Living Manufacturing Systems with Living Organizations

Abstract

Borrowing the title of Nobel-prize laureate physicist Erwin Schrodinger’s work “What is Life?”[1], we ask “What are Living Systems?” This paper attempts to answer the question by looking at a manufacturing information system and an organization model as examples. The fundamental concept is “harmonized autonomous decentralized systems.” We will introduce examples that show how this concept is reflected on manufacturing information systems, where humans and machines coexist and work together in the production line, and identify the characteristics of the concept. We will show that, with the current level of technology, human-machine coexistence systems are needed to meet the requirements for manufacturing systems, especially in order to respond quickly to environmental changes. We will also evaluate psychological aspects such as challenges and satisfaction of people involved in operating the systems. Finally, we will introduce issues remaining yet to be addressed.