Reduction of Cognitive Load in Complex Assembly Systems

Product variety and short product life cycles are characteristic features of modern assembly systems. When variety gets very high, assembly processes usually become very complex, leading to time losses, human errors, and other negative impacts of system performance. In order to prevent such performance declines different informational assistance systems become part of manual assembly systems, offering additional instructions concerning handling and insertion. Otherwise, such systems can result in additional cognitive load rather than decreasing it. Using mobile physiological measures like heart rate variability (HRV) and eye movements just in time changes of overall cognitive load are detectable. As expected, these data indicate increases of mental workload when task demands are becoming more complex. Practical and theoretical concerns, limitations and chances will be discussed.