Simulation-aided planning of quality-oriented personnel structures in production systems

Area of Science:

• Industrial Engineering
• Human Factors Engineering
• Operations Research

Background:

• Human reliability is critical in production systems, yet its impact on quality is often difficult to quantify.
• Existing tools for human reliability analysis (HRA) and personnel simulation have limitations in integrating error consequences.
• The need for a dynamic model to assess human reliability's effect on production quality and product outcomes is evident.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simulation tool for modeling human reliability within production systems.
• To determine the consequences of human reliability variations on production processes and product quality.
• To enable systematic, quality-oriented planning of personnel assignments in production.

Main Methods:

• Development of a dynamic simulation model integrating human error probability calculations.
• Utilized the ESAT (Experten-System zur Aufgaben-Taxonomie) tool for human reliability analysis.
• Incorporated the ESPE (Engpassorientierte Simulation von Personalstrukturen) simulation program for personnel structures.

Main Results:

• The model quantifies human error probabilities and their consequences, including rework and waste.
• Demonstrated the tool's capability to link human reliability to process and product quality.
• A case study validated the effectiveness of the method in planning quality-oriented personnel structures.

Conclusions:

• The developed simulation tool provides a systematic approach to managing human reliability in production.
• The model effectively links human error analysis to tangible quality outcomes (rework, waste).
• This approach facilitates optimized personnel structuring for enhanced production quality.