Abstract
Ergonomic assessment of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) involves several attributes. Most of these attributes can be assessed only subjectively. Several models have been developed to assess AMT from an ergonomic approach. However, these models have several deficiencies, such as 1) assessment for all alternatives in all their ergonomic attributes should be done in a single period. It lacks time pauses when decision-makings include several decisors and alternatives, 2) every person can access the information and change it, and 3) they lack the propriety of correcting mistakes once users (or decisors) have entered an unwished data. Then, the objective of this research is to develop a software for the ergonomic assessment of AMT that deletes these deficiencies. As method, axiomatic design (AD) was applied jointly with the TRIZ methodology. Software was validated with results of a previous case study. Finally, authors developed a software that removed the deficiencies of previous models.
TopIntroduction
Currently, ergonomic assessment covers several aspects, such as physical and psychological characteristics of employees, workstations design, physical environment conditions, organizational conditions, and technology (Carayon et al., 2006; Realyvásquez, Maldonado-Macías, García-Alcaraz, & Arana, 2018). Specifically, for the ergonomic assessment of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT), Maldonado-Macías (2009) developed a mathematical model. This model helps in the planning and selection of AMT and it includes the ergonomic attributes shown in Figure 1. Also, this model includes an Ergonomic Compatibility Evaluation Questionnaire (ECEC), which contains questions to determine the relative weighting of attributes by means of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology.
Figure 1. Ergonomic attributes for AMT
However, this model has the deficiency that calculations must be done by hand, that is, there is no software that allows to calculate the weightings of the ergonomic attributes and make a decision to select AMT alternatives. Because of this, Maldonado-Macías, Guillén-Anaya, Barrón-Díaz, & García-Alcaraz (2011) created a software to calculate the weightings of ergonomic attributes of AMT. This software allows to decide for the best AMT alternative from and ergonomic perspective. Later, Realyvásquez-Vargas, Maldonado-Macías, García-Alcaraz, & Alvarado-Iniesta (2014) developed an expert system based on fuzzy rules. Nevertheless, both the software proposed by Maldonado-Macías et al. (2011) and the expert system developed by Realyvásquez-Vargas et al. (2014) have the following disadvantages: 1) assessment for all alternatives in all their ergonomic attributes should be done in a single period, it lacks time pauses when decision-makings include several decisors and alternatives, 2) every person can access to the information and change it, and 3) they lack the propriety of correcting mistakes once users (or decisors) have entered an unwished data. All these characteristics represent a disadvantage in the demand of the current pace of life and work. Then, the objective of this research is to develop a software for the ergonomic assessment of AMT that provides the following advantages:
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Provide pauses and password for the assessment process, so this process can be done in different periods and information is saved and secured.
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Close sessions after a specific inactive time.
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Mistakes can be corrected.
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Users have different roles: administrator, creator of evaluation, and evaluator.
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Provide the result in a graphical way.
To achieve this objective, the technique of axiomatic design (AD) can be applied.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Assessment: Comparison of the state of a variable in a specific condition with the standard value of such variable for that condition. Such comparison helps determine if the state of the variable is acceptable or not.
Ergonomics: A discipline aimed to provide safety, health, and comfort to employees, so they improve their individual performance at short term, and the organizational performance at long term.
Axiomatic Design: A design discipline that serves as guide to designers since it considers users’ needs, design’s functional requirements, and design parameters.
TRIZ: A Russian technique that contains forty principles which can be applied to solve different engineering problems in an easy and cheap way.
Ergonomic Compatibility: Human interaction with other elements of a work system in which it facilitates the achievement of objectives in a safe, comfortable and healthy way
Advanced Manufacturing Technology: Technology that helps perform in an easy and fast way operations in manufacturing processes, so the companies meet the requirements of quantity and quality.
Software: An informatic tool that can perform the following tasks: analyze and process information in a fast way and save this information.