Placing the operator at the centre of Industry 4.0 design: Modelling and assessing human activities within cyber-physical systems

•Methodology for work design & assessment in CPS, industrial cases application.•Multiple perspective emphasizing activities’ features non replaceable by technology.•Coverage of ordinary and irregular scenarios, such as failure and maintenance.•General guidelines for CPS-enabled services to support human activities.•A first step towards formal quantitative methods and simulations.