Abstract:
The
way in which a manufacturing system is designed is a crucial determinant of its
operational efficiency and profitability. System design is, therefore, a major consideration
for
organisations. However, the efficacy of current system design techniques could be
improved. Designers still do not often construct assembly line layouts that provide the
high level of efficiency and flexibility that is required by today's highly competitive
organisations. One aspect of system design processes that has been found particularly
deficient is the
way in which human labour is considered. Current system design practices
tend to
disregard that workers may vary as they perform production tasks and the impact
that this
may have on the assembly line. In particular, system designers appear to have
little
understanding of how production work may be affected by workers' personal
attributes.
The research
presented in this thesis sought to identify the nature and impact of human
work
performance to inform design stage practices. In particular, the research aimed to
establish the extent to which the
personal attributes of workers influence variations in their
performance of production tasks. The research involved parallel data collection studies in
a real
manufacturing system where workers' performance of production tasks and their
personal attributes in respect of work-related attitudes were measured and analysed.
Overall, this research did not nd evidence of relationships between the particular work-
related attitudes and
production task performance that were measured in the study.
However, indications were found that suggest production task performance variations may
be
produced by interactions between task characteristics and workers personal attributes.
This evidence is an
important development in understanding worker behaviour and
informing manufacturing system designers that their neglect of worker performance
variation in
design stage evaluations may be a major cause of current design weaknesses.
