A better way of fitting clips? A comparative study with respect to physical workload

Abstract

The clip fitting task is a frequently encountered assembly operation in the car industry. It can cause upper limb pain. During task laboratory simulations, upper limb muscular activity and external force were compared for 4 clip fitting methods: with the bare hand, with an unpowered tool commonly used at a company and with unpowered and powered prototype tools. None of the 4 fitting methods studied induced a lower overall workload than the other three. Muscle activity was lower at the dominant limb when using the unpowered tools and at the non-dominant limb with the bare hand or with the powered tool. Fitting clips with the bare hand required a higher external force than fitting with the three tools. Evaluation of physical workload was different depending on whether external force or muscle activity results were considered. Measuring external force only, as recommended in several standards, is insufficient for evaluating physical workload.

Intrinsic movement variability at work. How long is the path from motor control to design engineering?

“…Kinematics and visual observation inform on how each body segment is involved in a movement. These techniques provide sometimes convergent and sometimes divergent information (Bosch et al, 2011;Gaudez et al, 2015). Thus, defining the appropriate technique or combination of techniques to characterise movement variability at work is a major issue before starting any investigation.…”

EMG Characterization and Processing in Production Engineering

“…These small, variously shaped components made of metal, plastic, or composite material can be inserted automatically or manually. Gaudez et al [73] evaluate different clip inserting and adjusting processes in the automotive industry, determining the muscle load of the upper extremities during activity. None of the analyzed techniques offers better average results than the others.…”

Which subject-related variables contribute to movement variability during a simulated repetitive and standardised occupational task? Recurrence quantification analysis of surface electromyographic signals

“…the glove box and the dashboard. This simulation was a follow-up to an ergonomic investigation performed in an automotive supplier specialized in designing and manufacturing dashboards where clips were generally fitted with bare-hands (Gaudez, Wild, and Aublet-Cuvelier 2015;Gaudez, Bonnet and Aublet-Cuvelier 2013;Gaudez 2008). This activity was associated with deburring, conditioning and visual inspection of parts.…”