Dealing with I5.0 complexity: cyber-socio-technical systems modelling and analysis

The transition from Industry 4.0 (I4.0) to Industry 5.0 (I5.0) shifted the focus to novel challenges in industrial systems and their associated operational processes. The focus moved from digitalization towards new applications related to human-machine collaborations, human-centric settings, and cyber-physical cognitive systems. This change stressed the need to identify industrial systems as Cyber-Socio-Technical Systems (CSTS), thus emphasizing the importance of the synergies among cyber-physical technologies, social-human agents, and organizational structures in complex and dynamic contexts. In this context, operations management demands for updates, too, as it must be capable of dealing with such complex modern industrial environment, adopting a CSTS perspective. This latter must integrate relevant entities within the industrial operative context, including the plant equipment, workers and operators, and the surrounding environment, to promote safer and resilient operations. In this context, two main challenges must be addressed: how CSTS’ inherent complexity could be modelled and revealed to foster safety and resilience analyses? How could safety and resilience be effectively analyzed in CSTSs applications? This paper addresses the two challenges discussing and presenting methods suitable for CSTSs modelling and analysis, with the intention to foster I5.0 implementation in modern industrial plants.