Evaluation of ergonomic standards applied to the production process of doors: a case study

The complexity of industrial plants in terms of interactions between humans and their industrial working environment continuously provides challenging problems for researchers working in this specific field. In recent years, more and more importance has been attributed to ergonomic problems, particularly those related to the workstation design in manufacturing, because of its effects on system performance and productivity. Nowadays, an ergonomic optimization approach is essential in the phase of design of work environments, or for its reorganization. This approach attempts to achieve a balance between the worker’s capabilities and needs, in order to optimize its productivity, as well as provides the worker physical and mental well-being, job satisfaction and safety. The main goal of the proposed research work is to analyze different ergonomic methodologies applicable to a production environment, in order to simulate the working environment and identify the most efficient operating configuration. The research work is focused on the analysis and simulation of the main process operated in a factory, located in South Italy, and devoted to the production of doors. The phase of modeling and simulation has been supported by the use of a ergonomic simulation tool, Jack, which provides a set of resources for the design of the layout, the simulation of the flow of materials and human activities in a 3D environment. The phase of virtual design has been characterized by an initial phase of modeling. Then the operations performed by the worker at all stages of the process were examined, focusing the attention on the operations executed by the workers assuming an incorrect posture or characterized by other abnormalities. Finally, corrective actions to adopt in order to avoid or reduce risks emerged from the analysis are identified. The research work led to the identification of a series of solutions that can be adopted in order to improve the working system and the plant layout and to satisfy the ergonomic constraints. The methodological approach used in this work can represent a reference model for future works for the design and analysis of production environments.