Using empirical evidence of variations in worker performance to extend the capabilities of discrete event simulations in manufacturing

T.S. Baines; L. Hadfield; S. Mason; J. Ladbrook

doi:10.1109/WSC.2003.1261552

Using empirical evidence of variations in worker performance to extend the capabilities of discrete event simulations in manufacturing

T.S. Baines, L. Hadfield, S. Mason, J. Ladbrook

Operations & Information Management

Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference output › Conference publication

Abstract

Discrete event simulation of manufacturing systems has become widely accepted as an important tool to aid the design of such systems. Often, however, it is applied by practitioners in a manner which largely ignores an important element of industry; namely, the workforce. Workers are usually represented as simple resources, often with deterministic performance values. This approach ignores the potentially large effect that human performance variation can have on a system. A long-term data collection exercise is described with the aim of quantifying the performance variation of workers in a typical automotive assembly plant. The data are presented in a histogram form which is immediately usable in simulations to improve the accuracy of design assessment. The results show levels of skewness and range which are far larger than anticipated by current researchers and practitioners in the field.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 2003 winter simulation conference, 2003
Pages	1210-1216
Number of pages	7
Volume	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/WSC.2003.1261552
Publication status	Published - 2003
Event	2003 winter simulation conference - Fairmont New Orleans, United States Duration: 7 Dec 2003 → 10 Dec 2003

Conference

Conference	2003 winter simulation conference
Country/Territory	United States
City	Fairmont New Orleans
Period	7/12/03 → 10/12/03

Bibliographical note

© 2003 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works

Keywords

automotive assembly plant
discrete event simulation
manufacturing systems
productivity
personnel

Access to Document

10.1109/WSC.2003.1261552

Evidence of variations in worker performance to extend TFTE capabilities of discrete event simulations in manufacturing
© 2003 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works
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Cite this

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title = "Using empirical evidence of variations in worker performance to extend the capabilities of discrete event simulations in manufacturing",

abstract = "Discrete event simulation of manufacturing systems has become widely accepted as an important tool to aid the design of such systems. Often, however, it is applied by practitioners in a manner which largely ignores an important element of industry; namely, the workforce. Workers are usually represented as simple resources, often with deterministic performance values. This approach ignores the potentially large effect that human performance variation can have on a system. A long-term data collection exercise is described with the aim of quantifying the performance variation of workers in a typical automotive assembly plant. The data are presented in a histogram form which is immediately usable in simulations to improve the accuracy of design assessment. The results show levels of skewness and range which are far larger than anticipated by current researchers and practitioners in the field.",

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Baines, TS, Hadfield, L, Mason, S & Ladbrook, J 2003, Using empirical evidence of variations in worker performance to extend the capabilities of discrete event simulations in manufacturing. in Proceedings of the 2003 winter simulation conference, 2003. vol. 2, pp. 1210-1216, 2003 winter simulation conference, Fairmont New Orleans, United States, 7/12/03. https://doi.org/10.1109/WSC.2003.1261552

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AU - Hadfield, L.

AU - Mason, S.

AU - Ladbrook, J.

N1 - © 2003 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works

PY - 2003

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N2 - Discrete event simulation of manufacturing systems has become widely accepted as an important tool to aid the design of such systems. Often, however, it is applied by practitioners in a manner which largely ignores an important element of industry; namely, the workforce. Workers are usually represented as simple resources, often with deterministic performance values. This approach ignores the potentially large effect that human performance variation can have on a system. A long-term data collection exercise is described with the aim of quantifying the performance variation of workers in a typical automotive assembly plant. The data are presented in a histogram form which is immediately usable in simulations to improve the accuracy of design assessment. The results show levels of skewness and range which are far larger than anticipated by current researchers and practitioners in the field.

AB - Discrete event simulation of manufacturing systems has become widely accepted as an important tool to aid the design of such systems. Often, however, it is applied by practitioners in a manner which largely ignores an important element of industry; namely, the workforce. Workers are usually represented as simple resources, often with deterministic performance values. This approach ignores the potentially large effect that human performance variation can have on a system. A long-term data collection exercise is described with the aim of quantifying the performance variation of workers in a typical automotive assembly plant. The data are presented in a histogram form which is immediately usable in simulations to improve the accuracy of design assessment. The results show levels of skewness and range which are far larger than anticipated by current researchers and practitioners in the field.

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KW - discrete event simulation

KW - manufacturing systems

KW - productivity

KW - personnel

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Y2 - 7 December 2003 through 10 December 2003

ER -

Using empirical evidence of variations in worker performance to extend the capabilities of discrete event simulations in manufacturing

Abstract

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

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