Human factor in Industry 4.0: about skills of operators in steelworks 4.0

Purpose: The article presents the issues of metallurgist skills in the conditions of implementing the key technologies of Industry 4.0. The purpose of the paper was to propose a skills framework for a metallurgist in the context of Industry 4.0. Design/methodology/approach: The paper consists of an introduction and two substantive parts. The first part deals with the role of the human factor in Industry 4.0. The second part is about the skills of a metallurgist (the general framework of skills 4.0) in the transformation of metallurgical enterprises to Industry 4.0. The paper is part of the current research on skills of operators in Industry 4.0. The study uses a qualitative descriptive method referring to a critical analysis of literature about skills of the future. The article briefly reviews selected theoretical approaches to the operator-technology skills in the reality of Industry 4.0. Findings: The main result of the analysis was to bring closer the current, yet poorly scientifically recognised research about the place of human factor in the Industry 4.0 together with the structure of skills for the restructured employment in the steel industry. Research limitations/implications: In the conditions of the fourth industrial revolution and strong popularisation of the concept of Industry 4.0, enterprises must be able to reorganize human resources (HR). A new package of knowledge, new skills of employees are needed to perform tasks efficiently and to cooperate with new technological solutions of production and control and monitoring systems of manufacturing and service processes. The topic about human factor (HF) in Industry 4.0 is very actual and it will be developed according to wider and wider implementation of new (smarter) technologies in enterprises. Practical implications: Presented framework of human skills can be used to improve the skills profile of a metallurgist 4.0 (a worker in smarter steel mill). Social implications: In developing of new skills of employees in smart steelworks, besides steel mills, is needed an educational ecosystem, that joins different educational and science organizations. Originality/value: Reorganization of employment in Industry 4.0 is a new research field but very actual in the realized transformation process of enterprises. The paper is a form of introduction to discussion about new skills of operators in smart production.