Nevertheless process automation is a global trend, some specific phases (i.e., assembly) in highly technological sectors (i.e., medical, pharmaceutical, diagnostics, dental) are still managed by human workers, due to high-precision tasks and low production volumes. In this context, operators are forced to work faster and adapt to not ergonomically workstations and workflows. As a consequence, human assembly is frequently the bottleneck of the entire process due a not ergonomic layout and process design. The study was conducted at a medical equipment manufacturer, leader of dental equipment production, and focused on the analysis of the assembly process of the dental units. Workers at the assembly line were observed by experts and involved also by interviews and focus groups to detect the assembly issues and process jam. The research provides a valuable example of how physical, cognitive and organizational ergonomic problems affect the final process performance and how human-oriented re-design actions can be easily defined according to the proposed analysis procedure.

An ergonomics study on manual assembly process re-design in manufacturing firms / Peruzzini, Margherita; Pellicciari, Marcello. - 5:(2017), pp. 349-356. (Intervento presentato al convegno 24th ISPE Inc. International Conference on Transdisciplinary Engineering, TE 2017 tenutosi a Nanyang Technological University, sgp nel 2017) [10.3233/978-1-61499-779-5-349].

An ergonomics study on manual assembly process re-design in manufacturing firms

PERUZZINI, MARGHERITA;PELLICCIARI, Marcello
2017

Abstract

Nevertheless process automation is a global trend, some specific phases (i.e., assembly) in highly technological sectors (i.e., medical, pharmaceutical, diagnostics, dental) are still managed by human workers, due to high-precision tasks and low production volumes. In this context, operators are forced to work faster and adapt to not ergonomically workstations and workflows. As a consequence, human assembly is frequently the bottleneck of the entire process due a not ergonomic layout and process design. The study was conducted at a medical equipment manufacturer, leader of dental equipment production, and focused on the analysis of the assembly process of the dental units. Workers at the assembly line were observed by experts and involved also by interviews and focus groups to detect the assembly issues and process jam. The research provides a valuable example of how physical, cognitive and organizational ergonomic problems affect the final process performance and how human-oriented re-design actions can be easily defined according to the proposed analysis procedure.
2017
lug-2017
24th ISPE Inc. International Conference on Transdisciplinary Engineering, TE 2017
Nanyang Technological University, sgp
2017
5
349
356
Peruzzini, Margherita; Pellicciari, Marcello
An ergonomics study on manual assembly process re-design in manufacturing firms / Peruzzini, Margherita; Pellicciari, Marcello. - 5:(2017), pp. 349-356. (Intervento presentato al convegno 24th ISPE Inc. International Conference on Transdisciplinary Engineering, TE 2017 tenutosi a Nanyang Technological University, sgp nel 2017) [10.3233/978-1-61499-779-5-349].
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
ATDE5-0349.pdf

Open access

Tipologia: Versione pubblicata dall'editore
Dimensione 3.36 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
3.36 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri
Pubblicazioni consigliate

Licenza Creative Commons
I metadati presenti in IRIS UNIMORE sono rilasciati con licenza Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal, mentre i file delle pubblicazioni sono rilasciati con licenza Attribuzione 4.0 Internazionale (CC BY 4.0), salvo diversa indicazione.
In caso di violazione di copyright, contattare Supporto Iris

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11380/1142958
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 1
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 0
social impact