Method Article

Integrating Human Factors into Operations Management Education in the Industry 5.0 era

DOI:

10.3791/69833

April 14th, 2026

In This Article

Summary

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This study presents a framework for integrating human factors into operations management education in the context of Industry 5.0. The protocol applies concurrent engineering to integrate ergonomic evaluation during workplace design, including production data collection, problem analysis, digital factory establishment, model optimization, and validation.

Abstract

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The era of Industry 5.0 emphasizes human centrality, sustainability, and resilience, posing new requirements for the direction of talent cultivation in modern higher education. Engineering education is also adapting and leading the development of Industry 5.0. This study proposes an innovative framework integrating human factors into the modern operations management education system in higher education. Operations management involves the management of the entire process, including supply chain, inventory, quality control, etc. With the evolution from Industry 4.0 to 5.0, operations management is centered on humans, emphasizing human-machine collaboration and employee empowerment. Therefore, the content of teaching needs to be adjusted to help students learn how to use human factors principles to optimize work processes, reduce employee fatigue, and mitigate risk. This paper proposes the application of human factors in operations management by creating a virtual, interconnected production environment that simulates real assembly lines, detects human factors issues, and reduces deviations through numerical analysis. This protocol enables the identification and evaluation of ergonomic risks at the design stage, providing targeted improvement measures. This protocol helps students understand how to reduce the incidence of accidents, improve work efficiency, and reduce the additional costs associated with corrective interventions during the teaching of operations management. Through digital ergonomics, students can comprehend and become proficient in ergonomic risk evaluation methods. Therefore, this paper analyzes how to better integrate human factors into operations management, attaining the integration of engineering technology and human factors, and proposing new ideas and directions for education and practice in the field of operations management. In future applications, combining human factors with human digital twin (HDT) and Artificial intelligence-generated content (AIGC) will empower smart manufacturing and enable human-centric smart manufacturing in engineering practice.

Introduction

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Industry 4.0 has fundamentally transformed products, services, and processes through the integration of advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things, Big Data, Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Additive Manufacturing, and Advanced Robotics1,2. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Industry 4.0 integrates AI technology with various advanced technologies, reshaping the manufacturing and operations landscapes3. However, while Industry 4.0 significantly improves productivity and creates new job opportunities for workers, it also brings challenges such as increased cognitive ....

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Protocol

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This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Jiangsu University of Science and Technology. We obtained the informed consent of the participants in the experiment to use and release their data.

1. Collection of production status

NOTE: The production status collection phase requires time measurement of the production site and filming on-site videos to prepare for subsequent problem analysis. Determine the production process flow, and collect worker information, as well as 3D models of equipment, product....

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Results

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Based on the above experimental operations, the representative results of this paper take the assembly of a typical mechanical product—the valve body component—as an example to demonstrate the typical results of integrating human factors into operations management for work improvement. This experiment represents the practical teaching component of the already established Human Factors course, and its teaching outcomes have been demonstrated at the 2025 MTM China Forum: Industrial Engineering in the Age of Digital Intelli.......

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Discussion

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This study incorporates not only time efficiency but also the measurement of ergonomic risks in assembly line design. By integrating ergonomic risk measurement, potential hidden safety risks can be identified during the design phase, ensuring that assembly line layouts account for ergonomic risk factors. This protocol enhances employee productivity, reduces the probability and impact of accidents, and contributes to the realization of employee well-being under Industry 5.0. There are three crucial steps within the protoc.......

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Disclosures

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The authors have nothing to disclose.

Acknowledgements

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This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72374088, 72471105, 72001096), 2024 Key Project of Higher Education Science Research Planning of China Association of Higher Education (24XX0205, Mechanisms of Human-AI Collaboration Strategies in Enhancing Learning Outcomes), 2024 Key Project of Education Science Planning in Jiangsu Province (B-b/2024/01/162, Model Construction and Empirical Research on Multimodal Learning from the Perspective of Educational Neuroscience) and the Humanities and Social Science Fund of Ministry of Education of China (24YJCZH445).

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Materials

List of materials used in this article
NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
ema Software Suiteimk Industrial Intelligence GmbHV2.2.0.3Establishment of the digital factory
Observer XTNoldus Information TechnologyV12.0Problem analysis in the production process

References

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  1. Moeuf, A., Pellerin, R., Lamouri, S., Tamayo-Giraldo, S., Barbaray, R. The industrial management of SMES in the era of Industry 4.0. Int J Prod Res. 56 (3), 1118-1136 (2018).
  2. Trstenjak, M., Benesova, A., Opetuk, T., Cajner, H. Human factors and ergonomics in industry 5.0-a systematic....

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Tags

Human FactorsOperations ManagementIndustry 5 0Engineering EducationHuman Machine CollaborationEmployee EmpowermentErgonomic Risk EvaluationDigital ErgonomicsHuman Digital TwinSmart Manufacturing

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