ARE RESULTS FROM MANIKIN SIMULATIONS TAKEN SERIOUSLY?

In the car industry the need to shorten time to market challenge pre production engineering. Simulation of a design’s manufacturability, instead of physical verification, is seen as means to meet these challenges. In order to examine how results from computer manikin simulations of assembly operators are presented to decision makers at Volvo Car Corp. and the credibility they gain, an interview study was carried out among engineers and managers in design and pre-production. It revealed that simulation strengthens a pre-production engineer’s credibility. Improvements are possible in mainly two areas: a more correct and trustworthy positioning of the manikin and more emphasis on objective assessments in the result

Ergonomic Workplace Design Analysis: Development of a practitioner\u27s tool for enhanced productivity

There is a lack of pragmatic methods to assess musculoskeletal load risks when planning for production when there is no human operator to observe that performs the tasks. Existing methods are generally either expensive computer manikin software that is complicated to learn and use, simple digital human models for static and episodic analysis best used by trained ergonomists or methods in need of full-scale prototypes for observation. The suggested method in this report is intended to be used by production engineers who are interested in ergonomics and involved in pre-production planning. The ideal situation is when there is room for changes in both product and workplace design, the ambition exists to achieve high productivity and the insight exists that this is best accomplished when the designs are optimized over both production time and operator load. A concept of a complete tool is sketched, incorporating a simple CAD tool for workplace design, a language to describe the intended tasks to be carried out and a knowledge based system for prompting the operator for needed input data and for analysis of the expected musculoskeletal load. To test the validity of the method a prototype program was developed that incorporates part of the sketched tool. The analysis is based on a Cube model consisting of the integrated evaluation of the three factors of work posture, force and/or weight, and repetition. The prototype tool was built using an MTM method called SAM as a method for task description and was named ErgoSAM. ErgoSAM was evaluated in three studies at several final assembly stations of ITT Flygt and the Volvo Car Corporation and was found to be able to detect and evaluate musculoskeletal load with a high degree of correlation to alternative observation methods

ARE RESULTS FROM MANIKIN SIMULATIONS TAKEN SERIOUSLY?

In the car industry the need to shorten time to market challenge pre production engineering. Simulation of a design’s manufacturability, instead of physical verification, is seen as means to meet these challenges. In order to examine how results from computer manikin simulations of assembly operators are presented to decision makers at Volvo Car Corp. and the credibility they gain, an interview study was carried out among engineers and managers in design and pre-production. It revealed that simulation strengthens a pre-production engineer’s credibility. Improvements are possible in mainly two areas: a more correct and trustworthy positioning of the manikin and more emphasis on objective assessments in the result

Ergonomic Workplace Design Analysis: Development of a practitioner's tool for enhanced productivity

There is a lack of pragmatic methods to assess musculoskeletal load risks when planning for production when there is no human operator to observe that performs the tasks. Existing methods are generally either expensive computer manikin software that is complicated to learn and use, simple digital human models for static and episodic analysis best used by trained ergonomists or methods in need of full-scale prototypes for observation. <p>The suggested method in this report is intended to be used by production engineers who are interested in ergonomics and involved in pre-production planning. The ideal situation is when there is room for changes in both product and workplace design, the ambition exists to achieve high productivity and the insight exists that this is best accomplished when the designs are optimized over both production time and operator load. <p>A concept of a complete tool is sketched, incorporating a simple CAD tool for workplace design, a language to describe the intended tasks to be carried out and a knowledge based system for prompting the operator for needed input data and for analysis of the expected musculoskeletal load. <p>To test the validity of the method a prototype program was developed that incorporates part of the sketched tool. The analysis is based on a “Cube model” consisting of the integrated evaluation of the three factors of work posture, force and/or weight, and repetition. The prototype tool was built using an MTM method called SAM as a method for task description and was named ErgoSAM. <p>ErgoSAM was evaluated in three studies at several final assembly stations of ITT Flygt and the Volvo Car Corporation and was found to be able to detect and evaluate musculoskeletal load with a high degree of correlation to alternative observation methods

Arbetsmiljöfrågans väg : Samverkan mellan kundföretag och företagshälsovård

The path of the work environment issue : Interaction between client companies and occupational health service Within the frame of the Theme SMARTA at the National Institute for Working Life, a project has been carried out with a point of departure in the research assignment How can and should work environment work be carried out and be integrated in the activities of organisations? . The project group that has been working within this field of research has the intention to develop an understanding for : and possibilities to act from : important prerequisites for the improvement process of work environment work, in interaction with players and end users. The purpose is partly to analyse decision processes in work environment issues in a perspective of the clients customer relation to a occupational health service (OHS) company, partly to analyse how an expert function within occupational health services : in this case ergonomists : work, particularly concerning working manners, methods and tools. An important foundation for the study is constituted of the examined literature in the field. The main method used is interviews : with the clients to OHS companies and with ergonomists working within OHS, which are both internal and external to the client companies, and also with alone standing ergonomics consultants. The interviews, that have touched upon decision processes, priorities, initiatives and structures for a preventive work environment work and also a systematic work environment management, has been done with contact persons at companies that are clients to a OHS company. The category ergonomists within OHS has been interviewed on which working manners they choose and also about which methods and tools they use. The results show that the decision process is complex and that prioritizing is made in several steps. In their work with work environment issues, the companies want to try solving different problems, and often do try, before contacting the OHS company. All categories within the OHS companies are consulted, but most often one at the time. The companies do trust the OHS company's recommendations, but carry through the measures on their own and without evaluating the results. Many ergonomists are functioning as experts who in their commission use few or just one method and also analyse and bring solutions. The relation between the OHS company and the client is to a small extent based on manners of working that includes dialogue and a methodology that implies a joint problem solving work.Inom ramen för Tema SMARTA vid Arbetslivsinstitutet har ett delprojekt genomförts som utgår från frågan Hur kan och bör arbetsmiljöarbete bedrivas och integreras i organisationers verksamheter? . Syftet är dels att analysera beslutsprocesser i arbetsmiljöfrågor i ett perspektiv av företagens kundrelation till ett företagshälsovårdsföretag (FHV-företag), dels att analysera hur en expertfunktion inom FHV : i det här fallet ergonomer : arbetar, särskilt avseende samverkan med kunden, metoder och verktyg. En bas för studien är genomgången av tidigare forskning inom området. Utöver detta baseras studien på intervjuer med FHV-företagens kunder och med ergonomer yrkesverksamma inom FHV, både interna och externa, samt med fristående ergonomikonsulter. Intervjuerna har berört beslutsprocesser, prioriteringar, initiativ och strukturer för ett förebyggande arbetsmiljöarbete samt systematiskt arbetsmiljöarbete. De har genomförts med kontaktpersoner på företag som är kunder till ett FHV-företag samt med ergonomer inom FHV som har intervjuats om vilka arbetssätt de väljer samt vilka metoder och verktyg de använder. Resultaten visar att beslutsprocessen är komplex och prioriteringar sker i många steg. I sitt arbete med arbetsmiljöfrågor vill företagen ofta själva prova att lösa olika problem, och gör också sådana försök, innan man tar kontakt med sitt FHV-företag. Alla yrkeskategorier inom FHV-företaget anlitas men oftast en i taget, snarare än som ett samlat team. Företagen litar på FHV-företagens rekommenda¬tioner, men genomför till stor del åtgärderna på egen hand och utan att utvärdera resultaten. Många ergonomer fungerar som experter och som i sina uppdrag använder få eller enstaka metoder samt analyserar och levererar lösningar. Relationen mellan FHV-företaget och kunden bygger i liten omfattning på arbetsformer som innehåller dialog och en metodik som innebär ett gemensamt problemlösningsarbete

Production Workers’ Perception of Standardisation – The Relations Between Standardisation and Stress

As a part of their transformation to lean production companies are increasing the proportion of standardised work. Standardisation is commonly put forward as a means to reduce variability and improve quality. It is also expected to embody a base-line for improvement. A great deal of the criticism of lean production is associated with standardisation. Main concerns are that it could lead to monotony and intensification of work. The main question of the paper is: how does an increasing level of standardisation affect the psychosocial work environment of production workers? A total of 48 production workers from three Swedish production companies participated in a survey. In a questionnaire the respondents rated their perception of a number of aspects related to how standardised work is implemented in their company. In addition they rated their psychosocial work environment. The main conclusion of the study is that it is not possible to declare that increasing the level of standardisation is plain good or bad from a work environment point of view. The results show that good quality standards are important from an efficiency point of view as well as a stress perspective

Production Workers’ Perception of Standardisation – The Relations Between Standardisation and Stress

As a part of their transformation to lean production companies are increasing the proportion of standardised work. Standardisation is commonly put forward as a means to reduce variability and improve quality. It is also expected to embody a base-line for improvement. A great deal of the criticism of lean production is associated with standardisation. Main concerns are that it could lead to monotony and intensification of work. The main question of the paper is: how does an increasing level of standardisation affect the psychosocial work environment of production workers? A total of 48 production workers from three Swedish production companies participated in a survey. In a questionnaire the respondents rated their perception of a number of aspects related to how standardised work is implemented in their company. In addition they rated their psychosocial work environment. The main conclusion of the study is that it is not possible to declare that increasing the level of standardisation is plain good or bad from a work environment point of view. The results show that good quality standards are important from an efficiency point of view as well as a stress perspective