Alumec: Ergonomics Project

Fall 2015
Dr. Ali Ammouri
ALUMEC
Ergonomics Project
Aoun Roberto - Fayyad Yara - Sakr Makram
Table of Contents
Table of Figures ........................................................................................................................ 4
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ 5
Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Overview ................................................................................................................................... 7
a) Company ........................................................................................................................... 7
b) Products: ........................................................................................................................... 7
Step I Project Selection ............................................................................................................. 8
Step II Exploratory Tools.......................................................................................................... 9
1) Process Description ........................................................................................................... 9
2) Flow Process Chart ......................................................................................................... 13
3) Pareto Chart .................................................................................................................... 14
4) Fishbone Diagram ........................................................................................................... 15
Step III Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 16
1) Line balancing ................................................................................................................. 16
2) Operations Analysis ........................................................................................................ 17
a) Operation Purpose ....................................................................................................... 17
b) Choice of material ....................................................................................................... 18
c) Manufacturing ............................................................................................................. 18
d) Tools ............................................................................................................................ 20
e) Material Handling ........................................................................................................ 20
f) Plant layout .................................................................................................................. 22
3) Manual Work Design ...................................................................................................... 23
a) Energy Expenditure .................................................................................................... 23
b) Heart Guidelines .......................................................................................................... 24
c) NIOSH ......................................................................................................................... 25
4) Anthropometry and Design ............................................................................................. 32
a) Workplace Design ....................................................................................................... 32
I) Standing posture ....................................................................................................... 32
ii) Posture Flexibility ................................................................................................... 33
iii) Anti fatigue Mats .................................................................................................... 33
iv) Location of Tools .................................................................................................. 34
LEBANESE AMERICAN UIVERSITY- ERGONOMICS PROJECT Page 2

v) Machine design ........................................................................................................ 35
b) Equipment Design: ..................................................................................................... 36
i) Fixture....................................................................................................................... 36
ii) Cumulative Trauma Disorder .................................................................................. 37
iii) Use of power tools.................................................................................................. 39
5) Illumination .................................................................................................................... 43
a) Working Table ............................................................................................................. 43
b) Cutting Machine .......................................................................................................... 44
6) Noise ............................................................................................................................... 45
7) Ventilation and Temperature .......................................................................................... 46
8) Vibration ......................................................................................................................... 47
9) Design of Cognitive Work .............................................................................................. 48
a) Information Theory ..................................................................................................... 48
i) Amount of information ......................................................................................... 48
ii) Response Time and bandwidth ............................................................................. 49
b) Coding of information ................................................................................................. 49
i) Control Discrimination ............................................................................................. 49
ii) Stop Button ........................................................................................................... 50
c) Display of visual information ...................................................................................... 51
10) Office Study .................................................................................................................. 52
11) Cost Analysis ................................................................................................................ 53
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 54
References ............................................................................................................................... 56
Appendix ................................................................................................................................. 57
Appendix A - Body Dimensions ......................................................................................... 57
Appendix B – Range of Illuminance ................................................................................... 58
Appendix C - Reflectance ................................................................................................... 59

Table of Figures
Figure 1 Aluminum glass frame ............................................................................................... 8

Figure 2 Storage ........................................................................................................................ 9
Figure 3 Wrapping Stand .......................................................................................................... 9
Figure 4 Cutting Process ......................................................................................................... 10
Figure 5 Barcode Process........................................................................................................ 10
Figure 8 Assembly .................................................................................................................. 11
Figure 6 Drilling Process ........................................................................................................ 11
Figure 7 Drills on bars ............................................................................................................ 11
Figure 9 Glass ......................................................................................................................... 12
Figure 10 Flow Process Chart ................................................................................................. 13
Figure 11 Results of Process Chart ......................................................................................... 13
Figure 12 Visual Flow Process Chart ..................................................................................... 14
Figure 13 Pareto Chart ............................................................................................................ 14
Figure 14 Fishbone Diagram .................................................................................................. 15
Figure 15 Metal Cutting Saw .................................................................................................. 19
Figure 17 Punching Machine .................................................................................................. 19
Figure 16 Punched and Screwed bars ..................................................................................... 19
Figure 18 Drill......................................................................................................................... 20
Figure 19 Hydraulic platform truck ........................................................................................ 21
Figure 20 Plant Layout............................................................................................................ 22
Figure 21 Heart rate after lifting ............................................................................................. 24
Figure 22 Heart rate between 30s and 1 min of rest ............................................................... 24
Figure 23 NIOSH1 .................................................................................................................. 25
Figure 24 NIOSH2 .................................................................................................................. 26
Figure 25 NIOSH3 .................................................................................................................. 27
Figure 26 NIOSH4 .................................................................................................................. 28
Figure 27 NIOSH5 .................................................................................................................. 29
Figure 28 NIOSH6 .................................................................................................................. 30
Figure 29 NIOSH7 .................................................................................................................. 31
Figure 30 Standing posture ..................................................................................................... 32
Figure 31 Anti-fatigue mats .................................................................................................... 33
Figure 32 Tool location guide ................................................................................................. 34
Figure 33 Machine control panel ............................................................................................ 35
Figure 34 Machine Evaluation Checklist ................................................................................ 35
Figure 35 Worker used as fixture (1) ...................................................................................... 36
Figure 36 Worker used as fixture (2) ...................................................................................... 36
Figure 37 Clamp ..................................................................................................................... 37
Figure 38 CTD Risk Index ...................................................................................................... 38
Figure 39 Drill used in plant ................................................................................................... 39
Figure 40 Ergonomic drill ....................................................................................................... 39
Figure 41 Tool Evaluation Checklist ...................................................................................... 40

Figure 42 Worker Position (1) ................................................................................................ 41
Figure 43 Worker Position (2) ................................................................................................ 41
Figure 44 Proper Orientation of power tools .......................................................................... 42
Figure 45 Illumination on working table ................................................................................ 43
Figure 46 Lights on plant ceiling ............................................................................................ 44
Figure 47 Illumination at Cutting Machine ............................................................................ 44
Figure 48 Noise Measurements .............................................................................................. 45
Figure 49 Vibration measure on metal cutting machine ......................................................... 47
Figure 50 Matal Cutting machine control panel ..................................................................... 48
Figure 51 Control 1 (left) and 7 (right) ................................................................................... 50
Figure 52 Stop Button ............................................................................................................. 50
Figure 53 Control 5 ................................................................................................................. 51
Figure 54 Office Desk ............................................................................................................. 52
Figure 55 Chair length specifications ..................................................................................... 52
Figure 56 Computer Specifications ........................................................................................ 52
List of Tables
Table 1 Line Efficiency .......................................................................................................... 16
Table 2 Probability of selecting controls ................................................................................ 48
Table 3 Chair and Table Dimensions...................................................................................... 52
Table 4 Summary of Costs ...................................................................................................... 53
Table 5 Table of Recommendations ....................................................................................... 55

Abstract
This project explores the dynamics of ergonomics in the workplace of the ALUMEC plant.
We focused mainly on implementing “Methods Engineering” by analyzing the manual work
design and systems (including the tooling equipment, technologies, workplace layout and
plant layout), the environmental design (including illumination, noise, temperature and
ventilation) and the cognitive design (dealing with the amount of information processed by
the workers, the coding of information and visual display of information). We conducted
thorough investigation in all these areas and identified the several problems present in the
plant by referring to the devices and checklists that were available for us throughout the
semester. Our analysis enabled us to find appropriate solutions to the non ergonomic issues
and introduce improvements where necessary in order to enhance the workers' well-being,
who in turn should find more comfort in their daily tasks.

Overview
a) Company
ALUMEC is a company specialized in Aluminum, Steel, Glazing and Roofing works. It is
currently active in Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Nigeria. Due to its
expansion and experience in foreign countries, ALUMEC has the ability to mobilize teams to
execute projects internationally and to coordinate them from Lebanon. In 2012, ALUMEC
METALS was established as an independent unit in the ALUMEC Company for execution of
all kinds of steel/stainless steel works required to meet their projects and clients’ demands.
b) Products:
The plant produces many types of products:
- Aluminum glass frames
- Cobalt MX Series
- GXI + thermal break series
- GT+ lift & slide series & unitized curtain wall MX-EL series
- ESPO Folding sliding systems
- Hueck-Hartmann german series thermal break system
- Spider wall system
- Louvers & sunshades
- Shutters

Step I Project Selection
After visiting and examining the plant and its products, we decided to focus our study and
project on the process involved in the fabrication of aluminum glass frames for windows. We
will analyze the work environment, process layouts, workers' conditions, tool organization
and the several methods in the process to introduce improvements where needed.
Our choice came as a consequence of us realizing that this specific process has several
downsides negatively affecting the overall production and mainly the worker's well-being.
Figure 1 Aluminum glass frame

Step II Exploratory Tools
1) Process Description
The process we chose contains several steps that will lead to the fabrication of an aluminum
glass frame. The company’s storage room that contains the raw material is located in the
production plant which makes the transportation process a simple one. Each glass frame
consists of four bars (borders) which are initially cut from 2 aluminum bars, each of a
specific shape, and assembled to form the frame. The process consists of the following
activities:
Activity 1-Get two aluminum bars from the storage.
Figure 2 Storage
Activity 2-Wrap the aluminum bars with protective sheets to avoid harm (scratches, holes,
etc.) during their manufacturing processes.
Figure 3 Wrapping Stand

Activity 3- Cut two pieces of equal length from each aluminum bar. The remaining of the bar
will be sold as scrap to be recycled later on.
Activity 4-The worker will mark the cut bars with their corresponding barcodes to identify
the product number and type.
Figure 4 Cutting Process
Figure 5 Barcode Process

Activity 5- The four pieces obtained will be drilled from the inside to make their assembly
possible and to let the water escape if entered through it.
Figure 6 Drilling Process Figure 7 Drills on bars
Activity 6- The four pieces will then be assembled to get the final shape of the frame.
Figure 8 Assembly

Activity 7-The examiner will then scan each barcode to make sure that each bar type is in its
designated place.
Activity 8- The glass (supplied externally) will be fit into the frame to finalize the product.
Figure 9 Glass
Activity 9- The final product is then shipped to the customers.

2) Flow Process Chart
The detailed steps are summarized in the following Flow Process Chart:
Figure 10 Flow Process Chart
Figure 11 Results of Process Chart
Therefore, the cycle time to produce 1 frame is 48.43 minutes.

Figure 12 Visual Flow Process Chart
3) Pareto Chart
The many errors, occurring in the several operations involved in the overall process, are
summarized in the following Pareto Chart:
Figure 13 Pareto Chart
It seems that the most recurring errors are wrong cut length, wrong barcode on bars, wrong
assembly of bars. They are the 20% that cause the 80%.

4) Fishbone Diagram
Sources of
problems
Figure 14 Fishbone Diagram

Step III Analysis
1) Line balancing
When observing the processes, we noticed that there is a high fraction of idle time. In
addition, there are several workers that spend a portion of their shift simply moving
aluminum bars from one station to another or fixing the bar on the workstation tables while
his coworkers are working on the part.
For this reason, we found it interesting to evaluate the %efficiency and %idle time of the
workers during a production cycle:
standard
Wait time on
minutes to Standard
operation slowest
perform time
operation
operation
1 3.27 12.24 15.51
2 5.56 9.95 15.51
3 0.386666667 15.12333333 15.51
4 4.96 10.55 15.51
5 7.47 8.04 15.51
6 5.1 10.41 15.51
7 15.51 0 15.51
8 6.17 9.34 15.51
summation 48.42666667 108.57
% efficiency 45%
%idle 55%
Table 1 Line Efficiency
We can notice that during more than half of the production time the workers are idle; this
means that a modification in the process should be done in order to replace wasted time by

value-adding time. In fact modifications can be made in several areas as we will demonstrate
in the following sections.
2) Operations Analysis
a) Operation Purpose
Eliminating jobs: cycle time can be reduced by eliminating jobs that are not essential and that
do not add value to the product by improving the operation method so no job will be
reworked and by trying to combine some jobs into one operation.
First of all, we noticed that we can directly transport the bars from the storage to the first
machine where they will directly be wrapped with protective sheets before cutting them. This
will eliminate a second unnecessary lift from the wrapping table to the machine and reduce
cycle time.
However, we noticed that there are several workers only used for heavy lifting and fixing the
part while being worked on by another. This can be avoided by introducing some
mechanisms that facilitate the movement of heavy objects and some tools that can easily fix
the parts on the table while being worked on.

b) Choice of material
The bars are pure aluminum which have a fairly low price (1.971$/kg) in the market
compared to other metals. The most important feature is that it is more readily processed than
other metals, easily machined and can be salvaged to be sold as scrap. Therefore, we believe
that the company has done a good choice in material by minimizing the total waste and
maximizing the production efficiency.
c) Manufacturing
The production processes used are:
-material removal: metal cutting saw, drilling
-material joining: punching
The metal cutting saw is used in the second step of the process to cut the initial aluminum
bars. Errors can occur when the length cut is bigger or smaller than desired.

Figure 15 Metal Cutting Saw
The Punching machine is used to punch 4 holes into the bars so that they can be assembled
together by using screws.
Figure 16 Punched and Screwed bars
Figure 17 Punching Machine

d) Tools
Drills are used to create holes in the aluminum bars so that the glass can be fixed inside and
also create openings for the water to escape in case of rain. Errors can occur when the feed,
speed or depth are set wrong, meaning that the bars will be left as waste and new bars must
be reprocessed.
Recommendation:
It would be a good idea to group the drill heads that are used for the same product to save
searching and reaching time.
Figure 18 Drill
e) Material Handling
The plant lacks the right equipment that facilitates the movement of material from the source
to the destination. Instead, the 2 workers are used to lift and transport the bars from one
workstation to another causing a lag in the process because this time wasted does not add any
value to the process.
Although material handling is extremely important in job analysis because it contributes in
around 75% of the overall production cost, it is completely ignored by the managers. We

suggest that the plant uses hydraulic platform trucks to move the bars from one station to
another thus freeing one worker to involve himself in another process thus reducing the cycle
time.
Figure 19 Hydraulic platform truck
On a positive note, the bar coding technique is applied to the processes in the plant. In fact,
2D barcodes are used to identify the project the aluminum bar belongs to and the bar type,
thus reducing matching and compatibility errors and facilitates material handling.

f) Plant layout
The plant uses the layout below. We used Smart Draw CL to produce the following layout:
Desk
Wrapping Process
Figure 20 Plant Layout

3) Manual Work Design
a) Energy Expenditure
We are now going to calculate the amount of rest each worker should get with respect to the
amount of kilocalories they’re spending per minute during their work.
Type of workers:
1- Lifting workers:
The energy cost of lifting 15lb aluminum bars is 8.5 kilocalories/minute.
Since all workers are men: R= (8.5-5.33) / (8.5-1.33) = 0.4421=44.21%
Therefore, in an 8 hour shift, the worker should rest 0.4421x 8 = 3.52 hours.
2-Cutting workers:
The energy cost of cutting aluminum bars is 5 kilocalories/minute.
Since 5 is less than 5.33, the worker doesn’t need any rest in an 8 hour shift.
3-Drilling workers:
The energy cost of drilling aluminum bars is 6.8 kilocalories/minute.
Since all workers are men: R= (6.8-5.33) / (6.8-1.33) = 0.2687=26.87%
Therefore, in an 8 hour shift, the worker should rest 0.2687x 8 = 2.149 hours.
Because the lifting task has the highest energy expenditure, we decided to evaluate the heart
rate of the workers after this task.

b) Heart Guidelines
We measured the heart beats of the worker after lifting aluminum bars.
His heartbeat immediately after the lifting was measured to be 232 beats/min.
Then, between 30 seconds and 1 minute of rest, his heart beat dropped to 180 beats/min.
A third reading at 2.8 minutes after rest was at 108 beats/min.
However, based on heart rate guidelines, it seems that the job is exhausting the worker and he
is not receiving sufficient rest. Indeed, a heart rate of 232 beats/min is extremely high, and
the reading between 30s and 1 minute of rest is greater than the appropriate value of 110
beats/min. However, the difference between the 2 post work readings is 180-108= 72
beats/min which is greater than 20 beats/min as required.
Because these lifts happen several times per day during each shift, the workers’ health will be
affected negatively.
Recommendation:
This problem highlights the urge to solve the lifting issue by introducing the hydraulic
platform trucks in the plant to relieve the workers from the lifting exhaustion.
Figure 22 Heart rate between 30s and 1 min of rest

Figure 21 Heart rate after lifting

c) NIOSH
Figure 23 NIOSH1

Figure 24 NIOSH2

Figure 25 NIOSH3

Figure 26 NIOSH4

Figure 27 NIOSH5

Figure 28 NIOSH6

Figure 29 NIOSH7
Recommendation:
We can see that the LI are less than 1 and acceptable except for the lifting from the cutting
table to the metal cutting saw and from the glass assembly table to the warehouse. The latter
values are between 1 and 3 which means that a improvement should be introduced. Hence,
this further emphasizes the importance of introducing hydraulic platform trucks into the plant
to relieve the workers from harmful lifting.

4) Anthropometry and Design
a) Workplace Design
I) Standing posture
The table heights in the plant are 37.4 in which is less than the 5th percentile elbow height of
39.4in. This means that all workers are able to reach the table and work comfortably knowing
that most workers have a stature between 64 and 68 in.
Recommendation:
When it comes to the metal cutting machine, the buttons are all located below the eye sight
level which causes the worker to bend his neck and back while operating the machine. This
height should be adjusted to a higher position.
Figure 30 Standing posture

ii) Posture Flexibility
The workers should alternate between standing and sitting position. However, in the plant the
workers are standing during the entire shift and there are no seats available to rest.
Recommendation:
We suggest introducing industrial sit/stand tools to provide better comfort and appropriate
rest in the workplace.
iii) Anti fatigue Mats
Recommendation:
Another solution for relieving the operators from their constant standing position would be to
introduce anti fatigue mats that allow a better blood flow through the legs.
Figure 31 Anti-fatigue mats

iv) Location of Tools
We noticed that during the assembly process, workers move from their assembly spot every
time they need to grab a screw or any other tool. Those items are not being kept within the
normal working area thus time is being wasted, productivity is being decreased and extra
kilocalories are being spent.
Recommendation:
We suggest that the items be placed according to the following guide in order to reduce cycle
time and increase efficiency:
Figure 32 Tool location guide

v) Machine design
We analyzed the button arrangement of the metal cutting machine's work panel by filling the
checklist below:
Figure 33 Machine control panel
Figure 34 Machine Evaluation Checklist

b) Equipment Design:
In this section we checked if the equipment was properly and ergonomically designed by
evaluating the following:
i) Fixture
While inspecting the different processes in the plant, we noticed that the workers avoided
using any sort of fixing tool such as clamps. Instead, an additional worker was used to fix the
metal bar while the other drilled, assembled, marked or wrapped it.
Figure 35 Worker used as fixture (1) Figure 36 Worker used as fixture (2)

Recommendation:
This is obviously a time and worker consuming technique since a clamp could be used to fix
the material thus improving the quality and decreasing the costs (cost of employee or cost of
time).
Figure 37 Clamp
ii) Cumulative Trauma Disorder
While observing the workers’ interaction with the machines and equipment, we realized that
they might suffer from different cumulative trauma disorders such as “White finger” and
“Trigger finger”. The main reason for all of these bad effects on their physical state emerges
from the fact that they constantly use excessive forces, don’t avoid awkward motions, and
work for a long period of time. It was in our interest to fill the CTD evaluation checklist
below to see if the workers might be at risk. We got a final value of 0.55 which is less than 1,
meaning that the workers not at a high risk of CTD.

Figure 38 CTD Risk Index

iii) Use of power tools
The drills used in the plant are ergonomic and according to the specifications. They lack one
last ergonomic characteristic and it’s the three-finger trigger so that the workers use their
strongest working fingers and avoid any possibly related CTD.
Figure 39 Drill used in plant
Figure 40 Ergonomic drill
To further analyze the properties of the drills used, we filled the Tool Evaluation Checklist
below:

Figure 41 Tool Evaluation Checklist

In the plant, this is how the workers are positioned while using power tools:
Figure 42 Worker Position (1) Figure 43 Worker Position (2)
We can detect several ergonomic problems:
- Constant standing posture : the workers does not alternate between standing and
sitting posture.
- Neck flexion: their necks are bent down to view the working table because it is not in
their eye sight angle.
- Shoulder abduction: this is due to the height of the work surface tables which must be
lowered so that the elbow be at the resting position or elbow flexed at 90 degrees.

Recommendation:
- Standing Posture: sit/stand tools should be provided
- Neck flexion: working piece should be fixed and held up vertically because it is
impractical to have tilted tables for drilling.
- Shoulder abduction: if the elbow is at resting position, the table height should be
lowered to knuckle height of 27.5 in and if the part can be held vertically with
fixtures, the elbow can be flexed 90 degrees with maximum force.
If these improvements are applied, the postures would be conforming to the following
specification:
Figure 44 Proper Orientation of power tools

5) Illumination
We measured and analyzed the illumination at the working tables and at the cutting machine.
a) Working Table
Table color: Dark Blue with a reflectance of 8%
Illumination at table: 100.1 lux = 0.0929*100.1 fc = 9.29 fc
Figure 45 Illumination on working table
Therefore, the desired luminance = 0.08 * 9.29 = 0.7432 fL
The materials are dark grey, so the contrast is : (0.3-0.08)/0.3 = 0.73
We will see if the illumination fits the requirement.
Weight = -1 + 1 + 1 = 1 so it has medium weight
The task falls into category D because there is a high contrast and the workers perform
machine work, and the required illumination is 30 fc while there is only 9.29 fc in the plant.

This means that the illumination do not meet the requirements, and this was expected
because of the layout of the lights on the ceiling where most of them were not functional:
Figure 46 Lights on plant ceiling
b) Cutting Machine
Machine color: Dark Grey with a reflectance of 30%
Illumination at table: 360.6 lux = 0.0929*360.6 fc = 33.499 fc
Figure 47 Illumination at Cutting Machine

Therefore, the desired luminance = 0.3 *33.499 = 10.047 fL
The materials are a different shade of grey, so the contrast is not very high
We will see if the illumination fits the requirement.
Weight = -1 + 0+ 1 = 0 so it has medium weight.
The task falls into category E because there is a medium contrast and the workers perform
specific measurement with 0.01 cm tolerance. The required illumination is 75 fc.
This means that the illumination does not meet the requirements, and this was expected
because of the same reason presented above.
Recommendation:
There must be a constant maintenance of the lighting in plant so that burnt bulbs are
immediately replaced.
6) Noise
Ambient machines in the plant have on average a sound level of around 81.5dBA during 8
hours. The metal cutting saw produces a sound level of 103 dBA for 1 hour while another
metal cutting machine near our production process produces a sound level of 95dBA during 2
hours.
Figure 48 Noise Measurements

First we will find the permissible durations in the sound level specified above.
T (81.5) = 26 hrs; T (103) = 1.32 hrs; T (95) = 4 hrs
Then, we evaluated the dose exposure: D=100*(8/26+1/1.32+2/4) = 156.2% > 100%.
If the workers use rubber ear plugs of 20 dBA while working on the metal cutting machine,
the sound level would be reduced to : 103+20-7= 90dBA
The new dose exposure is: D'=100*(8/26+1/8+2/4) = 93.23% < 100%. This noise level is
now acceptable.
Recommendation:
Provide rubber earplugs for workers operating at or near the metal cutting machine.
7) Ventilation and Temperature
The volume of working area is very large; 162846 ft cube. There are 8 workers in the plant
which means that each worker receives a volume of air equal to 18094 ft cube. Considering
a definite intensity of odors, the ventilation requirement is very low, and the plant has many
glass windows and openings already providing a lot of ventilation.
The ambient temperature is 24 degrees Celsius with humidity of 48.1% which are within the
specification limits for an 8 hour shift of 20% to 80% humidity and a temperature between
18.9 to 26.1°C.

8) Vibration
We measured the vibration of the metal cutting machine and got the following result:
Figure 49 Vibration measure on metal cutting machine
According to the ISO standards, a value of 0.65 m/s² is acceptable and won’t have harmful
effects on the worker.

9) Design of Cognitive Work
We will study the design of the following panel:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Figure 50 Matal Cutting machine control panel
a) Information Theory
i) Amount of information
The worker must decide between seven alternatives controls on the machine. By assuming
that control 2, which activates the wind blower to clean the machine, is used the least and
controls 3 &4, which correspond to the on/off buttons, are equally used but less than the
remaining, we decided upon the following probabilities for each control:
Control Probability
1 0.175
2 0.06
3 0.12
4 0.12
5 0.175
6 0.175
7 0.175
Table 2 Probability of selecting controls

By applying the formula, we obtained that the amount of information given is H= 2.74 bits
and Hmax= 2.8
Therefore, the control panel is 2.14% redundant.
ii) Response Time and bandwidth
While operating the machine, the operator can supposedly process 6-7 bits/sec. We will see if
the current panel corresponds to this specification.
We know that the minimum reaction time is 0.04s based on a measurement recorded, so we
have RT= 0.04+2.74b.
The worker does 4 cuts/min =0.067 cuts/sec = 15 sec/cut.
So, we have 15=0.04+2.74b  b= 5.46 sec/bit
Hence, the bandwidth is 1/b = 0.183 bits/sec which is in conformance to the requirements, so
the worker is able to devote a considerable amount of attention to the task he is performing.
b) Coding of information
i) Control Discrimination
We can see that the different controls have a different size, color, and shape for the worker to
easily distinguish them from each other. However, controls 1 and 7 look exactly the same
and have the same illustration above them. Even though control 7 has a black mark on it, it is
not clear what the application for each control is.

Figure 51 Control 1 (left) and 7 (right)
Recommendation:
Provide operator with more efficient illustrations that clearly explain and distinguish the
purpose of each button.
ii) Stop Button
On a positive note, there is a good compatibility of coding schemes because the stop button is
in red and has the biggest shape so the worker anticipates that this control would lead to a
stop in the machine and thus he has a faster reaction in finding the control when needed.
Figure 52 Stop Button

c) Display of visual information
We will evaluate the design of control 5:
Figure 53 Control 5
Ergonomic problems:
- There is a big distance between the knob and the scale which decreases precision
- The scale is fixed and increases from right to left
- There are no graduations, whether major or minor, and it is not clear where the values
indicated (1,2,3,4) can be exactly reached
- There is no pointer to indicate at what value the control is set
These design errors will lead to bad precisions in the output length of the aluminum bars,
therefore a more ergonomic design should be implemented.
Recommendations:
The knob must be bigger and closer to the scale to increase precision - a pointer must be
included on the knob to know at what value the control is set exactly - the scale should
increase from left to right - major and minor graduations should be included.

10) Office Study
Figure 54 Office Desk
Figure 55 Chair length specifications Figure 56 Computer Specifications
Office Actual Design Recommended

Body feature
features value Principle value
Seat Height Popliteal height 51 cm Adjustability 40-52 cm
Extreme
Seat Width Hip breadth 41 cm > 46.2 cm
(max)
Extreme
Seat Depth Buttock-popliteal length 40 cm 38-43 cm
(max)
thigh clearance+ popliteal Extreme
Table height 70 cm 60-72 cm
height (max)
Table 3 Chair and Table Dimensions

We can see from the table that the seat height and depth are within the specifications,
however the seat width is below the required value for the maximum, meaning that a heavy
weighted individual would not be comfortably seating in his workplace. When it comes to
the table height it provides the efficient clearance for the knees and thighs.
The computer's height and angle can be adjusted to the eye sight level, and the keyboard is
tilted up for a proper hand posture. However, the mouse does not have an appropriate shape
because the worker must fit his/her hand to the shape of the mouse.
Recommendation:
The chair is not ergonomic so another chair with proper dimensions must be purchased,
along with a mouse that takes the shape of the hand.
11) Cost Analysis
For each recommended solution, we found the cost per piece that the plant would have to
face. The table below summarized the results:
Problem Solution Cost per piece

Material Handling Hydraulic platform trucks $250-$320
Fixtures Clamps $20-$50
Standing Position Sit/Stand tool $38.60
Anti fatigue mat $12
Noise Rubber Ear Plugs 30$ per box
Office chair Better office chair $229
Computer mouse ergonomic mouse $15-$27
Table 4 Summary of Costs
If these suggestions were implemented, the overall production/day would increase; hence
these minimal costs will be recovered in the long run, so we are confident that these
recommendations are profitable to the plant.

Conclusion
Throughout our study, we were able to detect non-ergonomic aspects in the ALUMEC plant
in many areas which include the manual work design and systems (consisting of the tooling
equipment, technologies, workplace layout and plant layout), the environmental design
(consisting of the illumination, noise, temperature and ventilation), and the cognitive design
(dealing with the amount of information processed by the workers, the coding of information
and visual display of information). We were able to suggest recommendations for each issue
found and they are summarized in the table below. We then presented the list to the manager
and CEO of the plant in hope that they implement the solutions we found if they wish to
make their plant a fully ergonomic workplace.
Summary of Findings
Non Ergonomic Aspects Recommendation
Material Handling Hydraulic Platform Truck ($250-320$)
Workers used as fixtures Purchase clamps as fixtures ($20-50$)
Group heads that are used for the same product
Finding drill heads
together to save search time and avoid errors
Heart rate after lifting Hydraulic Platform Truck
Lifting index>1 Hydraulic Platform Truck ($250-320$)
Drills with 1 finger trigger Use 3 finger trigger drills
Operator neck and back flexion at
Adjust the machine panel to a higher position
metal cutting machine
Introduce industrial sit/stand tools ($38.6 each)

Working position
and anti-fatigue mats ($12 each)
Tool location Follow the tool location guide
Drilling position: neck flexion and Hold parts vertically while drilling, or lower
shoulder abduction table height to knuckle height = 27.5 in
Lighting Constant maintenance of lighting in plant

Provide rubber earplugs of 20 dBA ($30 per
High noise dose exposure
box of 150 pairs)
Provide operator with more efficient
Machine Control Panel illustrations that clearly explain and distinguish
the purpose of each button.
The knob must be bigger and closer to the

scale to increase precision - a pointer must be
Bad design of graduated knob on included on the knob to know at what value the
control panel control is set exactly - the scale should
increase from left to right - major and minor
graduations should be included.
Replace current chair with an office chair

Desk Chair containing all dimensions within the required
specifications ($229 per chair)
Replace current mouse with a mouse that

Computer Mouse
takes the shape of the hand ($15-27)
Table 5 Table of Recommendations

References
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society: http://hfes.org/
Mark Kelly (2014) Ergonomic Chair. VCE It. Retrieved from http://vceit.com/p/hardware-
egonomic-chair.htm
Niebel’s Methods, Standards, and Work Design, Andris Freivalds, 12th Edition
Occupational Safety & Health Association (OSHA): http://www.osha.gov/
The Ergonomics Center: http://www.theergonomicscenter.com/
The Ergonomics Society: http://www.ergonomics.org.uk/
6-in Industrial C-Clamp. Harbor Freight Tools. Retrieved from
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-industrial-c-clamp-37850.html
(2015). Safety Hydraulic Platform Trucks. ESE Direct. Retrieved from
https://www.esedirect.co.uk/p-3183-sealey-hydraulic-platform-trucks.aspx
(2015). Ultra Soft Diamond Plate Anti-Fatigue Mat. American Floor Mats. Retrieved from
http://www.americanfloormats.com/ultrasoft-diamond-plate-anti-fatigue-mat/

Appendix
Appendix A - Body Dimensions

Appendix B – Range of Illuminance

Appendix C - Reflectance

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Fall 2015

Dr. Ali Ammouri

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Figure 1 Aluminum glass frame ............................................................................................... 8

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We focused mainly on implementing “Methods Engineering” by analyzing the manual work

who in turn should find more comfort in their daily tasks.

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ALUMEC is a company specialized in Aluminum, Steel, Glazing and Roofing works. It is

The plant produces many types of products:

- Aluminum glass frames

- GXI + thermal break series

- ESPO Folding sliding systems

- Hueck-Hartmann german series thermal break system

- Spider wall system

- Louvers & sunshades

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Figure 1 Aluminum glass frame

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Activity 1-Get two aluminum bars from the storage.

etc.) during their manufacturing processes.

Figure 3 Wrapping Stand

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will be sold as scrap to be recycled later on.

the product number and type.

Figure 4 Cutting Process

Figure 5 Barcode Process

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possible and to let the water escape if entered through it.

Figure 6 Drilling Process Figure 7 Drills on bars

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Activity 9- The final product is then shipped to the customers.

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Figure 10 Flow Process Chart

Figure 11 Results of Process Chart

Therefore, the cycle time to produce 1 frame is 48.43 minutes.

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summarized in the following Pareto Chart:

Figure 13 Pareto Chart

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Figure 14 Fishbone Diagram

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his coworkers are working on the part.

workers during a production cycle:

Table 1 Line Efficiency

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in the following sections.

reworked and by trying to combine some jobs into one operation.

the parts on the table while being worked on.

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maximizing the production efficiency.

The production processes used are:

-material removal: metal cutting saw, drilling

-material joining: punching

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together by using screws.

Figure 16 Punched and Screwed bars

Figure 17 Punching Machine

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searching and reaching time.

value to the process.