MODELS OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE AND THEIR APPLICATION IN

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES
(A CASE STUDY OF OMOTAYO PRINTING PRESS)

CONCLUSION

The expectation of the host organizations was that activity time variation would have a

large impact on system performance, although this is not supported by the results. Thus,

in this case, the stochastic modeling of breakdowns has a much larger impact on system

throughput than Human performance variation (HPV) models. Clearly then, a command

and control management approach is not justifiable in such a context, as system

constraints far outweigh the ‘human element’. Why is it however, that HPV does not

have the expected impact on the performance of these systems? One possible reason for

this is the complexity of the manufacturing system and its sub-systems. The systems

under study has many independent manual operations, many more than are usually dealt

with by theoretical studies, and hence exhibits very complicated and unpredictable

behaviours. Observation of the simulations and the real would system showed that its

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normal mode of operation is not one of constant material flow. but rather intermittent

flow, due to presence of random breakdowns.

The real system was often observe d in shutdown' state, and these states,

sometimes lasting for an entire shift, were predominantly caused either by machine

breakdown or shortages of parts from the feeder lines. Conversely, on those occasions

when no system disruptions occurred, the system produced at a rate very close to the

target production. Secondly, an analysis f the reasons logged by the line supervisors

showed that the causes of production disruption were predominantly system related.

Conclusively, the human factors in the Engineering and Design process can be

positive and also negative. The positive aspects arise from the scientific and

technological progress made through man's Successful discovery of new methods,

materials and process for the solution of mankind problems.