Requirements for Human-Centric Informational Complexity Management in Production in the Context of the Matrix Fusion Factory

Abstract

For four years now, the concept of the Matrix Fusion Factory MFF has been developed and studied. The MFF dissolves the separation between digital and real entities and focuses on value creation in production. The MFF is based on two prerequisites: first, an organizational structure for assessing value creation in factories whose modular hardware and software structures are constantly reconfigured; and second, the fragmentation logic presupposes increasing complexity, which in turn requires methods for evaluating and reducing complexity. This paper focuses on the reduction and management of informational complexity since different ways of information management (i.e. capturing, selecting, compressing, and providing information) lead to different effects on the production system, especially if the information is processed by humans. Therefore, the central assessment approach for information management must be value creation. Thus, this paper discusses the impact of information management on value creation and how information management can support value creation. In particular, it is clarified how informational complexity in production can be reduced without distorting the underlying information and the implications for technology and organization are discussed.