of-the-art review of building information modelling (BIM) in the Swedish construction practice with a focus on wood construction. It focuses on examining the extent, maturity and actual practices of BIM in the Swedish wood construction industry, by analysing practitioners’ perspectives on the current state of BIM and its perceived benefits. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach was selected, given the study’s exploratory character. Initially, an extensive review was undertaken to examine the current state of BIM utilisation and its associated advantages within the construction industry. Subsequently, empirical data were acquired through semi-structured interviews featuring open-ended questions, aimed at comprehensively assessing the prevailing extent of BIM integration within the Swedish wood construction sector. Findings: The research concluded that the wood construction industry in Sweden is shifting towards BIM on different levels, where in some cases, the level of implementation is still modest. It should be emphasised that the wood construction industry in Sweden is not realising the full potential of BIM. The industry is still using a combination of BIM and traditional methods, thus, limiting the benefits that full BIM implementation could offer the industry. Originality/value: This study provided empirical evidence on the current perceptions and state of practice of the Swedish wood construction industry regarding BIM maturity. © 2023, Lina Gharaibeh, Sandra Matarneh, Kristina Eriksson and Björn Lantz.

This research presents a comprehensive framework for quantifying the benefits of Building Information Modelling in construction. Through industry insights and surveys, the study validates formulated equations and integrates case studies from the Swedish construction sector. Results reveal increased costs in the design phase but indicate time and cost savings during design and construction. Operational benefits, notably in maintenance planning and energy efficiency, constitute a substantial portion of the total estimated benefits. The study introduces a unified quantification methodology, demonstrating an investment rate of 16.1 % and 10.17 % for cases A and B, respectively. This research contributes to the ongoing discourse on BIM adoption, offering valuable insights and methodological advancements for industry practitioners.

This research presents a comprehensive framework for quantifying the benefits of Building Information Modelling in construction. Through industry insights and surveys, the study validates formulated equations and integrates case studies from the Swedish construction sector. Results reveal increased costs in the design phase but indicate time and cost savings during design and construction. Operational benefits, notably in maintenance planning and energy efficiency, constitute a substantial portion of the total estimated benefits. The study introduces a unified quantification methodology, demonstrating an investment rate of 16.1 % and 10.17 % for cases A and B, respectively. This research contributes to the ongoing discourse on BIM adoption, offering valuable insights and methodological advancements for industry practitioners.

Building information modelling is gradually being recognised by the architecture, engineering, construction, and operation industry as a valuable opportunity to increase the efficiency of the built environment. Focusing on the wood construction industry, BIM is becoming a necessity; this is due to its high level of prefabrication and complex digital procedures using wood sawing machines and sophisticated cuttings. However, the full implementation of BIM is still far from reality. The main objective of this paper is to explore the barriers affecting BIM implementation in the Swedish construction industry. An extensive literature review was conducted to extract barriers hindering the implementation of BIM in the construction industry. Secondly, barriers to the implementation of BIM in the wood construction industry in Sweden were extracted using the grounded theory methodology to analyse expert input on the phenomenon of low BIM implementation in the wood construction industry in Sweden. Thirty-four barriers were identified. The analysis of this study also led to the development of a conceptual model that recommended solutions to overcome the barriers identified to help maximise BIM implementation within the wood construction industry. Identifying the main barriers affecting BIM implementation is essential to guide organisational decisions and drive policy, particularly for governments that are considering articulating regulations to expand BIM implementation. 

The manufacturing industry is continuously facing global competition and customer demands which impose the need to knowledge development to manage changes and long-term business goals. Continuous and lifelong learning is often seen as processes that support competence development and learning integrated within work. In this paper we focus on processes of learning within the manufacturing industry and how learning initiatives as technology mediated courses (TMC) can support learning from the workplace learning needs. Is learning initiatives integrated in work considered as means for strategic business goals? Can TMC be an important learning tool for support of knowledge creation? The study is performed through interviews with production managers and human resource managers with eight manufacturing industries in the western part of Sweden. Through the study we try to understand what knowledge the industry needs to evolve and achieve effective production. We also study the readiness for technology mediated learning. Early results show that the industries have interest in learning initiatives such as TMC and are willing to co-produce knowledge together with universities. We present a matrix model that interlinks business goals and the industries current use of technology mediated learning tools. However, the experience of using tools such as web conference systems and learning management systems for learning initiatives is diversified.

In the era of Industry 4.0, emergent digital technologies generate profound transformations in the industry toward developing intelligent manufacturing. The technologies included in Industry 4.0 are expected to bring new perspectives to the industry on how manufacturing can integrate new solutions to get maximum output with minimum resource utilization (Kamble et al., 2018). Industry 4.0 technologies create a great impact on production systems and processes, however, affect organizational structures and working life conditions by disrupting employees’ everyday practices and knowledge, in which competence and learning, human interaction, and organizational structures are key. Hence, new digital solutions need to be integrated with work and learning to generate more holistic and sustainable businesses (Carlsson et al., 2021).

The core Industry 4.0 technologies are built on cyber-physical systems (CPS), cloud computing, and the Internet of things (IoT) (Kagermann et al., 2013; Zhou et al., 2018). In recent years, an array of additional technologies has been developed further, such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), cyber security, robotics, and automation. Industry 4.0 aims to create a potential for faster delivery times, more efficient and automated processes, higher quality, and customized products (Zheng et al., 2021). Hence, the ongoing transformation through the technological shift of production in combination with market demands pushes the industry and its production process.

Recent research has substantially contributed to an increased understanding of the technological aspects of Industry 4.0. However, the utilization of technologies is only a part of the complex puzzle making up Industry 4.0 (Kagermann et al., 2013; Zheng et al., 2021). The impact Industry 4.0 technologies and application s have on the industrial context also changes and disrupts existing and traditional work practices (Taylor et al., 2020), management and leadership (Saucedo-Martínez et al., 2018), learning and skills (Tvenge & Martinsen, 2018), and education (Das et al., 2020). This research has shown a growing interest in human-centric aspects of Industry 4.0 (Nahavandi, 2019), i.e., the transformative effects Industry 4.0 has on humans, workplace design, organizational routines, skills, learning, etc. However, these aspects are scarcely considered in-depth. Given this, and from a holistic point of view, there is a need to understand intelligent manufacturing practice from a human-centric perspective, where issues of work practices and learning are integrated, herein refe rred to as industrial work-integrated learning. I-WIL is a research area that particularly pays attention to knowledge production and learning capabilities related to use and development when technology and humans co -exist in industrial work settings (Shahlaei & Lundh Snis, 2022). Even if Industry 4.0 still is relevant for continuous development, a complementary Industry 5.0 has arisen to provide efficiency and productivity as the sole goals to reinforce a sustainable, human-centric, and resilient manufacturing industry (Breque et al., 2021; Nahavandi, 2019).

Given this situation, the research question addressed here is: How does state-of-the-art research of Industry 4.0 technologies and applications consider human-centric aspects? A systematic literature review was conducted aiming to identify a future research agenda that emphasizes human-centric aspects of intelligent manufacturing, that will contribute to the field of manufacturing research and practices. This question was based on very few systematic literature reviews, considering Industry 4.0 research incorporating human -centric aspects for developing intelligent manufacturing (Kamble et al., 2018; Zheng et al., 2021). The literature review study was structured by the design of Xiao and Watson’s (2019) methodology consisting of the steps 1) Initial corpus creation, 2) Finalizing corpus, and 3) Analyzing corpus, and we also used a bibliometric approach throughout the search process (Glänzel & Schoepflin, 1999). The keyword selection was categorized into three groups of search terms, “industry 4.0”, “manufacturing”, and “artificial intelligence”, see figure 1. (Not included here)

Articles were collected from the meta -databases EBSCOhost, Scopus, Eric, and the database AIS, to quantify the presence of human-centric or human-involved AI approaches in recent manufacturing research. A total of 999 scientific articles were collected and clustered based on a list of application areas to investigate if there is a difference between various areas in which artificial intelligence is used. The application areas are decision -making, digital twin, flexible automation, platformization, predictive maintenance, predictive quality, process optimization, production planning, and quality assessment.Throughout the review process, only articles that included both AI and human -centric aspects were screened and categorized. The final corpus included 386 articles of which only 93 articles were identified as human -centric. These articles were categorized into three themes: 1) organizational change, 2) competence and learning, and 3) human-automation interaction. Theme 1 articles related mostly to the application areas of flexible automation (11), production planning (9), and predictive maintenance (5). Theme 2 concerned the application areas of production planning and quality assessment (7), and process optimization (7).

Finally, theme 3 mainly focused on flexible automation (10), digital twin (3), and platformization (3). The rest of the corpus only consisted of one or two articles in related application areas. To conclude, only a few articles were found that reinforce human -centric themes for Industry 4.0 implementations. The literature review identified obstacles and opportu nities that affect manufacturing organizations to reap the benefits of Industry 4.0. Hence, I-WIL is proposed as a research area to inform a new research agenda that captures human and technological integration of Industry 4.0 and to further illuminate human-centric aspects and themes for future sustainable intelligent manufacturing. 

This paper reports on a design process of e-learning courses for competence development of experienced employees in the manufacturing industry. Through a cross- organizational collaborative action design research project the aim was to design e-learning courses at university level to support work-integrated learning. Two design- and learning cycles were evaluated over two years. The first cycle identified challenges that were applied to a pilot course in Industrial automation. From evaluation of this course we derived design principles applied to two further courses in Machining and Negotiation skills. The results from our empirical data suggest general principles as competence mapping work, collaborative manufacturing e-WIL cases and interactive learning technologies for design of e-WIL courses as boundary crossing activities to reach transformative learning integrated in the manufacturing industry.

This paper reports on a design process of e-learning courses for competence development of experienced employees in the manufacturing industry. Through a crossorganizational collaborative action design research project the aim was to design e-learning courses at university level to support work-integrated learning. Two designand learning cycles were evaluated over two years. The first cycle identified challenges that were applied to a pilot course in Industrial automation. From evaluation of this course we derived design principles applied to two further courses in Machining and Negotiation skills. The results from our empirical data suggest general principles as competence mapping work, collaborative manufacturing e-WIL cases and interactive learning technologies for design of e-WIL courses as boundary crossing activities to reach transformative learning integrated in the manufacturing industry.

The focus in this study is on knowledge transformation in the workplace following substantial competence initiatives through blended e-learning at the university level. Competence development on academic level is a key factor for industries in times of increased digitalization of manufacturing work. To develop competitive manufacturing requires employees with expert knowledge, which professional organisations need to strengthening. Even if individual employees' motivation for learning is essential, management need to put efforts on competence development and encourage education that, combine theory and practice in forms of work integrated learning. Blended e-learning courses on university level has been successful for supporting such competence development needs, which here is described as work-integrated e-learning, e-WIL. In this study, we explore practitioners' knowledge transformation after their participation in blended e-WIL courses that are designed with industry target content aiming for workplace transformations. Specifically, we focus on the learning efforts versus the management strategies after e-learning initiatives that have an effect on workplace transformations.

The industry target courses in the case study, are designed in collaboration between an industry-union-university venture of a Norwegian industry network, the Addiscounion and a Swedish university. Six courses are included comprising three knowledge subjects; Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Engineering Tools, and Robotics and Automation. Addisco was the facilitator for engaging industry university collaboration, and stimulated co-creation between industry companies. Data was collected through a longitudinal action research project, comprising six focus group sessions with 113 industry participants during 2015 and 2018. We analysed the company management support of knowledge transformation through the course participants' manifestations of experiences in focus groups, conducted after each course intervention. Overall results show that most participants experience a low management support of knowledge transformation as an engine for workplace transformation, after conducting e-WIL courses. Stimulation of individual motivation and new skills gained were not promoted within the workplace structures. There seem to be a lack of individual competence plans, time for studies, business models and routines, networking and recognition of the individuals' knowledge transformation. Rather, participants claimed their individual responsibilities, and motivation that drives them to further competence development. We therefore argue for stronger management awareness and designed learning models, to develop company strategies that fully appreciate the benefits and new knowledge that industry participants bring back into the workplace after course participation.

Blended e-learning in higher education targeting company knowledge needs, can support continuous competence development for practitioners in the manufacturing industry. However, university education is traditionally not designed for workplace knowledge needs that strengthen practitioners' learning in everyday work, i.e. work-integrated learning.

Designing for such learning efforts is even more challenging when the pedagogical strategy is to stimulate practitioners own work experiences as a valuable knowledge source in construction with other peers or teachers. The aim is to explore how engineering practitioners and research teachers mutually co-construct knowledge. In particular, three types of case-based methodologies are examined within a range of industry targeted e-learning courses. The study is part of alongitudinal joint industry-university project. Eleven courses were analyzed through focus group sessions with 110 practitioners from 15 different companies. Results show that 1) Virtual digital cases stimulate high technology learning, but show low collaboration with peers, 2) On-line collaborative negotiation cases stimulate both web conferencing and high interactivity, and 3) Real workplace cases do not stimulate e-learning, but motivate strong work-integrated learning and knowledge expansion.

University e-learning education aims to support lifelong learning for practitioners in the manufacturing industry and strengthen their competence development integrated in work practice. However, traditional higher education courses are usually designed for individuals on campus and do not support work practitioners working full time. Hence, they are not usually designed for time independence, flexibility or collaborative learning. Traditionally, campus courses do not include practitioners’ knowledge from their work experiences as a valuable source to be negotiated in knowledge construction with other peers and teachers. However, to integrate practitioners’ workplace experiences, as a valuable knowledge source, is a demanding process when designing e-learning courses that includes pedagogical strategies, case-based methodologies and choices of learning technologies. The aim of this study was to explore how engineering practitioners and research teachers mutually co-construct knowledge in a case-based methodology, specifically within the subject Negotiation Skills. Studies took part within a longitudinal and joint industry-university competence development project between a network of manufacturing industries and one university in the Western part of Sweden. The courses comprise 2.5 European Credits (ECTS) and include cases as a Harvard Case designed with a predefined role-play negotiation game, video production and essay. The case methodology was developing during three design cycles (2014-2015), as a part of the whole course design inspired by an Action Design Research (ADR) approach. Analysis from three focus group session discussions from the three courses including 34 practitioners, and through observations of web-conferencing show that that practitioners’strengthened their knowledge of handling negotiations within work practice. There were problems of using web-conferencing, producing own videos and fulfil written essays stringently, however these problems decreased throughout the three design cycles of the course, due to explicated instructions and a higher practitioner involvement. Generally, results show that practitioners; 1) strengthened their knowledge on how cultural differences affected negotiations, 2) improved their decision making skills in problematic business situations, and 3) developed personal skills on how to visualize conflict situations through reflections on their own actions and communications within practical work situations. The e-learning technology failures also decreased.

This article departure from the effects that interorganizational collaboration brings for the participating partners, specifically from design-related activities of e-learning courses and co-production. There search focus is on critical factors for interorganizational collaborative e-learning and coproduction between university and industry. We describe the process of a six-year longitudinal collaborative action research project including six cases and three phases, initialization, implementationand dissemination. The analysis is conducted from a multi-stakeholder perspective; managers, teachers,and practitioners. Overall aim is to reach for a sustainable collaborative competence e-learning model(CCeM) that will increase industrial employees' competences. Main contribution is that co-production of knowledge entails three levels of activities among actors; to have insight into the purposes and practicesof others, the capacity to transform the problems of a practice and together build common knowledge and finally the capacity of mutually co-produce knowledge acted upon in practice towards transformations in the workplace.

This article arises from consideration of the effects of inter-organizational collaboration on participating partners, specifically from design-related activities and co-production of e-learning courses. The research focus is on critical factors for inter-organizational collaborative e-learning and co-production between university and industry. We describe the process of a six-year longitudinal collaborative action research project comprising six cases and three phases-initialization, implementation, and dissemination. The analysis is conducted from a multi-stakeholder perspective: managers, teachers, and practitioners. The overall aim is development of a sustainable collaborative competence e-learning model that will increase industrial employees' competencies. This work's main contribution is the finding that co-production of knowledge entails three levels of activities among actors: insight into the purposes and practices of others, capacity to transform the problems of a practice and build common knowledge together, and finally, the capacity to mutually co-produce knowledge acted upon for transformation in the workplace.