Activity Lifecycle Description for Communication in Human-Integrated Industry 4.0 Environments

The Industry 4.0 vision will require effective communication and cooperation between physical and digital executors – a requirement further complicated when human executors are involved. To address this challenge, this paper proposes an activity lifecycle description that considers the definition of an activity, the implications for instructing and executing an activity, and the management of activity information over time. The three-stage activity life (3SAL) model provides a structure for managing and communicating activity data in the three temporal stages of scheduled, in execution and completed. The paper elaborates on the potential value of the 3SAL model in Industry 4.0 environments.