Movement strategy and performance in a high-volume order picking workstation.

Area of Science:

• Human Factors and Ergonomics
• Industrial Engineering
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Workstation design influences operator movement patterns, offering some flexibility in strategy.
• Understanding movement strategies is crucial for optimizing performance in tasks like order picking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate movement strategies in an order picking workstation.
• To identify factors influencing these strategies and their impact on task performance.

Main Methods:

• Eight subjects performed order picking tasks under varied conditions (product weight, direction, distance).
• Movement strategies and cycle times were analyzed using video recordings.

Main Results:

• Various hand use and placing strategies were observed.
• Individual movement strategies did not correlate with performance.
• Workplace factors (weight, distance, direction) significantly impacted performance.

Conclusions:

• Workstation flexibility in movement strategy is ergonomically favorable.
• Optimizing external factors is more critical for performance than dictating specific movement strategies.