Enabling Concurrent Multi-Objective Optimization of Worker Well-Being and Productivity in DHM Tools

Abstract

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are often associated with high costs for manufacturing companies and society, as well as negative effects on sustainable working life of workers. To both ensure workers’ well-being and reduce the costs of WMSDs, it is important to consider worker well-being in the design and operations of production processes. To facilitate the simulation of humans in production and improve worker well-being, there are numerous digital human modelling (DHM) tools available on the market. Besides simulation of humans in production, there are numerous production simulation software to simulate production flows of factories, robots and workstations that offer the possibility of improving the productivity of the stations, optimizing the layout and the configuration of the production lines. Despite of the capabilities of DHM and production flow simulation software, there is a lack of tools that can handle an overall optimization perspective, where it is possible to concurrently treat aspects related to both worker well-being and productivity within one tool. This study presents a prescribed tool that enables concurrent multi-objective optimization of worker well-being and productivity in DHM tools by analyzing the impact of different design alternatives. The tool was assessed in a workstation layout optimization use case. In the use case, risk scores of an ergonomics evaluation method was used as a measure of well-being, and total walking distance and workstation area were used as measures of productivity. The results show that the optimized solutions improve both total walking distance, workstation area and ergonomic risk scores compared to the initial solution. This study suggests that the concurrent multi-objective optimization of worker well-being and productivity could generate more optimal solutions for industry and increase the likelihood for a sustainable working life of workers. Therefore, further studies in this field are claimed to be beneficial to industry, society and workers.

Using time-based musculoskeletal risk assessment methods to assess worker well-being in optimizations in a welding station design

“…For every iteration the welding gun angle was changed by the optimization algorithm, making the 10 manikins perform the welding in different postures. In order to perform the welding in different postures, the entire motion of the welding gun changed by using the input of the optimization algorithm implemented in the optimization platform (Iriondo Pascual et al, 2022) and the path planning algorithm of the DHM tool (Figure 6). After finishing all the iterations, the results of the OWAS Lundqvist index for every manikin and welding gun positioning were analysed.…”

Ergonomic Optimization of Human-Machine Systems in Virtual Environments – A Systematic Literature Review Identifying Research Gaps

“…These guidelines are also applicable to ergonomic design optimizations, as they incorporate assessment criteria for categorizing ergonomic risks. Furthermore, the walking distance is a relevant parameter which needs to be minimized for an ergonomic layout of a patients room or industrial plant [33,34]. For the design of ergonomic seated workplaces, the consideration of external human stress plays a rather minor role and was therefore rather neglected in the studies reviewed.…”

“…RULA [50] US checklist for computer work [24] Swedish standard for computer work [24] OCRA (incl. posture) [51] Manual redesign [24,51] Room layouts RULA [33] REBA [33,34] Walking distance [33,34] Evolutionary algorithm (EA): NSGA-II multi-objective based on RULA, area of occupation, walking distance [33] SPEA-2 multi-objective based on clash points, walking distance [34] Humanpowered vehicles (bike, rowing boat, trike)…”