Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
JOB ROTATION AND SHIFT OVERLAP
Visual inspection is often monotonous, and the operators had problems in sustaining their
attention throughout an entire work shift. To break the monotony, job rotation was
incorporated. Operators could then split their time between two jobs (Grandjean, 1985).
Existing rest-break patterns were evaluated, but it did not seem necessary to increase the
length of the rest break. The time overlap between shifts was reduced from 30 to 12
minutes. The shift overlap made it possible for the outgoing shift to inform the incoming
shift about potential problems, such as problems with machines and processes. However,
the existing overlap of 30 minutes was found to be excessive and unproductive.
PERSONAL MUSIC
An experiment was performed to introduce personal music into the work place. However,
the music was distracting to the work and it was therefore discontinued. A common
problem is to find music that everybody likes. Some prefer hard rock and would be
irritated to listen to country and western, and vice versa.
ERGONOMIC CHAIRS
New ergonomic chairs increased comfort, and at the same time increased productivity as
operators could remain seated during inspection. The chairs were manufactured to be
used in a clean-room environment. There were several adjustability functions, including
seat height, back-rest angle, and seat-pan angle. For some operators, sit/stand types of
chairs were also provided for occasional use.
OPERATOR COMMUNICATION AND FEEDBACK
In order to enhance verbal communication and feedback between operators, the
enclosures of some of the workstations were removed. The open access to coworkers
improved communication significantly, and was helpful, particularly with respect to
quality control (Bailey, 1996).
MATERIALS HANDLING
Manufacturing parts and finished products were stored on racks. The lowest shelves were
taken away. This made it impossible to store materials at a low height, which in turn
reduced the amount of bending and back injuries. In addition, guidelines for a maximum
weight of parts were established.
AUTOMATION OF MONOTONOUS JOBS
Some operations were converted from manual work to automation. One of the jobs
involved a task where a protective tape was removed from a board. This was a highly
monotonous and repetitive task and did not provide any job satisfaction. Therefore it was
automated. The operator now supervises several pieces of automation, a situation which
provided a more varied and interesting job.
