Operational responsiveness in intralogistics – determinants from the perspective of blue-collar workers

Abstract

Operational responsiveness is considered a central performance dimension in intralogistics, yet the debate is predominantly technical. This paper shifts the perspective. It asks the blue-collar workers themselves, who carry out the operational response every day, which organizational conditions determine this responsiveness. The study draws on 23 semi-structured expert interviews from retail and industrial companies in German-speaking Switzerland, analyzed by qualitative content analysis. From the material, five organizational determinants are condensed: process stability, decision rights and escalation paths, short communication loops, experiential knowledge, and a learning-oriented error culture. Three findings stand out. First, respondents consistently and unprompted name simple, person-bound, local work practices as effective, while named method frameworks remain marginal. Second, decision rights and experiential knowledge together describe the workers' latitude, that is, being allowed to decide and being able to draw on experience; from their perspective, this latitude enables the response. Third, the accounts point to the autonomy level of the systems in use. The higher it is, the narrower the latitude becomes, and the more responsiveness is defined by what the technology provides for. The paper translates these findings into seven hypothesis-generating propositions and argues that overall system planning should explicitly consider where decisions remain with the human. Especially in the context of Industry 5.0 and a persistent skilled-labor shortage, this design question gains additional weight.