Advancing the Autonomous Workforce 4.0: The Ultimate Lean Organization

ADVANCING THE AUTONOMOUS WORKFORCE 4.0The Autonomous Workforce (AW) is not a totally new concept. It has evolved over several decades no different than quality-related bodies of theory, and evolving technologies. For example, the quality journey migrated from Dr. Deming’s and Juran’s concepts and principles, to Quality Circles, and then TQC, TQM, SQM and to Lean Thinking by Jim Womack and Dan Jones, later to Michael George’s Lean Six-Sigma (LSS). And it is almost certain that the quality journey will continue beyond LSS. In a similar fashion Workforce Autonomy is morphing over the decades based primarily on seven key factors: a) Amount Of Control/Authority Awarded to Employees, b) Scope of Work and Organizational Structure, c) Organizational and/or Process Requirements, d) Style of Management (incl. Managerial Skills), e) Enabling Technologies, f) Control Systems, and e) Man-Machine Interfaces. As they all involve over time, so does the level of autonomy.The current level autonomy reflects primarily the great technological advancements (such as Artificial Intelligents (AI) and Virtual Reality), and the advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution that has given birth to Smart Manufacturing and Factories. This book explains in detail the how all these factors come together in a perfect blend to affect the AW. Every business leader should learn about Advancing the Autonomous Workforce - 4.0.Copyright © 2018Frank Groenteman, MBA and Phillip Andrews, MBAwww.AutonomousWorkforce.orgAll rights reserved.ISBN-13: 978-1981592302ISBN-10: 198159230X