Proceedings,16th

Proceedings,16th IFAC
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Proceedings,16th
Proceedings,16th
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Proceedings,16th
Bergamo, Italy,
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JuneProblems
IFAC
11-13,
11-13, in Manufacturing
Symposium
2018
2018 on
Information
Information Control
Control
Bergamo, Italy,
Italy, Problems
Problems
JuneProblems in
in
11-13, 2018
2018 Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Information
Bergamo, Control in Manufacturing
Italy, June
Bergamo, Italy, June 11-13,
11-13, 2018
2018
Bergamo,
Bergamo, Italy, June
June 11-13,
11-13, 2018 ScienceDirect
IFAC PapersOnLine 51-11 (2018) 826–831
Fatigue accumulation in the assignment of manual material
Fatigue accumulation in the assignment of manual material
Fatigue
Fatigue accumulation
handlingin
accumulation the
the assignment
inactivities of
of manual
to operators
assignment manual material
material
handling activities to operators
Visentin
Visentin
Visentin handling
Valentina*,
Valentina*, Sgarbossa
Sgarbossa
Valentina*,handling activities
Fabio*,
Fabio*, to operators
Calzavara
Calzavara
activities
Sgarbossa Fabio*,
Martina*,
Martina*,
to operators
Calzavara
Persona
Persona
Martina*, Persona
Alessandro*
Alessandro*
Alessandro*
Visentin
Visentin Valentina*,
Valentina*, Sgarbossa
Visentin Valentina*,
Valentina*, Sgarbossa
Sgarbossa Fabio*, Fabio*, Calzavara
Sgarbossa Fabio*, Calzavara Martina*,
Fabio*, Calzavara Martina*, Persona
Calzavara Martina*,
Martina*, PersonaPersona Alessandro*
Alessandro*
Persona Alessandro*
Alessandro*
Visentin  of Padova, Stradella San Nicola, 3, 36100 – Vicenza - Italy
** Department of Management and Engineering, University
Department
*** Department
Department of Management
of Management
of
and
Management and Engineering,  of
University
andalessandro.persona@unipd.it;
Engineering, University
Engineering, University Padova,
of Padova,
of Padova, Stradella San
Stradella San
Stradella
Nicola,
San Nicola, 3, 36100 –
36100 Vicenza
Vicenza -- Italy
– Vicenza
Nicola,visentin@gest.unipd.it)
3, 36100
3, –
Italy
Italy
(martina.calzavara@unipd.it;
** Department of Management and
(martina.calzavara@unipd.it;
Department of Management and Engineering, University of
alessandro.persona@unipd.it;
Engineering, University of fabio.sgarbossa@unipd.it;
Padova, Stradella San Nicola,
fabio.sgarbossa@unipd.it;
Padova, Stradella San Nicola, 3,
3, 36100 –
– Vicenza -- Italy
visentin@gest.unipd.it)
Department of Management andalessandro.persona@unipd.it;
(martina.calzavara@unipd.it; Engineering, University of Padova,
alessandro.persona@unipd.it; 3, 36100 – Vicenza - Italy
36100 Vicenza
Stradella San Nicola,visentin@gest.unipd.it)
fabio.sgarbossa@unipd.it;
fabio.sgarbossa@unipd.it; visentin@gest.unipd.it) Italy
(martina.calzavara@unipd.it;
(martina.calzavara@unipd.it; alessandro.persona@unipd.it; fabio.sgarbossa@unipd.it; visentin@gest.unipd.it)
(martina.calzavara@unipd.it; alessandro.persona@unipd.it;
alessandro.persona@unipd.it; fabio.sgarbossa@unipd.it;
fabio.sgarbossa@unipd.it; visentin@gest.unipd.it)
visentin@gest.unipd.it)
Abstract: In an industrial
In industrial context
context it is is not
not easy
easy toto evaluate how how to to assign activities
activities to to operators for for reaching
reaching
Abstract:
Abstract:
Abstract:
the improvement In an
In an industrial
an industrial
of the context it
context
performance it is
it isofnotthe
not easy
easy to evaluate
to
system,evaluate
evaluate
since how
the to assign
howinfluence
to assignof
assign activities
activities
the to operators
to
activities operators
operators
on the for
for reaching
reaching
operators is
Abstract:
the improvement In
In an industrial
of the context
performance it is not
of theeasy to
system,evaluate
since how
the to assign
influence ofactivities
the to
activities operators
on the for reaching
operators is
Abstract:
the improvement
Abstract:
the improvement
strictly In an
linked antoindustrial
industrial
of
of the
their
context
performance
it
it is not
context characteristics.
the personal
performance isofnotthe
of theeasy
easy to
to evaluate
system,
system,evaluate
since the
since
Moreover,
how
how
the to
to assign
assign
influence
influence
during the of
of
activities
activities
the activities
the
to
to operators
activities
performance operators
onthe
on
of
for
for
theactivity,
the
reaching
reaching
operators
operators is
is
the
the improvement
strictly linked
the improvement
improvement to of
of the
their performance
personal
the personal
performance of the
characteristics.
of the system,
the system,
system, since
Moreover,
since the the influence
during
the during
influence the of the activities
performance
ofperformance
the activities
activitiesofon on
of
onthethethe operators
activity,
theactivity,
operatorsthe is
the
is
the
strictly
strictly
operators linked
linked to
to
experience of the
their
their performance
personal
physical of
characteristics.
characteristics.
fatigue which can since
Moreover,
Moreover,
accumulate influence
during
during the
the
time of the
performance
if they cannot of thethe
recover operators
activity,
properly. is
the
strictly
operators
strictly linked
linked to their
experience
to their personal
physical
personal characteristics.
fatigue which
characteristics. can Moreover, during
accumulate
Moreover, during
during the
time
the performance
if they
performance cannot of recover
of the activity,
the activity,
properly. the
the
strictly
operators
operators linked to
experience
experience their personal
physical
physical characteristics.
fatigue
fatigue which can Moreover,
accumulate during
during the
time performance
if they cannot of the
recover activity,
properly. the
For manual
operators
For manual
operators material
material handling
experience
experience handling
physical fatigue which
physical activities,
activities,
fatigue the
which
which
can
can accumulate
the whole
whole
can body
body is
accumulate during
is involved;
involved; time
time if
during subsequently,
subsequently,if they
they cannot the
cannot recover
the physical
recoverfatigue
physical properly.
fatigue
properly.can
can
operators
For
be manual
measured experience
material
through physical
handling
the energy fatigue
activities, which
expenditure the can accumulate
whole
rate. accumulate
body
In relationis during
during
involved;
to this,
time
time
subsequently,
the aim
if they
if of
they this
cannot
cannot
the
paper
recover
recover
physical
is to
properly.
properly.
fatigue
improve can
the
For
be
For manual material
measured
manual material handling
throughhandling
the energy activities,
expenditure
activities, the whole
the whole
rate. Inbody
bodyrelationis involved;
is involved; subsequently,
to this, the aim of this the
subsequently, the
paper physical fatigue can
is to improve
physical fatigue can
the
For
be manualof
measured
scheduling material
through
manual handling
the energy
material activities,
expenditure
handling the whole
rate.
activities body
In
of relation
the is involved;
to
operators this,bysubsequently,
the aim
knowing of this
the the
paper
energy physical
is to fatigue rate
improve
expenditure can
the
be measuredofthrough
scheduling
be measured through
manual the energyhandling
material
the energy expenditure
expenditure rate. In
activities
rate. In
of relation
the
relation to this,
operators
to this,bythe aim of
knowing of the
thisenergy
paper is isexpenditure
to improve
improverate the
be measured
scheduling
scheduling
and the ofthrough
of
duration manual
manual
of thethe energy
material
material
activity expenditure
handling
handling
and by rate.
activities
activities
knowing how In
ofthe
of relation
thespecific
the to this,
operators
operators bythe
bythe
operator
aim
aim
knowing
knowingaccumulates
this
of the
the paper
thisenergy
paper
energyfatigue
to
isexpenditure
toand
improve
expenditure recovers.
the
the
rate
rate
scheduling
and the
scheduling of
duration
of manual
of
manual the material
activity
material handling
and by
handling activities
knowing
activitieshow of
of the
the
the operators
specific
operators by
operator
by knowing
knowingaccumulates the
the energy
energyfatigue expenditure
and
expenditure recovers.rate
rate
scheduling
and
and
The the
the of
duration
duration
analysis manual
of
of
carried the
the material
activity
activity handling
and
and by
by activities
knowing
knowing how
how of the
the
the operators
specific
specific by
operator
operator knowingaccumulates
accumulates the energyfatigue
fatigue expenditure
and
and recovers.
recovers.rate
and
The the duration
analysis of
carried theon permits
activity
on permits and to
tobyconsider
knowing more
how the
the influence
specific of
operator human factors
accumulates in the
fatigue scheduling
and recovers. of
and
and
The
The
the
the duration
duration
analysis
analysis
operators’
of
of the
carried
carried
activities the activity
activity
on
on
during permits
permits
the
and
and tobyconsider
toby
working
knowing
knowing
consider
consider
day.
more
how
how the
more
more
the
the
influence
the specific
the specific
influence
influence
of
of human
operator
operator
of human
human
factors
factors in
accumulates
accumulates
factors
the
the scheduling
fatigue
fatigue
in
in the
and
and recovers.
recovers.
scheduling
scheduling
of
of
of
The analysis
operators’
The analysis carried
activities
carried on
during
on permits
the to
working consider
day. more the influence of human factors in the scheduling of
The analysis
operators’
operators’ on permits
carriedduring
activities
activities during permits to
to consider
the working
the working day. more
consider
day. more the the influence
influence of of human
human factors factors in in the
the scheduling
scheduling of of
operators’ activities during the working day.
© 2018, IFAC
operators’
operators’
Keywords:
Keywords:
activities
activities
fatigue,
fatigue,
during the
(International
during
recovery,
recovery,
the working
Federation
working
rest
rest allowance,
allowance,
day.
ofday.
Automatic
human
human Control)
factors,
factors, Hosting by Elsevier
scheduling,
scheduling, material
material Ltd. All rights
handling
handling  reserved.
Keywords: fatigue, recovery, rest allowance, human factors, scheduling, material handling 
Keywords:
Keywords: fatigue,
Keywords:
fatigue,
fatigue, recovery,
recovery, rest rest
rest allowance,
allowance, human human
human factors, scheduling,
factors, scheduling,
scheduling, material material
material handlinghandling 
handling
Keywords: fatigue, recovery, recovery, rest allowance,
allowance, human factors, factors,
2005)
2005) scheduling,
but
but also
also an
an material
increase
increase handling
in
in the
the  reaction
reaction time
time and
and in
in the
the
1.
1. INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION 2005)
2005) but
but also
also an
an increase
increase in
in the
the reaction time and in the
1. INTRODUCTION
1. INTRODUCTION processing
2005)
processing
2005) but
but time an
also
time
also of the
of
an the tasks (Ferjani
increase
tasks
increase in the reaction
(Ferjani
in the et al.,
et
reaction
time
al., 2017).
reaction 2017).
time In
time
and
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and
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addition,
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1.
1. INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION 2005)
processing
processing
there but
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time
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of
of increase
the
the
decrease tasks
tasks in in the
(Ferjani
(Ferjani
the capacity reaction
et
et al.,
al.,of time
2017).
2017). and
In
In
generating in
addition,
addition,the
force
In
In a production
aa production system,
system,1. INTRODUCTION
many activities
many activities
activities are are still
are still manual,
still manual,
manual, like like processing
there
processing can time
be
timea of
of the
decrease
the tasks
tasks in (Ferjani
the capacity
(Ferjani et
et al.,
al.,of2017).
2017). In
generating
In addition,
force
addition,
In
In
the production
aamaterial
production
material system,
system,
handling many
many
activities activities
for lifting,
lifting, are still
lowering, manual, like processing
like
pushing,
there
there can
(Konz,
(Konz, 1998a,
can
1998a,
time decrease
be
be aaaKonz,
of the1998b).
decrease
Konz,
tasks
1998b).
in
in the
(Ferjani
the capacity
Therefore,
et al.,rest
capacityaa of
Therefore, of
2017). In addition,
generating
should
should be
generating
restgenerating
force
be given
force
given
In
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In a production
production system,
handling
system, many
activities
many activities
for
activities are
are still
lowering,
still manual,
manual, like
pushing,
like there
there
(Konz, can
can
1998a,be
be a decrease
decrease
Konz, 1998b). in
in the
the capacity
capacity
Therefore, a of
of
rest generating
should be force
force
given
In
the
the amaterial
pulling, production
material holding system,
handling
handling or many activities
activities
activities
carrying for any
for lifting,
lifting, arelowering,
object still or
lowering, manual, like to
pushing,
pushing,
material to the
(Konz,
the operator
1998a,
operator with
Konz,
with consequent
1998b).
consequent difficulty
Therefore,
difficulty a for
rest
for practitioners
should be
practitioners givenin
in
the
the material
pulling,
material handling
holding
handling or activities
carrying
activities for
for lifting,
any
lifting, lowering,
object
lowering, or pushing,
material
pushing, (Konz,
(Konz,
to 1998a,
1998a, Konz,
the operator
operator Konz, 1998b).
1998b).
with consequent
consequent Therefore,
Therefore,
difficulty a rest
a to
rest should
should
forstop be
be
practitioners given
givenin
the material
pulling,
pulling,
(Napolitano, handling
holding
holding
2012). or
or activities
During carrying
carrying
these for lifting,
any
any
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object
object
the or
or
presence pushing,
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of the to to the
understanding
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understanding operator with
which
with
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is the best
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for practitioners
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practitioners
stop the operator in
in
pulling,
(Napolitano,
pulling, holding holding
2012).
holding or
During
or carrying
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carrying any
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the
object or
presence material
or materialof the
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to the
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with
which consequent
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is the best difficulty
difficulty
moment tofor
for practitioners
practitioners
stop the operator in
in
pulling,
(Napolitano,
(Napolitano,
operators is 2012).
2012).
fundamental or
During
During carrying
these
these
forthese any
activities,
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assuring the
the
flexibility or
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presence
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for recovering.
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Subsequently,
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2012). During for these activities,
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fundamental During for these activities,
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fatigue
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in for
for assuring
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Moreover,
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et al., 2015).
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minimization
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Then, in Section
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3 and
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and 4
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handling
physical
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activities,
fatigue.
activities,
fatigue.
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Thethe
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operators
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experience
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is
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and
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and steps
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Finally,
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and stepsactivities
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and steps
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to be
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in future
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researches are
are
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Subsequently,
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can whole
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whole physical
body and fatigue
and is defined
defined
fatigue
is on as as general
operators,
general conclusions
discussed. and
conclusions and steps steps to to be be takentaken in in future
future researches
researches are are
Subsequently,
Subsequently,
which is this
this can cause
can whole
cause physical
physical fatigue on operators,
on operators, discussed.
discussed.
body
which
body
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fatigue
fatigue
is (Gawron
related
(Gawron
related
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the et al.,
whole
al.,
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body and is
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as general discussed.
general discussed.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
which
body fatigue
body is related
fatigue (Gawron
(Gawronto theet etwhole body and is defined as general
al., 2001).
al., 2001). 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
body
body fatigue
fatigue (Gawron
(Gawron et
et al.,
al., 2001).
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2. LITERATURE
LITERATURE REVIEW
REVIEW
body
A fatigue
possible way(Gawron
for et al.,
monitoring 2001).
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2. LITERATURE
LITERATURE REVIEW
A
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erroneous© 2018,
2405-8963 postures IFACand musculoskeletal
(International Federationdisorders
of Automatic (David,
Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright
Peer review©
Copyright 2018
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Bergamo, Italy, June 11-13, 2018 Visentin Valentina et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-11 (2018) 826–831 827
an operator experiences during the performance of the activity
is the physical fatigue, which can be muscular fatigue, if a
specific muscle is stressed continuously, or general body
fatigue if the whole body is involved in the activity (Gawron
et al., 2001). Related to this, the existing literature is focused
on the estimation of the time necessary to the operator to
recover from the physical effort performed, which is defined
as Rest Allowance (RA) (Price, 1990). As far as muscular
fatigue is concerned, the models proposed for recovery time
estimation are based on the MVC or MHT, which are
respectively the Maximum Voluntary Contraction and the
Maximum Holding Time (El Ahrache and Imbeau, 2009).
However, in manual material handling activities, the whole
body is involved, implying general body fatigue, which can be
measured with the energy expenditure rate. In case of general
body fatigue the only model which can be applied for recovery
time estimation is the one of Price (1990). The physical fatigue
an operator feels is accumulated during time if it is not given
to the operator enough time to recover and this accumulation
of fatigue is strictly linked to all the previous efforts (Sonne
and Potvin, 2015; Rashedi and Nussbaum, 2017).
Related to the scheduling of operators’ activities, there is the
acknowledged need of including more the human factors
(Song et al., 2016; Aroui et al., 2017). In fact, the researches
have begun to take into account human factors such as skills,
training, and workers’ fatigue and recovery level (Othman et
al., 2012). Nevertheless, for the fatigue perceived by the
operators, the researches have mainly been focused on the
minimization of musculoskeletal disorders and of muscular
fatigue related to the measurement of MET (Ma et al., 2015).
Subsequently, there still lacks the analysis of how the
scheduling of operators’ manual material handling activities
can be improved considering general body fatigue rather than
muscular fatigue. Jaber et al. (2013) and Dode et al. (2016)
have already put in evidence that for physical fatigue there
exists an exponential trend of fatigue accumulation and
recovery alleviation. This fatigue and recovery trend will be
considered also in the development of the model of the next
Section for estimating the accumulation of fatigue during time
if the operators have not the time to recover after each activity
(Jaber and Neumann, 2010).
3. MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR RECOVERY TIME
ESTIMATION
In an industrial context, usually it is not possible to allow a rest
to an operator after every activity. Consequently, the general
body fatigue an operator perceives accumulates during time,
determining a change in the time the operator needs to recover.
As stated in the previous section, the only model which
considers the general body fatigue is the one of Price (1990),
where the terms of reference are the mean energy expenditure
rate of the activity performed and the energy expenditure rate
at rest, considering whether there is a standing or a sitting rest.
However, in Price’s model (1990) the exponential trend of
fatigue and recovery, which is put in evidence in Jaber et al.
(2013), is not considered.
Consequently, the following model aims at evaluating the
fatigue accumulation of an operator who has to perform a
840
certain number of activities sequentially without having a rest
after each activity. First of all, this model can help a
practitioner in understanding which is the best sequencing of
operator’s activities to obtain the minimization of the recovery
time needed to the operator. In addition, the scheduling of the
rest period is part of the optimization model. In relation to this,
it can be evaluated when it is better to give an operator a rest,
which could be also before or only at the end of all the
activities.
Considering their exponential trends, the fatigue 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 ) and
the recovery 𝑅𝑅(𝜏𝜏) related to a certain activity 𝑖𝑖 can be
modelled as follows (Konz, 1998a; Ma et al., 2009; Zhang et
al. 2014):
𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖 = 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 + (𝐸𝐸̇𝑅𝑅 − 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 ) ∙ 𝑒𝑒 −𝜆𝜆𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖
(1)
𝑅𝑅(𝜏𝜏)𝑖𝑖 = 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖 ∙ 𝑒𝑒 −µ𝜏𝜏
(2)
As can be seen in (1), the value of 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖 is strictly linked to
the duration of the activity 𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 , to the energy expenditure rate
at rest 𝐸𝐸̇𝑅𝑅 , to the maximum energy expenditure rate 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 and to
specific operator. As far as recovery 𝑅𝑅(𝜏𝜏)𝑖𝑖 is concerned, it
λ, which is the parameter of fatigue accumulation of the
starts from the value of 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖 reached at the end of the
activity and its decrease is influenced by µ, the parameter of
fatigue alleviation of the operator and by 𝜏𝜏, the time given to
the operator to recover.
The maximum energy expenditure rate 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 of the activity 𝑖𝑖, is
the kind of operator. The energy expenditure rate at rest 𝐸𝐸̇𝑅𝑅 , as
strictly linked to the intensity of the activity performed and to
stated by Battini et al. (2017) is 1.86 Kcal/min for a standard
worker, while λ and µ are parameters related to the personal
characteristics of the operator, which respectively indicates
how fatigue is accumulated and alleviated (Jaber et al., 2013).
The parameters λ and µ can change in relation to age, gender,
the intensity of the activity, the value of 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 can be different
weight and training status of the individual. Moreover, given
from one operator to the other because they can reach different
values of the maximum heart rate.
If after activity 𝑖𝑖 the operator has to perform consecutively
another activity 𝑖𝑖 + 1 without taking a rest, fatigue
higher or a lower value of 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 than the previous one.
accumulation emerges. Moreover, the activity can have a
Considering this, the trend of fatigue accumulation for this
second activity can be formulated as:
𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖+1 + (𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖 − 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖+1 ) ∙ 𝑒𝑒 −𝜆𝜆𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊𝑖𝑖+1
𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 ≥ 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖
𝑖𝑖+1
𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖+1 =
𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖+1 + (𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖 − 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊𝑖𝑖+1 ) ∙ 𝑒𝑒 −µ𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖+1
(3)
{ 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖+1 < 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖
second activity 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 2 is higher than the fatigue reached after the
Hence, if the value of maximum energy expenditure rate of the
end of the first activity 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )1 , the operator accumulates
fatigue, with a comprehensive increasing trend (Figure 1, A).
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On the other side, if 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 2 is lower than 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )1 , the operator, and recovery alleviation are not taken into account, since the

recovery till the reaching of 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 2 (Figure 1, B and C). In this 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 for the entire duration.
in comparison to the previous activity, experiences some activity is considered at the maximum energy expenditure rate

case, the parameter to consider is µ. In fact, as stated by Konz, Therefore, (4) can be modified by including the exponential

mean energy expenditure rate 𝐸𝐸′̇𝑊𝑊 , calculated on the total

(1998a), the recovery can whether be static or dynamic. In a trends of fatigue and recovery by calculating a new value of
static recovery, the operator recovers by interrupting the
working activities with a standing or sitting rest; in a dynamic
working time plus the time necessary to the operator for
one he partially recovers by performing an activity with a
reaching 1.86 Kcal/min, as can be seen in Figure 2.
lower intensity than the previous one.
7
7

𝐸𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊
6 A 6

5 TASK 3
TASK 2 5
cal min

cal min
TASK 1
3 4

𝐸𝐸̇𝑅𝑅
2
𝐸𝐸̇

3
1

𝐸𝐸̇
0 2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Time [min] 1

0
7
6
B 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

Fig. 2: Setting of 𝐸𝐸′̇𝑊𝑊 considering the exponential trend of

TASK 3 Time [min]
5
TASK 2
cal min

4
TASK 1
3
fatigue and recovery.
Then, defining 𝑛𝑛 as the total number of activities considered,
2
𝐸𝐸̇

the value of 𝐸𝐸′̇𝑊𝑊 in case of rest after each activity is obtained

1

by summing the fatigue accumulation of every 𝑖𝑖 activity and

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Time [min]

by dividing it by the sum of 𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 , the time spent for the

7 its recovery alleviation (till the reaching of 1.86 Kcal/min), and

performance of each activity, and 𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 , the time for reaching 1.86
6
TASK 3
𝐸𝐸̇ Kcal/min]

Kcal/min. On the other side, if the rest is given after a set of 𝑘𝑘

5
T S
4

activities, the fatigue accumulation during 𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 needs to be

T S 1
3

considered only after the 𝑘𝑘 𝑡𝑡ℎ activity.

2
1

𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 +𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 𝑖𝑖

0

∑𝑛𝑛
𝑖𝑖=1 ∫0 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊)𝑖𝑖 +∫𝑡𝑡 𝑅𝑅(𝜏𝜏)𝑖𝑖
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖
Time [min]
∑𝑛𝑛
𝑖𝑖=1 𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 +𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 𝑖𝑖
𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
𝐸𝐸′̇𝑊𝑊 =
Fig. 1. Accumulation of fatigue changing the order of 3
(5)
𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑘𝑘 +𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 𝑘𝑘
different activities.
∑𝑛𝑛 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖 +∑𝑘𝑘 ∫𝑡𝑡 𝑅𝑅(𝜏𝜏)𝑘𝑘
As far as recovery 𝑅𝑅(𝜏𝜏)𝑖𝑖 is concerned, the starting point of the 𝑖𝑖=1 ∫0 𝑊𝑊 𝑘𝑘
∑𝑛𝑛
𝑖𝑖=1 𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 +∑𝑘𝑘 𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 𝑘𝑘
{ 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑘𝑘 𝑡𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
recovery curve, as can be seen in (2), is the maximum value of

𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖 . Subsequently, considering two consecutive activities,

energy expenditure rate reached at the end of the activity

The value of ∫0 𝑊𝑊𝑖𝑖 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖 is equal to:

𝑡𝑡

𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )1 , otherwise, it is 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )2 if the rest is given after the

if the rest is given after the first activity the starting point is

∫0 𝑊𝑊 1 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )1 = 𝐸𝐸̇ 𝑊𝑊 1 ∙ 𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 1 + (𝐸𝐸̇𝑅𝑅 − 𝐸𝐸̇ 𝑊𝑊 1 ) ∙

−𝜆𝜆𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊
𝑡𝑡 (𝐸𝐸̇𝑅𝑅 −𝐸𝐸̇ 𝑊𝑊 1 )
+
second one. 𝑒𝑒 1
−𝜆𝜆 𝜆𝜆
(6)
In the following equation, based on the one of Price (1990) and
already modified by Battini et al. (2017), the value of RA is for the first activity, while for the other activities it is:

needs to stay at 𝐸𝐸̇𝑅𝑅 , to recover completely:

estimated as a percentage of the working time the operator
𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖 =
𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖
∫0
𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 ∙ 𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 + (𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖−1 − 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊i ) ∙
(𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖−1 −𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 )
+
𝑒𝑒 −𝜆𝜆𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖

𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 > 4.3

𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 −4.3
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 = { 4.3−𝐸𝐸̇𝑅𝑅
−𝜆𝜆 𝜆𝜆
𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 ≥ 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖−1
0 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒
(4)

𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 ∙ 𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 + (𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖−1 − 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊 ) ∙

(𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖−1 −𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 )
(7)
+
𝑒𝑒 −µ𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖

if the value of 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 is higher than 4.3 Kcal/min. Moreover, it −µ µ

This considers that recovery is necessary to the operator only

{ 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 < 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑖𝑖−1

can be seen that the exponential trends of fatigue accumulation

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The fatigue accumulation till the reaching of 1.86 Kcal/min is: parameters of fatigue accumulation λ and recovery alleviation

∫𝑡𝑡 𝑅𝑅(𝜏𝜏)𝑘𝑘 = ∙ 𝑒𝑒 −µ𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊𝑘𝑘 ∙ (𝑒𝑒 (− ln 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑘𝑘)+ln(𝐸𝐸̇𝑅𝑅 ) − 1)

𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑘𝑘 +𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 𝑘𝑘 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 )𝑘𝑘
µ: λ=4, 6, or 8 and µ=0.5, 1.5 or 2.5.

𝑊𝑊 𝑘𝑘 −µ These values were obtained using a heart rate monitor in an

(8) industrial context. Each activity, characterized by a certain

With 𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 𝑘𝑘 time necessary to reach 1.86 Kcal/min:

value of intensity and duration, can potentially be assigned to
one of the different kinds of operator, who is described by his
specific combination of parameters λ and µ.
𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 𝑘𝑘 =
− ln 1.86+ln 𝐹𝐹(𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊)𝑘𝑘
µ
(9) The mathematical model was applied to reach the final aim of

Once 𝐸𝐸′̇𝑊𝑊 has been calculated, it is possible to calculate RA by

calculating the total recovery time comprehensive of the time

substituting the value of 𝐸𝐸̇𝑊𝑊 of (4) with 𝐸𝐸′̇𝑊𝑊 . The RA ∑𝑘𝑘 𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 𝑘𝑘 of (10)) plus the time the operator needs to recover
for reaching the energy expenditure rate at rest (the term

obtained by calculating the value of the RA (the term 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 ∙

(∑𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑖=1 𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑘𝑘 𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 𝑘𝑘 )of (10)). The terms of reference
calculated in this way expresses the percentage of total
working time, comprehensive of the time needed to reach 1.86
Kcal/min, necessary to the operator to recover. introduced for the analysis and indicated in Table 1 are:
• 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 : total recovery time if a rest is given after every activity
• 𝑡𝑡𝑚𝑚 : total recovery time if a rest is given between the
Moreover, with this RA it is possible to calculate the total time
the operator needs to carry on all the activities comprehensive

• 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑑𝑑 : total recovery time if the rest is given only at the end
of the time necessary for the recovery: activities and at the end of all 8 activities

𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 = ∑𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑖=1 𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑘𝑘 𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 𝑘𝑘 + 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 ∙ (∑𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑖=1 𝑡𝑡𝑊𝑊 𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑘𝑘 𝜏𝜏𝑟𝑟 𝑘𝑘 )
• 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 : total recovery time if the rest is given at the end
(10) of all 8 activities
In the following section a numerical example will be shown
of all 8 activities but with the optimization in the
which can point out the utility of the model for a practitioner.
• % 𝑡𝑡 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟: percentage of improvement of 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 in
sequencing of the activities
The aim is to understand which scheduling of the activities is
comparison to 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 in terms of total recovery time
the best one for each operator and after which kinds of
activities it is better to give to the operator the rest for obtaining
the minimization of the total recovery time. reduction
Table 1 reports a summary comparison of the results obtained
4. NUMERICAL EXAMPLE from all the generated scenarios. There can be seen the
percentage of the 1000 scenarios evaluated for which are valid

each possible combination of the values of 𝐸𝐸̇ , 𝜆𝜆 and µ it shows

In this Section, the model is applied to a numerical example. the options indicated at the top of the Table 1. In particular, for
The aim is to understand the best scheduling of operators’

times 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 , 𝑡𝑡𝑚𝑚 , 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 , 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 , comparing them two at a time. It
activities to reach the minimization of the total time, taking the percentage of scenarios that have a higher value of the total
into account also the time the operator needs to recover.
is then possible to understand the total number of scenarios for
In this sense, 1,000 different scenarios have been created in Ms
which one solution is more convenient than another in terms
Office Excel for three different ranges of intensity: between 2
of time reduction. Moreover, in the last column it is indicated
and 4.5 Kcal/min, between 3 and 6 Kcal/min and between 4
the percentage of time reduction obtained by optimizing the
and 8 Kcal/min. Each scenario corresponds to a set of
sequencing of the activities.
activities. The value of the energy expenditure rate of each
activity is representative of the reality and the scenarios are For the sets of activities and operators considered in this
generated randomly. numerical example, it can be seen that for the activities of low
intensity (included in the range 2-4.5 Kcal/min), it is preferable
In fact, for each scenario there are 8 activities, which are
to give to the operators the rest at the end of all the activities
carried out one after the other. For each activity, the duration
than giving a rest after every activity or after a set of activities,
is a random value between 5 and 20 minutes and the intensity
for all the scenarios. Moreover, it can be obtained a time
is a random value in the range of intensity considered. For each
reduction of around 53% if it is considered to assign the
scenario is calculated the total recovery time if a rest is given
activities in the best order. In this case, the personal
after every activity, only at the end of the 8 activities or if, in
characteristics of the operators in terms of λ and µ have little
addition to the rest at the end, a rest is given between the 8
influence. The optimization of the scheduling of activities
activities. Considering the case of giving to the operator a rest
gives more advantages in terms of time reduction for activities
only at the end, it is calculated the value of the recovery time
of low intensity rather than activities of medium (range of 3-6
if the scheduling is optimised (by selecting the lower value of
Kcal/min) or high intensity (range of 4-8 Kcal/min). In fact,
RA for 40320 scheduling combinations of each scenario).
the mean percentage of time improvement for activities of low,
In addition to this, fixing the range of intensity considered, the medium and high intensity is respectively around 53%, 15%
1000 scenarios and the 40320 scheduling combinations of each and 1.5%. If for activities of low intensity it is better to give

(𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 >𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 and 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 >𝑡𝑡𝑚𝑚 for all scenarios), for activities of
scenario are replicated by changing the characteristics of the the recovery to the operators at the end of all the activities
operator who has to perform the activities. This has been taken
into account by assigning three different values to the medium intensity (3-6 Kcal/min) it is better to give to the

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operators a rest between the activities besides the rest at the
end of all the activities (𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 >𝑡𝑡𝑚𝑚 ) for more than the 70% of the
scenarios. Such a convenience is confirmed for the 100% of
the scenarios if the intensity of the considered activities
increases (4-8 Kcal/min). In addition, there is also an influence
of the parameters λ and µ for the activities of medium and high
intensity: the increasing of λ and the decreasing of µ implies
an increase in the percentage of scenarios where the rest at the
end or between the activities (𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 and 𝑡𝑡𝑚𝑚 ) is advantageous in
comparison to the rest after every activity (𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 ).
This simple numerical example has shown how this model can
help in comparing different scheduling alternatives and,
therefore, in understanding which is the best one for each
operator, also considering whether and when it is better to give
him a rest to reduce the total time.

Table 1. Comparison of the scenarios with different ranges of intensity, duration of the activities and operators
𝐸𝐸̇ λ µ 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 > 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒
𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 > 𝑡𝑡𝑚𝑚 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 > 𝑡𝑡𝑚𝑚 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 > 𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 % 𝑡𝑡 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟
2-4.5 2 0.5 100.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00% 53.61%
2-4.5 2 1.5 100.00% 100.00% 0.00% 97.90% 53.53%
2-4.5 2 2.5 100.00% 100.00% 0.00% 90.00% 53.53%
2-4.5 4 0.5 100.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00% 53.61%
2-4.5 4 1.5 100.00% 100.00% 0.00% 97.90% 53.53%
2-4.5 4 2.5 100.00% 100.00% 0.00% 90.00% 53.53%
2-4.5 6 0.5 100.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00% 53.61%
2-4.5 6 1.5 100.00% 100.00% 0.00% 97.90% 53.53%
2-4.5 6 2.5 100.00% 100.00% 0.00% 90.00% 53.53%
3-6 2 0.5 84.00% 100.00% 72.50% 100.00% 19.03%
3-6 2 1.5 36.80% 37.40% 70.90% 99.10% 10.71%
3-6 2 2.5 33.60% 34.00% 70.60% 97.40% 9.78%
3-6 4 0.5 98.30% 100.00% 73.50% 100.00% 20.00%
3-6 4 1.5 36.20% 87.50% 72.40% 99.10% 12.46%
3-6 4 2.5 32.40% 32.80% 72.20% 97.40% 10.12%
3-6 6 0.5 99.10% 100.00% 74.00% 100.00% 20.24%
3-6 6 1.5 72.50% 100.00% 72.70% 99.10% 13.02%
3-6 6 2.5 31.80% 36.50% 72.60% 97.40% 10.81%
4-8 2 0.5 98.70% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 2.84%
4-8 2 1.5 0.00% 0.10% 100.00% 100.00% 0.45%
4-8 2 2.5 0.00% 0.10% 100.00% 100.00% 0.22%
4-8 4 0.5 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 3.20%
4-8 4 1.5 53.80% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 0.85%
4-8 4 2.5 0.00% 0.10% 100.00% 100.00% 0.35%
4-8 6 0.5 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 3.31%
4-8 6 1.5 98.70% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 0.98%
4-8 6 2.5 21.20% 97.80% 100.00% 100.00% 0.49%
relatively to muscular fatigue. The model developed in this
5. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCHES
paper improves Price’s equation (1990) in relation to fatigue
In this paper a mathematical model for fatigue accumulation accumulation and, with a numerical example, shows the utility
and rest allowance estimation is developed. As stated in the that such a model can have in the scheduling of operators’
introduction, this model aims to be applied to manual material activities. A main limitation of the model is that it cannot be
handling activities where the whole body is involved, applied by itself for activities where, besides high values of
determining general body fatigue, which is normally measured energy expenditure rate, there can be also a certain fatigue
with energy expenditure rate. Looking at the existing accumulation on the muscle due to repetitive movements, such
literature, the only equation which can calculate the value of as assembly activities. Consequently, for these activities, the
recovery time necessary to the operator after the performance future researches will be focused on the comparison of this
of an activity, considering the energy expenditure rate, is the model with the ones based on MVC or MET (related to
one developed by Price (1990). However, this lacks the muscular fatigue) in evaluating fatigue accumulation of
consideration of the exponential trend of fatigue and recovery, operators. Moreover, the model will be extended in order to
which, instead, is put in evidence in more recent researches consider how the scheduling of operators’ activities could
(Jaber et al, 2013; Zhang et al., 2014; Sonne et al., 2015), change if the muscular fatigue and the ergonomic risk are

843
 IFAC INCOM 2018
Bergamo, Italy, June 11-13, 2018 Visentin Valentina et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-11 (2018) 826–831 831
taken into account in addition to the energy expenditure rate,
and how these considerations can have an influence on the
production sequencing.
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