New manufacturing technology should do more than just increase output, efficiency and quality. It should also improve the working conditions and health of the employees.
Looking for stuff, whether it be keys, wallet, phone, meeting notes, spices in a kitchen cabinet, or pencils in my woodworking shop, is the bane of my existence. Some days, I feel as if I spend more time looking for stuff than I do actually using the stuff I was looking for.
On some assembly lines, today's MVP is a robotic tool that was originally developed for use on the battlefield. It's called an exoskeleton. The wearable device enables operators to perform a variety of overhead tasks. It minimizes physical strain and boosts efficiency.
Despite the stereotype often promoted by the general media and politicians, automation has not replaced every manual task in manufacturing plants. Many thousands of U.S. workers lift heavy objects around their workstations all day, every day.
Quality and innovation have been the name of the game at Club Car ever since the company was founded in 1958. Today, the company produces 40 base models of golf, utility and transportation vehicles.
Employees at Fiat Chrysler’s Indiana Transmission Plant I (ITPI) in Kokomo, IN, have achieved something few in manufacturing can claim—they have logged 10 million hours, or a span of more than three years, without a lost-time injury.
NEW DELHI—Audi has developed a carbon-fiber “chairless chair” for its employees working on the assembly line. The chair eases many assembly activities and at the same time, it improves their posture and reduces the strain on their legs.
ANN ARBOR, MI—Humantech is conducting a survey on the use of computer technology for managing ergonomics programs. This online, confidential survey consists of 16 questions and is open to any company with an established ergonomics program.
SOLINGEN, German—Item Industrietechnik GmbH has become the first supplier of industrial workbenches to be awarded the “certified and recommended” seal of approval by the independent Campaign for Healthy Backs.
ANN ARBOR, MI—Humantech and Ergotron will host two ergonomics “Twitter chats” this month with a board-certified professional ergonomist. Participants can tweet their questions using the hashtag #ergochat during the sessions.