Performance Differences in the Ageing Workforce Era: An Experimental Study with Industry 4.0 Assistive Technologies

Adopting I4.0 technologies in current industrial scenarios ensures better performance and efficiency of the systems. Nevertheless, less is known about the human-centric impact of assistive technologies, and particularly their effect on differently aged workers. Due to the ageing workforce phenomenon, it is essential to understand how the performance of aged workers is affected by I4.0 smart devices. The present study explores the performance of young (aged 22-25) and old (aged 45+) participants engaged in assembly and order-picking tasks with varying levels of technological assistance. The study categorizes assistive technologies into "semi-assistive" and "fully assistive" levels and evaluates their impact on user performance, measured through Task Completion Time (TCT). Results indicate that the higher familiarity of young participants with technology ensures higher performance than the old ones, despite having less task-related experience. The paper underscores the need for tailored training programs and the redesign of workplaces to accommodate the ageing workforce and minimize performance differences between user categories. Findings highlight that more empirical works are needed to deepen the ageing theme, stressing the importance of improving technology acceptance and usability.