Database for Capability-Appropriate Workplace Design in Manufacturing Industry

Abstract

Due to demographic change, less younger workers are available and the amount of workers in general will decrease. In addition the average age of the working population will increase in western countries in the near future. With higher age absenteeism, especially due to musculoskeletal disorders, rises. Also the range of performance between individuals grows wider. But this is not true for all capabilities and not only for elderly workers. Therefore, a capability-appropriate workplace design is necessary to meet physical workplace demands in manufacturing industry and in order to preserve the workability of the workforce.A large variety of capabilities is challenging in the context of workplace design in manufacturing industry. This high number of capabilities with a wide range of individual performance can be best captured and represented in a database. Therefore a suitable database will be developed, where relevant physical manufacturing capabilities are collected and processed for workplace designers. These work-related capabilities represent individual performance in different sections e.g. static working postures, manual materials handling and action forces. Based on this information, design solutions for a prospective capability-appropriate workplace design can be derived relative to the age structure of the manufacturing plant.

Keywords: eldery worker, work-related capabilities, database for workplace design

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100464