Empowering Circular Value Chains in the PV Manufacturing Industry: A Human-in-the-Loop Vision from the CIRCMAN5.0 Framework

The transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 calls for a redefinition of the relationship between human actors and technological systems in manufacturing. As production environments become increasingly complex and data-driven, there is a critical need to embed human-centric principles into the governance and execution of Production Systems Management (PSM). This paper presents an extended conceptual framework that integrates explainable artificial intelligence (XAI), Cognitive Digital Twins (CDTs), and trustworthy Human-in-the-Loop (HitL) mechanisms to support strategic, tactical, and operational decision-making across sustainable production networks. The framework is grounded in architectural, methodological, and case-based elements of the EU-funded CIRCMAN5.0 project, which aims to foster circular, human-centric manufacturing ecosystems in key sectors, including photo-voltaics. Drawing upon emerging European digital infrastructures such as the Asset Administration Shell (AAS), Data Spaces, and Digital Product Passports (DPP), this research contributes a multilayered approach to decision support, combining machine intelligence with human values. The study concludes with a set of implications for theory, policy, and practice, offering new directions for Industry 5.0-aligned production management.