Establishing information requirements for supervisory controllers in a flexible manufacturing system using GTA

In this article we consider the technological change that has occurred in c omplex manufacturing systems within the past two decades and the implicatio ns it has had on the role of human operators in manufacturing systems contr ol. Our examination ranges from the traditional production line manned by s killed machinists to flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) under supervisory control. On the basis of this study, we raise the question as to whether n ew advanced manufacturing technology interfaces are supportive of human ope rators in their responsibilities to manufacturing systems. We address this problem by analyzing supervisory controller information requirements for in tervening in complex process control tasks as part of FMS operation. This a nalysis was conducted using a cognitive engineering research methodology, w hich has not previously been applied, in the domain of manufacturing. The m ethod of GTA was applied to supervisory control of an FMS and produced deta iled information requirements, which facilitated the formulation of general design guidelines for FMS interface design. The guidelines are aimed at su pporting human operator process strategy development and decision making. ( C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.