Advances in Ergonomic Design of Systems, Products and Processes

Employees of knowledge-intensive service companies organize their work individually. Therefore, an inadequate coordination of people may lead to an exceeding of service time and costs. In order to avoid this, a method-based work analysis provides an appropriate, but also time-consuming procedure to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of operations at an individual employee level. In this paper, we introduce a new approach for the assessment of an individual work organization during a service provision. To achieve this objective, a performance measurement system and a software tool for tablets and smartphones are presented. The software tool will be introduced, and tested by a verification study in a service company.

The joint project NovaDemo focuses on assessing and increasing innovativeness of SMEs in the context of their demographic development. Based on analyses of age structure and innovation process analyses, a project-specific diagnostic instrument, the NovaDemo assessment tool, was developed. It is used to determine individual and group-specific innovativeness. At the individual level, four innovativeness types were identified: the “averagely creative innovation driver”, the “slightly creative team worker”, the “highly creative balanced type” and the “averagely creative reserved type”. Based on these insights, the NovaDemo training programme was developed to increase innovativeness. The close proximity of learning and work situations in terms of time and content allows for the optimisation of efficiency thanks to a work-integrated execution adapted to the respective working group.

Quality is considered to be one of the most important competitive factors of profit as well as non-profit organizations. Accordingly, quality assurance as well as quality management procedures represent established tools within the management strategy of numerous organizations. In addition to that, the importance of developing and furthering an organization-specific quality culture is increasingly emphasized. In order to operationalize the quality culture construct we developed the Quality Culture Inventory (QCI), which was administered to N = 93 employees in the framework of a comprehensive pilot study. First results support the validity and reliability of the developed quality culture scales. The QCI represents the first systematical approach allowing organizations to assess the status quo of their quality culture. Respective results provide an empirically-based foundation to reflect on quality culture and derive specific measures for quality development.

The demographic change in most industrialized countries has increased both the average age of employees and the age diversity of the workforce. As a consequence, organizations and managers are keen to find new strategies that help promoting health and performance of older workers as well as the effective cooperation between young and old employees in increasingly age-diverse work teams. We briefly present a theoretical model that explains why and under which conditions age diversity is indeed a problem for effective team work. Next, we summarize key findings of the project TED that examined several of these factors in the manufacturing industry. Job tasks in this industry are often characterized by high physical work load and restricted degrees of autonomy which makes work highly susceptible to the effects of demo graphic change. In this project, we evaluated the effectiveness of a newly developed intervention for leaders. In cooperation with a German car manufacturing company, 1600 employees and their leaders were investigated over 3 years. The results show, inter alia, the expected positive impact of a training that promotes age-differentiated leadership on performance and health of employees.

Servant leadership is conceptualized as a leadership style, which encourages employees to behave in a social responsible way. In the present study, we examine the positive relationship between servant leadership and employees’ psychological health. We propose that this beneficial relationship results from the potential of servant leaders to shape employees’ needs and to create work environments that fulfil these needs. We examine the proposed relationships of servant leadership (a) competing for variance with job ambiguity as a well-known job-stressor, and (b) in relation to long- and short-term indicators of psychological health. In a sample of N = 443 employees, we tested the relationships of servant leadership and job ambiguity to ego depletion, need for recovery, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization as indicators of psychological health. Our results demonstrate that servant leadership is positively related to employees’ psychological health and accounts for unique amounts of variance in the examined short- and long-term indicators of psychological health over and above that explained by job ambiguity. Accordingly, servant leadership can be regarded as an important determinant of employees’ psychological health.

Designing holistic working time systems is a highly complex planning issue that places high demands on operational planners. Comprehensive information is required to align the personnel inventory and personnel requirement to the best possible standard. The previously common method of entering information in a table in which the number of employees required and available is specified for each time slice is often no longer sufficient because this is simply a static review that cannot adequately take into account employees’ individual working time restrictions and wishes. This means that, in future, the previously usual time management methods—such as time recording or systems with predefined times—may no longer provide sufficiently precise data for working time organisation, and new methods have to be developed to determine and align the personnel requirement and personnel inventory.

The already existing shortage of qualified bus, tram and truck drivers will continue to increase in the coming years. Transport companies face a major challenge to ensure their human assets and competitiveness. Above all, suitable trainees must be obtained for the driving professions. The currently more than 800,000 professional drivers are playing a significant role as multipliers in this context. Research group DO.WERT conducted a survey among experienced professionals and trainees in various driving careers. Results indicate that only a quarter of the experienced workers would recommend their own driving profession. Crucial to a (non-)recommendation of the profession are experienced appreciation and working hours.

In order to find evidence of effective optimization of motivation enhancement within a task culture, a content analysis method is applied. This method takes the nature and extent of motivation-enhancing features into account. Based on the results of motivational research (e.g. the self-determination theory of motivation), an ordered category system of indicators has been developed. In the same manner as content analysis, a manual containing examples and operational descriptions was developed in order to analyze tasks using a combined theory-based deductive and inductive tasks-based approach. The main categories were expanded along with the motivation-enhancing features (e.g. task format, required cognitive operation, didactic intent). At present, written work orders in a select subject (Arbeit-Wirtschaft-Technik, a subject taught at Bavarian secondary schools) are coded and analyzed descriptively. This paper describes a systematic approach, the main categories and their selected indicators, selected results and their objectivity. Finally, methodological problems and limitations are discussed.

In comparison with other jobs public transport drivers show an increased risk in job related health problems. The consequences are frequent and long absences from work as well as temporary and permanent disabilities for driving services. In order to collect evidence about the current state of the prevalence and the conditions contributing to or preventing this disability for service we conducted an online survey with active and former drivers in the Federal Republic of Germany. Data were analyzed using different kinds of survival analysis techniques, with temporary or permanent disability as the event and working conditions and preventive interventions as covariates. While no substantial evidence was found for the long-term effectiveness of person-oriented interventions, interventions addressing the work load of the drivers directly by improving their working conditions seem to be more effective, supporting the importance of structural prevention over behavioral prevention.

The improvement of working environment and in particular behavioral prevention has a long tradition in the maintenance of industrial health and safety standards in Germany. Despite further automation of the value process accompanying industry 4.0, human behavior and its impacts in terms of occupational health and safety must not be neglected. In the context of safety regulations and “unsafe behavior”, this contribution deals with targeted analysis, the development of practical implementation measures for the reunification of behavioral and situational prevention, as well as the involvement of employees in the continuous improvement process.

While risks to the hearing of professional musicians were part of several studies in recent years, little attention was paid to the sound pressure exposure faced by amateur musicians. Thus, around 500,000 amateur musicians in Germany are hardly aware of the risks of high sound pressure levels during regular rehearsals or concerts. With the aim to raise the awareness of the musicians to take possible protective measures into account, e.g., use of personal hearing protectors or less loud performances, several sound immission measurements were carried out during the rehearsals of a non-professionally acting symphonic wind orchestra. Furthermore, in order to determine potential hearing threshold shifts, audiometric measurements were performed. In addition to the objective evaluation, the musicians were asked about their personal feelings during the rehearsals, about their knowledge on possible risks to the hearing and on appropriate protection means. The results show that all members of non-professionally acting orchestras can be exposed to sound pressure levels up to 117 dB(A). With an average rehearsal duration of 2 h, these exposures resulted in equivalent continuous sound pressure levels above 92 dB(A). Additionally, substantial temporary hearing threshold shifts could be monitored after the rehearsals. The evaluation of the subjective survey showed that most of the musicians were not aware of the actual sound pressure levels during the rehearsals, and the associated hearing risk. Similar is true for the necessity of the hearing protection devices which were mainly refused.

Diseases of civilisation, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, play an increasingly important role in shaping the occupational health management strategy. According to the guidelines of the DDG e.V. [German Diabetes Association], regular physical exercise is the basic therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this study, in a total of 110 subjects with diabetes mellitus, it was shown that a regular, intensively supervised, exercise intervention over a period of 6 months led to a significant improvement in the glucose metabolism (reduction in hemoglobin A1c). In addition, an improvement in the health-related quality of life was observed. A twice-weekly exercise intervention carried out within the framework of occupational health management [OHM] thus appears to represent a sensible therapeutic option and a sensible supplement to the treatment of this disease of civilisation.

There are a lot of methods and instruments trying to assess mental workload reliable and independent from specific use cases or situations. Each method has its own strengths and weaknesses depending on the situation and the on individual person. Attempting to improve each approach separately would indeed allow a further context of use, but do not lead to a global reliability growth. Within this work a new approach is suggested by combining various ocular parameters adapting the individual person. The results of this study show clearly the advantages in mental workload assessment of an individual adapted set of variables in contrast to one variable trying to fit a collectivity of people. This new preparation considering six physiological ocular variables in two different contexts of use can be one step further to a more reliable and global way to assess mental workload.

The rapid development and application of biometric recording devices has resulted in a plethora of human performance data in various industry settings. This article will demonstrate how the data generated by these recording devices can be used for inferring cognitive states in a variety of field settings and thus applied complementary to traditional data collection methods. The authors will present results from several studies demonstrating how data from portable motion and eye tracking devices can be used to assess three main aspects: the transition between safety-relevant cognitive coping strategies by pilots in aviation, the onset and time-based development of worker mental fatigue in assembly tasks and the time-based impact of situation-induced affective states on visual attention and decision-making in maritime transportation. Furthermore the paper outlines the underlying theoretical framework (the cognitive processing loop; Sträter (2005) Cognition and safety: An integrated approach to systems design and assessment. Ashgate, Aldershot). The benefits of this kind of approach will be demonstrated by showing how work systems can be improved by providing a better fit between cognition and workplace design.

At office computer work, musculoskeletal complaints can occur when workplace conditions are not designed according to physiological dispositions of the office worker. Regarding neck pain, the vertical position of the monitor should be adjusted in a way that the head adopts a comfortable posture. For investigating this physiological condition, this research compares several measures of performance and strain as a function of the inclination angle of the head. Head movement performance was measured when the head moves horizontally in a tracking task, while the myoelectrical activity of two types of neck muscles was recorded, i.e. of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and splenius capitis muscle. Additionally, the subjective rating of perceived musculoskeletal strain was assessed by questionnaires in the tracking task and in an office field study. All these measures represent ergonomic stress-strain functions that can be useful in physiologically based ergonomic research. Lowering the head inclination by a few degrees was able to reduce the subjectively rated musculoskeletal strain in field studies. The inclination of the head and vertical gaze direction to the monitor should agree with individual physiological dispositions.

The present paper provides a summary of three studies concerning the influence of glasses on the physiology and ergonomics in presbyopic computer users. The first study was a survey of 175 VDU (visual display unit) workstation users wearing glasses, age 35 and older. In the second study 23 subjects of the survey study (first study) tested a progressive addition lens (PAL) for general purpose and a PAL for computer vision. Within the third study near- and far-point curves (range of clear focus) as a function of eye inclination of the 23 people of the lens-testing study (second study) were determined. People wearing glasses for far-vision (single vision lenses) reported higher scores of eye strain, musculoskeletal strain and head complaints with increase of the daily duration of computer work: the longer they worked at computer stations the higher the strain were scored. This effect did not appear with the other lens types. The subjects of the lens-testing study (second study) showed a head inclination 2.3° lower when wearing the PAL for computer vision. 44 % of the subjects decided in favor of the PAL for computer use. Focus range curves can show descriptively where clear vision is possible and where to best place the monitor (third study).

Driver information systems are increasingly installed in any vehicle. Such support systems include in some cases already Head-Up Displays (HUDs), which show the driver information while driving. According to Bubb et al. [Automobilergonomie (ATZ/MTZ-Fachbuch, Aufl. 2015). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Wiesbaden. 2015], the HUD has the advantage that the required accommodative capacity of the eyes is lower or even eliminated for older persons, since the virtual image is visible about 3–4 m ahead of the vehicle. In addition to conventional HUDs, the research is also engaged in contact analogue Head-Up Displays (cHUDs), where the information is represented locally correct (Israel et al., Kontaktanaloge Anzeigen für ACC – im Zielkonflikt zwischen Simulation und Ablenkung. 4. Tagung Sicherheit durch Fahrerassistenz, 15.–16. April 2010, München, TÜV SÜD, 1–7, 2010). However, these concepts cannot be used for all applications. Therefore, a new approach deals with a similar presentation of additional information. In the literature, the concept is called Emissive Projection Display (EPD) and the information is displayed directly on the plane of the windshield and not in a virtual distance. A driving simulator study investigates the differences in the driver’s attention and visual demand.

Due to a lack of responsiveness of unplanned incidents and deviations between planning and reality, manual overplanning in production planning systems should be reduced with the help of high resolving and consolidated data. In this context, one promising approach is a specific decision-making support of the production supervisor as a decision-maker by using action recommendations of an assistance system. With vertical human-machine interaction, the specific capabilities according to the Men-Are-Better-At/Machines-Are-Better-At (MABA/MABA) principle can be applied. In accordance with intelligent information visualization of the assistance system and a tablet-application for usage in a production hall environment, the research presented in this paper focuses on the investigation of the polarity and the font size respectively angular character height of the assistance system application regarding to task performance and mental effort. In an eye-tracking study, 15 participants were presented a search task on a touchscreen either with positive or negative polarity. In addition in each trial of the experiment the angular character height (16, 20, 24, 28 arcmin) was varied randomly. The results show that the mean search time can be improved significantly with an angular character height of 24 arcmin. Moreover, the results indicate that positive polarity leads to smaller average pupil diameter. Which is associated with a lower mental workload.

The impact of work environment factors has to be considered in an integrated ergonomic analyzing and designing process. To capture relevant environmental exposures, measurements must be carried out. In companies, an increasing use of smartphones for initial measurements of work environment factors can be noticed. Here, the question arises whether it is possible to determine adequate data for scientific work analyses by using built-in sensors in smartphones. For that purpose, the operational readiness of smartphone applications to measure the work environment factors noise, climate and lighting is investigated. Here, the assessing of measuring accuracy and the recordable measurement quantities for different combinations of applications and smartphones is analyzed. In result, a wide variety of the measurement accuracy for the analyzed environmental factors can be observed.

Concerning vision from mobile equipment machinery there is a lack of methods that sufficiently take dynamic criteria into account. In consequence, inspections regarding direct and indirect vision have so far been conducted with static methods, and, in general, carried out within a late phase of the product development process, using real prototypes. This article describes a method to analyse vision by focussing on the integration of dynamic user and process characteristics in early development phases. Therefore, body and eye movements of operators and associated machine processes were recorded during virtual work task performances using an interactive simulator. By transferring these data to a virtual machine model and digital representatives of the operators, work case scenarios can holistically be copied into a 3D environment. Aggregated dynamics of operators and machines provide a broad range of analysing possibilities, including the evaluation of semi-transparent visual interfaces.

In the E2V project we participated in the development of an innovative electric two-wheel vehicle for closed, non-urban spaces like parklands. In order to enable usage by handicapped and persons without a driving license, the vehicle was designed to be steered with a sidestick which was placed centrally between the two passenger seats. The active sidestick allowed for haptic feedback, e.g. warning the driver when the road is left. Using an OpenDS-based driving simulator, we experimentally compared four different sidestick configurations to identify a secure, efficient and comfortable steering concept. A longitudinally isometric configuration turned out as most popular, but the actual differences were insignificant.

Virtual Reality for desktop or table mounted display environments can be a strong tool in supporting users in sighting spatial information and give a better understanding in their spatial relationships. Visualization of spatial data incorporates spatial interaction and manipulation with six degrees of freedom for data processing which is part of current research objectives. Modern tracking devices for desktop applications allow capturing a model of the human hand with three translational and three rotatory degrees of freedom which can be used as an input system allowing the control over a virtual hand model in a stereoscopic desktop system. Interaction with complex data in rich environments using virtual hand models, such as three-dimensional geographic information systems with integrated spatial data, requires visualization with a low degree of occluding virtual entities in the virtual scene but a high degree of recognition. An experimental task using a Fitts’ pointing task is conducted to investigate different minimalistic modeling approaches of virtual hand models using the Leap Motion Controller in a stereoscopic desktop environment. Movement times are analyzed for pointing movements in three different depth layers. Results indicate that a kinematic visualization of a virtual hand model produces significantly better movement times in pointing over a minimalistic point cloud model.

Users’ information processing during human-machine interaction can be supported by redundant or additional tactile information, especially in situations of visual information overload or impaired visual perception. The present work is meant to describe basic thoughts on tactile semantics, the development of a variable tactile belt with 8 actuator units as well as first results of comparative studies of pressure and vibration stimuli, separately and in addition to visual perception. The examinations were conducted with 25 subjects. Spatial recognition rate and response time were recorded for pressure, vibration and visual stimuli presentation as well as all combinations of these. For purely tactile perception (pressure and vibration) reduced recognition rates occur at the sides of the waist, decreasing to approximately 80 %. Response times for discrete presentation of information via pressure or vibration were longer than for visual presentation but shorter response times of the visual presentation could almost be achieved purely tactile by the combination of pressure and vibration. The significantly shortest response times were detected for the combinations of visual + pressure + vibration and visual + pressure, revealing the potential of pressure stimuli for human-machine interaction. According to the 8 presented directions around the body, the shortest response times for tactile stimuli were detected for the actuator unit on the back. Furthermore, the article deals with subjects’ estimations about their performances, distribution of input errors as well as different stimuli durations. The findings confirm expected advantages of visual-tactile information presentation in human-machine systems. Visual perception leads to high accuracy while additional tactile stimuli reduce response times. Especially pressure stimuli seem to have slight advantages compared to vibration stimuli in terms of response times. The combination of pressure and vibration stimuli even leads to response times similar to visual presentation. As a conclusion, the potential of pressure stimuli could be shown to enhance future design of visual-tactile interfaces. In the long term, guidelines for tactile semantics are supposed to be derived.

The collection and analysis of applied forces is an essential part of the ergonomic evaluation of workplaces. In industrial companies, direct measurements and estimates are currently considered to be accepted methods. The present study identifies alternatives to the accepted procedures for the determination of action-forces and analysed one of these in detail: force-matching.

Force-matching describes the immediate subsequent simulation of an exertion on a measuring device, without actually assembling a component. In this way, cost and time savings in comparison to the direct measurement can be achieved. Furthermore, the method increases accuracy compared to estimations. To validate the applicability, a study involving 38 subjects was carried out in order to achieve a systematic comparison between force-matching and direct measurement.

In the course of the evaluation, influence factors and key premises for the utilisation of the new method in the automotive industry are identified. The results indicate that force-matching has great potential for improving quantity and quality in the determination of applied forces in ongoing production.

The compatibility of work life and family life is a key factor in today’s modern work arrangements, particularly with regard to the increase of transition to flexible working hours and places. The herein presented research study considers the question, whether the boundary-types proposed by the boundary-theory [cf. Ashforth et al. Acad Manag Rev 25(3):472–491, 2000; Nippert-Eng, Home and work: negotiating boundaries through everyday life. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1996]. can be ascertained within flexible-mobile working, notably upon working in home office. Furthermore which difficulties the distinct boundary-types have with these new work styles and which boundary-tactics are promising in regard to those difficulties. Based on a mixed method approach consisting of an online survey (N = 395) and subsequent semi standardised interviews (N = 9) the boundary-types segmentor and integrator could be confirmed. In addition an intermediate mix type was found and empirically proven. Moreover, there is evidence that this newly described mix type has the most difficulties with his boundary-management within flexible-mobile work styles. Based on these findings the article concludes in guidance suitable for each boundary-type in favour of working in home office.

Collaborations of multiple disciplines often pose a challenge. Team members differ in their academic and professional backgrounds, leading to communicational, cultural or methodical challenges when working together. Which competences are necessary for successful interdisciplinary collaboration? In three studies, we identified crucial competences, built a model of interdisciplinary competency and showed significant relationships with various criteria. We then compared competence levels of current interdisciplinary team members with expert ratings of required values, showing that demands are largely met in regard to team and work competences, whereas leadership, topic and special competences should be fostered specifically. The competence model depicts where developmental requirements are and can be used as framework to devise recommended actions.

Complex and knowledge intensive innovation, engineering and service projects are important for companies to improve their market performance. Project planning and scheduling, resource assignment and cost planning set pointers for a successful project implementation. Due to complex interdependencies between project activities and resources, increasingly less project managers are able to deal with the complex and latent uncertainties of the planning process. Discrete event, Monte Carlo simulation seems to be a promising approach to comply with the requirements of realistic planning and scheduling of complex projects. In this paper an activity-oriented, personnel-integrated simulation model is presented facilitating project managers to model and simulate the schedule of weakly-structured complex projects like engineering and service projects and, thus, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and risks of these projects. Two explorative industry case studies in the chemical industry and metal processing industry are presented to demonstrate successful operational application of the simulation-based project planning and scheduling approach and the potential of respective project risk assessment.

In the context of demographic changes in Germany the question of how to maintain corporate competitiveness and employees’ work ability becomes important. The case study in the automotive industry shows that in various corporate spheres of activity there are good initiatives but a strategic approach which interconnects existing processes in terms of a comprehensive ageing management is missing. Relevant corporate experts were therefore looking for support. The so-called FIT-model devised during the survey helps to make the issue in corporations more comprehensible. Five additional products were developed to support the organisation of performance indicators; to raise management’s awareness of the issue; to communicate principles of ageing-appropriate work design; to reach the employees with the programmes of workplace health promotion and to improve the cooperation between companies and social insurance agencies. Initial feedback to the largely industry-independent results is positive.

In assembly-line work the term cycle time refers to the period of time between the completion of one product and the completion of the next one. Against the context of work design this parameter is important as it seems to be related both to the physical and the mental well-being of workers as well as to their job satisfaction and their performance. In order to gain a better understanding of the underlying causal relationships a structural equation modeling approach was taken in this work. By this means it is possible to hypothesize on the interaction of variables and to test these hypotheses empirically. Within a field experimental study at an automobile manufacturing company it was shown that shorter cycle times lower the physical well-being of workers—but, however, this fact did not affect the overall performance outcome. Besides, it could have been shown that cycle-related working conditions in general—regardless of the length of cycle times—reduced the mental well-being of assembly workers. This result is important as the mental well-being did not only reinforce the physical conditions, but it turned out to be also relevant for the performance of the workers.

Simulation-based driver training offers a promising way to teach ecological driving behavior under controlled, comparable conditions. In a study with 23 professional drivers, we tested the effectiveness of such training. The driving behavior of a training group in a simulated drive with and without instructions were compared. Ten weeks later, a repetition drive tested the long-term effect training. Driving data revealed reduced fuel consumption by ecological driving in both the guided and repetition drives. Driving time decreased significantly in the training and did not differ from driving time after 10 weeks. Results did not achieve significance for transfer to test drives in real traffic situations. This may be due to the small sample size and biased data as a result of unusual driving behavior. Finally, recent and promising approaches to support drivers in maintaining eco-driving styles beyond training situations are outlined.