Enhancing inclusion of workers with disabilities in manufacturing: a human-robot collaborative assembly line balancing optimization model

Human-centered technologies play a key role in the Industry 5.0 paradigm and can be the driver for greater diversity, equity and inclusion. This study explores the potential of cobots to promote the inclusion of workers with physical disabilities. Existing research on disability inclusion in manufacturing mainly focuses on sheltered workshops and manual assembly lines. Here, a Constraint Programming optimization model is proposed to balance a human-robot collaborative assembly line that includes workers with disabilities. Specifically, this research explores how cobots can support or complement workers facing task incompatibilities or longer execution times with a multi-objective approach considering cycle time, inclusivity, costs, and incentives. The findings show that when considering workers with same level of disability (i.e., same incompatibility ratio), but with different capabilities, the personal characteristics have a significant impact in a manual environment, while cobots help maintain line performance reducing the effect of individual abilities. However, this benefit comes with higher unit costs. The main contribution of this study is to elucidate the role of cobots in the trade-off between operational performance and inclusivity.