The Work Compatibility Improvement Framework: theory and application of improvement action and intervention strategies

Challenges facing management of manufacturing firms can be transformed into asset gains by giving careful consideration to the worker-work environment interface. The benefits of a 'healthy' interface may lead to sizable reductions in rising health care costs and retention of highly qualified workers. This paper presents a novel approach for the 'improve' phase of the Work Compatibility Improvement Framework. The work tasks of this research consisted of: (a) fundamentals of cognitive-based improvement action and intervention; (b) design concepts and process of improvement action/intervention generation; (c) assessment model of estimated gains in company's assets; (d) application demonstration in the manufacturing sector. The process of improvement action/intervention generation is described, preceded by a description of the fundamentals of cognitive-based improvement action and intervention and system architecture. This is followed by a documentation of estimated asset gains as a result of the improvement plan. The results showed that expert workers were, on average, 78% in agreement with the algorithm-identified improvement actions. Their knowledge was used to update the recommended actions as well as to detail the multiple strategies required to address the improvement actions. As a result, an integrated improvement plan was developed resulting in estimated asset gains of $1.6 million, which was validated by the general manager. The research reported herein documented the theory and application of the 'improve' phase of the Work Compatibility Improvement Framework. The economic assessment of the suggested improvement is also reported and this has proved to be an important driver to secure the firm collaboration of manufacturing enterprise management. An integrated improvement solution plan backed by a detailed economic assessment of suggested improvements is essential to demonstrate the full potential of workplace micro- and macro-ergonomic interventions.