his study explores the impact of augmented reality (AR) on worker performance in manufacturing contexts through an analysis of case studies extant in the literature. Two specific analyses were conducted to assess the impacts of AR technologies on worker performance in terms of objective and subjective metrics, and in terms of their age, experience with the task and experience with the AR device. Regarding objective metrics, the results showed that the task completion time was reduced for some AR devices (projectors, monitors, tablets, smartphones), whereas the use of the head-mounted display (HMD) increased task-completion time; moreover, the error rate was reduced with any AR device compared with traditional methods. Regarding subjective metrics, the analysis underlined that operator perceived a lower workload with the HMD or the monitor compared with traditional methods. The age of operators did not influence performance, while the operators’ experience allowed for the improvement of human performance.

Maintenance involves a large amount of data management. Although many tools, strategies, and systems, have been developed to organize the maintenance information resources, SMEs have not found the same benefits as large companies due to their inherent characteristics and, above all, the maturity level of the maintenance department. Maturity models are useful tools for assessing the maturity of maintenance information practices; however, existing models are not suitable for any type of business context, as they required companies to have a clear organizational structure and definite informative infrastructure. Moreover, they do not assist in identifying and defining actions to reach the highest level. This paper proposes a model for assessing and improving maintenance management information practices. It allows a clear measure of the maturity of the maintenance information management practices in industrial contexts and provides improvement actions identifying the information and data needed to enhance maintenance management information practices.