Advances in Ergonomics of Manufacturing: Managing the Enterprise of the Future

Ensuring critical welded joint quality and repeatability is largely dependent on robust, well-designed Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS). Highly skilled manual welding engineers automatically recognise many imperfections, adjusting their responses according to inputs from vision, smell and sounds made during the welding process. Unfortunately, exceptional human ability does not guarantee performance when less predictable influences occur during welding processes. Human error and materials imperfections can result in defective welds for critical applications, commonly attributed to material surface impurities and contamination. Fault detection is problematic; the only finite method of weld testing is destructive testing which is not applicable to final product verification. Quality assurance and control is used to guarantee the welding process repeatability by production of a Procedure Qualification Record. This often-lengthy approval process restricts welding technology and materials application advancement. An alternative method of testing is the detection of flaws and defects in real-time to allow immediate process corrections. Development of real time welding evaluation instrumentation requires welding process parameters measurements combined with high-speed data processing. This real time monitoring and evaluation produces a weld defect fingerprint used to determine quality. We aim to highlight variations found in welding process quality using real-time monitoring and assess if it is within the acceptable standards for nuclear applications. To achieve this, we first must understand the human welding engineer using data taken from a series of manual weld trials. The trials use a common welding operation found in nuclear reactor pressure vessels. Reference data comparisons are made using identical trials with robotic welding equipment. Trial comparison results indicate that real time evaluation of welding processes detects flaws in weld quality. We then demonstrate how applications of welding process parameters are exceptionally effective methods for the control of robotic welding applications.

The application of cyber-physical systems and smart factory projects in production has increased the automation levels in manufacturing and assembly. Contrary to what might be expected, as a result additional qualifications and skills for shop floor employees are an expected norm. Apart from technical skills, requirements like high flexibility in an uncertain, dynamic and highly complex production environment explain the prevalence of overburdened employees at the workplace. For companies to compete in the global market amidst increasing complexity and changing demographics, managing the employee wellbeing could well be the success factor for high performance organizations.The work specifies the concept of production complexity and discusses the existing approaches and methods in evaluation of mental workload, followed by the introduction of a framework for measuring human factors related to production complexity. The framework augments the ongoing effort to develop a practical tool to assess and design complexity on the shop floor.

Due to ever-shortening product life cycles and multi variant products the demand for flexible production systems that use human-robot collaboration (HRC) rises. One key factor in HRC is stress that occurs because of the unfamiliar work with the robot. To reduce stress induced strain for assembly tasks the cycle time should be adjusted to the human’s performance, so that the stress that is exerted on the working person by a waiting robot is minimized. In the presented approach the cycle times are adapted by predicting them based on Methods-Time Measurement (MTM) and the former performance of the working person. In this paper, two different prediction algorithms are presented and validated on data collected during an assembly study with a Stromberg carburetor. The results show a reduction of prediction errors compared to traditional MTM. By applying these algorithms to HRC-assembly scenarios a reduction of stress and mental load can be achieved.

The current study focused on the use of textile industry waste (cotton and jute) and glass fabric for the development of hybrid composites. Composites were fabricated using either a single reinforcement or different fractions of cotton, jute and glass fabric. A good fibre-matrix interface was observed using Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM). The mechanical performance of the developed composites was analyzed under certain loads. The tensile and flexural properties of the composites developed from waste material was found lower as compared to the glass fiber composites, while hybrid composites had comparable properties. Regression equations were also developed to predict the mechanical properties of the hybrid composites. The results revealed that, after some pre-treatment (mercerization and desizing) textile waste materials can be used with virgin material in reinforcement part of composite to decrease the cost but with optimum mechanical properties. This usage of textile waste will be helpful for its value addition and solving the waste disposal problems.

Author presents the idea that the human factor is one of the conditions that affect processes of working out the technologies and hardware design during the reindustrialization. The features of human factor’s manifestations under the conditions of different social and economic systems are presented. It’s proved that the efficiency of working out new technologies and hardware may be increased greatly. To do the said, people’s creative activities should be combined with a methodology of valuating human’s technical and economic decisions. Author presents a method of development management based on the valuation of the developed object’s conditional entropy level and how the human factor changes it. It’s also presented an original approach to organizing of the interaction between the different development teams. Using of it should make the work more efficient and decrease the possibility of the opportunistic behavior.

The article aims at addressing the image of organizations fostered by the digital culture and new technology, based on the discussions in the subject literature there will be investigated new phenomena that offer new opportunities and challenges for organizations, determine organizational practices and the performance as well as different perception of organizational actors. The article will present how in organizations of the digital era machines predict, plan, and control the performance of humans.

Productivity among manufacturing production lines can be considered as a crucial part since this can result in an improved production and utilization of the available resources. Competition intensifies and this compels engineers to continually seek for process improvement. Process improvement denotes to turning a process to more effective, efficient, and transparent. As for the steel manufacturing company, one major concern is the downtime occurrences which had a large impact on their productivity. Necessary data were gathered through problem solving tools to show the company’s present condition. To reduce the clerical time needed, work sampling was utilized. It has been found out that the company cannot keep up with the projected production run and failed to produce forty (40) metric tons per hour. From the present methods, proposed methods were made by the researchers to solve the existing problems in the company resulting to less downtime savings, increase the efficiency of the plant and the operator, and increase their productivity per unit of time.

The present paper presents a guideline for the implementation of employee data models and assistance systems. The present implementation guideline was developed as part of the “Effiziente Fabrik 4.0” project, which was launched at TU Darmstadt. The guideline developed in this paper provides an orientation and basis for the company-internal discussion during the introduction of new assistance systems in assembly. Particular attention is given to communication with employee representatives. The central goal of this implementation concept is to provide the employees with the help of a socio-technical design approach using Industrie 4.0. The advantages and opportunities include, in particular, the flexibilisation of the work, the computerization of the workplace, the competence development of the employees and the assistance of the employees. The proposed paper presents a methodology for the company-specific implementation of flexible intelligent workplace assistance systems. The paper is based on [1].

Turbulent changes in the global economy, dominant business networking as well as technological and civilization advancements determine the need for the development of agile knowledge-based enterprises. Such enterprises, through their operational models and possessed resources, are capable of effective operation in a rapidly-changing environment and have the capacity for taking advantage of potential opportunities. A resource which is of particular significance to an enterprise that strives after achieving agility is human capital. The probability of capturing and making use of an opportunity grows along with the dynamic growth of human capital maintained by an organization. Proper staff ensures a high and constantly updated level of knowledge in an organization, enables a quick reconfiguration of resources and adeptly supports relations creating virtual partner networks. The aim of the publication is to present mechanisms that shape business agility through the use and creation of human capital potential in the context of reacting to opportunities that appear in the business environment. It is expressed through the development of agility dimensions such as: brightness, flexibility, intelligence and shrewdness. Thanks to the increased level of agility, an enterprise attains the desired level of: knowledge, core competences, virtuality and capacity for resource reconfiguration. The mechanism which is featured in the article was developed on the basis of an analysis of source literature and on the basis of empirical research related to the identification of human capital characteristics in an enterprise, which are conducive for the development of agility. Considerations made in the article contribute to structuring and describing the influence exerted by human capital on the development of business agility and to specifying, in an utilitarian way, the characteristics of human capital which have an impact on increasing the level of business agility.

Industrie 4.0 describes the vision of future production influenced by digitalization. Despite the increasing degree of automation, human factors will still play an important role in order to facilitate a highly flexible production process. This places new requirements on the workforce through new technologies, organizational forms, and workflows. Workforce management needs to consider new competencies required by digitalization and Industrie 4.0. The increasing trend towards the development of assistance systems should be accompanied by the training of workers on the shopfloor for the interaction with and handling of these systems. This paper presents the Toolbox Workforce Management 4.0 for assessing the readiness of human factors and work environments towards the digital manufacturing. The defined application fields and development stages in each category of the toolbox help to characterize the current state of a company in regards to the human factors requirements and subsequently identify categories where actions are required to maximize the benefits of Industrie 4.0.

The paradigm of agile enterprise, which is aimed at the use of market opportunities, is increasingly used in practice. Therefore, it becomes important to provide businesses with the tools to help them identify opportunities appearing in the business environment. At least two general approaches to the identification of market opportunities can be distinguished. The first assumes that the market opportunities arise in the business environment and therefore need to be identified in it. For this purpose, methods of strategic analysis can be used which enable to recognize the changes appearing in the environment as well as methods of marketing research aimed at identification of needs and expectations of the customers. Assessment of ongoing changes in the environment from the view point of the objectives/ goals and business resources that are available (own and external resources) leads to the identification of opportunities which are the favorable situations for achieving the enterprise’s expectations. The second general approach assumes that the opportunities are created by the company, and therefore it depends on the entrepreneurial activities including the marketing of the product and probing whether the product is accepted. In this paper we focus only on methods of strategic analysis and marketing research as ways of identifying opportunities. We hypothesized that there are differences between the approaches to identifying opportunities and supporting them methods used by businesses small, medium and large sized. In order to verify this hypothesis, studies were carried out on a group of 150 firms. The results provide recommendations for enterprises, especially small and medium sized, how they can increase their ability to identify market opportunities and thereby improve their agility. This paper bases on data collected to prepare doctoral dissertation by Jowita Trzcielinska.

Understanding the process of learning sensorimotor tasks is an important objective of work-related research. In order to investigate the influence of methods for introducing new sensorimotor tasks, a laboratory study with an age-differentiated sample of 40 participants was conducted. The participants were introduced either with a demonstration-based or with a reflection-based introduction, which were specifically created for the study. The experimental task was the repeated assembly of a carburetor. In each trial, the execution times and the number of assembly errors were measured. The collected data were compared with the data of 20 participants of a previous study, in which participants received no introduction. The results show that both introduction methods increase the initial product quality. However, only the reflection-based seems to be a good approach to introduce a new task to a learning person.

For companies in high-wage countries high productivity is essential in order to survive in international competition. Digitalization opens up new possibilities to manage and increase productivity. Therefore, it is necessary to develop strategies for the productivity management of work systems, which are increasingly embossed by digitalization, and to consider the specific framework conditions and requirements of the companies. The paper presents a framework for a systematical design of productivity strategies and explains conceptual potentials for the design of strategies. The application of this framework is described by practice-oriented examples. Furthermore, its alignment with practical approaches is shown including an outlook on further requirements for successful implementation of strategies.

With the vision to maintain leadership, enterprises are working to implement a green business strategy. The increase in the solid waste generation has promoted interest in the remanufacturing production system, which is considered the best end-of-life (EoL) alternative. In Mexico, remanufacturing takes place mostly in small workshops, including products as electronics, auto parts, heavy-duty engines, gas turbines, and others. However, on the Northern Border are located industrialized remanufacturer companies with global presence, these are characterized by monitoring the indicators of sustainability. This article presents an exploratory study on the current remanufacturing scenario and its main characteristics within the Mexican remanufacturing sector. This research is an analysis of three transnational remanufacturing enterprises located in this region; it selected the metalworking industrial sector. The objective of this study is to identify the elements are integrating its production system; make a comparative analysis of them and contrast them to identify similarities, differences, advantages, and disadvantages. The research is an attempt to review in a critical way remanufacturing practices and develop a theoretical framework.

Lean manufacturing philosophy has been perceived by numerous organizations in order to respond to economic recession occurred at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Two key reasons for this trend are associated with attempting to cost reduction and customer satisfaction improvement. Along with this issue, a broad research domain for investigation is created for scholars. There is a dearth of published information about the relationship between lean manufacturing and ergonomics. This idea was the initial interest of this work. While ergonomics concerns improving worker’s productivity through adaptation between people and their job, lean tools and techniques provide overall productivity within the workplace through waste elimination from work processes. Thus, it seems that lean manufacturing and ergonomics can be interlinked. By identifying the interrelations between ergonomics and lean manufacturing, both can be addressed simultaneously. In addition, the synergism between lean and ergonomics can be achievable. In the present study, existing literatures are analyzed to better understand the common viewpoints between lean manufacturing and ergonomics.

Lean manufacturing is a production method aiming to reduce costs and increase productivity by eliminating waste. Previous studies investigating the variations in the quality of working life due to the implementation of lean manufacturing have shown both negative and positive effects on workers health and perceptions of workplace safety and job satisfaction. This study investigates the impact of ergonomics on the design of manufacturing processes following the principles of lean production. A mathematical model is introduced to address the design of hybrid multi-model production lines with both manual and automatic workstations. The model includes the ergonomic risk assessment ensuring an acceptable exposure of the workers to the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders in hand intensive tasks. The OCRA Index and the Strain Index job analysis methods are included. The aim is to analyze the variations in the solutions of the model, due to the different ergonomic risk assessment method adopted.

Macroergononomic compatibility (MC) is labeled as a competitive advantage; however, in Mexico the knowledge about MC and its advantages is still scarce. This chapter presents a case study on a macroergonomic compatibility index (MCI) for manufacturing systems in Mexico. Variables used to measure MC are macroergonomic factors Person, Organization, Technology and tools, Tasks, and Environment, and their corresponding macroergonomic elements. MCI is based on dimensional analysis methodology and it has a scale of [0, 1], where 1 is the optimal value. For MCI < 0.7 macroergonomic practices (MPs) are required. According MCI value, a linguistic term is assigned. Data are collected by applying a validated macroergonomic compatibility questionnaire to middle and senior employees of manufacturing systems and also to experts in Ergonomics. Results show that MPs are required on all macroergonomic factors and elements. Then, MPs must be promoted in the design of manufacturing systems.

This paper describes the Group Technology supporting application of the Lean Manufacturing concept and presents the main functions and various problems tackled when implementing individual program steps such as the Group Technology classification and a coding system, application of the Group Technology in an engineering database design and autonomous maintenance or setup activities. The problem was characterized through basic objectives defined for actions, the Lean Manufacturing implementation model and the fulfillment of KPIs (key performance indicators). The final section addresses the results obtained, sets out recommendations (conclusions) for further action and describes the key problems arising in the course of implementation. The case study provided in the paper concerns implementation of the Group Technology supporting Lean Manufacturing in the metal and mechanical industry. The implementation model described can be adapted to other companies operating in this sector.

The paper presents legal basis for sea port formation and functioning, specifying the kinds of entities involved in the port formation and functioning phases, their rights and liability. On that basis, the authors demonstrate the object of research: a seaport as a cluster, and the theoretical aspects of resource flexibility in clusters. Next, they crystallize the research methodology, i.e. the dimensions, features and framework of the study of a seaport as a flexible organization. In further parts of the article, the authors discuss the results of empirical studies carried out in selected seaports clusters. The conclusions take the form of theoretical recommendations regarding further research into enterprises and practice of seaport functioning and management.

This paper focuses on presenting the results of research on the complementarity of modern management methods and tools, and its impact on economic and organizational performance of enterprises. As it was presented in author’s previous papers the organizational progress of enterprises and the progress in knowledge management requires a deliberate and systematic management actions. In enterprises, theoretical and practical knowledge of managers regarding modern management methods and techniques is often superficial, limited to the level of general concepts and slogans. There is a competitive gap regarding organizational innovation and knowledge management associated with not using modern management methods and tools (or failure of their implementation). In the work, the author present the theoretical model of complementarity of modern management methods and tools and sets a hypothesis that complementarity of modern management methods and their tools is leading to conditional or unconditional application of individual pairs of management methods and tools. The theoretical model and its impact on economic and organizational performance of enterprises has been verified in empirical research projects undertaken at the Faculty of Engineering Management of Poznan University of Technology from 2014, called “Determinants of implementing modern methods and techniques of management in Polish enterprises”. The empirical research surveyed 150 of enterprises represented Polish economy. There are four parts of the paper: 1. Introduction (problem statement, objective of the study, significance of the study). 2. Literature review and conceptualization of research model of complementarity of modern management methods and tools. 3. Description of empirical research approach, methods and presentation of findings. 4. Conclusions.

The selection of suitable display technologies for industrial augmented reality (AR) applications is becoming increasingly relevant as such applications move from the proof-of-concept to the application stage. To support project managers, designers and developers in the critical selection process we have developed a checklist of important aspects and related evaluation hints that helps to speed up and improve the selection process. The checklist presented in this paper was designed to be useful for both researchers and practitioners. It combines pertinent information from relevant standards like ISO 9241-210 with results from current research literature and experience from several AR projects in industrial contexts. It can be applied both in collaboration with AR experts, where it helps to prepare relevant information for the collaboration and thus streamlines the process, or stand-alone, as a guideline for the evaluation of different options by a design team.

The manufacturing industry needs to adapt their product-services to meet customer requirements in today’s rapidly changing markets. This paper presents how technologies can support knowledge sharing and collaboration during product-service processes. This work was part of the European Union Use-it-Wisely project and summaries demonstration results from the project. Six cluster cases from different industry sectors (energy, machinery, space, office workplace, vehicles, and shipbuilding) were developing their tools and processes during the project. Based on the demonstration evaluations, it seems that the Use-it-Wisely project has enabled companies to improve their product-services by using interactive collaborative environments and new business models. Participants that took part in the demonstrations felt that the new approach makes users’ work easier, provides competitive advantage, facilitates knowledge sharing and decision making, extends the efficient lifecycle of existing machinery and supports sustainable development.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is increasingly perceived as a subsequent stage of digital evolution, in which devices surrounding us communicate with one another, more and more often without human participation. A growing amount of data, speed of its transmission and unlimited opportunities of application indicate a pace of transformation of our life. And despite the fact that this is still an innovative solution, its significance becomes visible in consumer, industrial and public space influencing a form and character of contemporary management. A consumer plays a crucial role in that process as through their perception they condition a level and dynamics of acceptance of new solutions as well as their market potential. New technologies definitely become a key factor in creating a value by a consumer and for a consumer.

Collaborative robots, thanks to their light structure and embedded safety mechanisms, have started to be employed in assembly lines to perform tasks previously carried out by human operators. The implications of the close and sometimes tight collaboration between the worker and the machine have been investigated from several perspectives: quality, productivity, health & safety and social implications. However, other implications, which are acquiring increasing relevance, are related to product changeovers and the need to frequently adapt the collaborative robots’ behaviour to follow the new work instructions. As current market trends lead to increasingly frequent releases of new models or variants, the capability to adapt robot’s instructions effectively and efficiently have to be at hand in the line and cannot longer be limited to the engineering and technical departments. Theory and practice about changing robots’ programs have to be transferred from the experts to the operators. In this study, we propose a method for capturing and analyzing expert’s knowledge, based on human observation, video and speech recording. Results include patterns of human expert’s behaviour and suggestions for training and support employees to cope with collaborative robots and new product introduction.

Ancient textiles preserved in Japan for more than 1000 years show marked deterioration and their original forms are largely missing. However, unlike other cultural artifacts such as paintings, individual experts are still undertaking reproductions of ancient textiles. The aim of this study is to clarify the decision-making procedure through which an expert can analyze the original ancient braiding structures. The analysis focuses on important parameters including the number of ribs, their interactions with the neighbor ribs (surpass or underpass) and thread direction at the fringes. Through a questionnaire survey, it was found that these parameters allow the expert to deduce the original braided structure. The reproduction works of the expert were also observed using an eye tracking device used to demonstrate how and what the expert mainly focused on during the analysis of the specimen. A positive correlation was found between the results of the questionnaire survey and the real eye movements of the expert.

Using a Marudai and hand braiding methodology, with repetitive thread movement patterns and bobbin positioning, different curved (curvature radius) braids were created. While the conventional straight braid was made keeping thread arrangements symmetrically on the Marudai, the non-straight braid was realized by breaking the symmetry principle. By using different braiding patterns, braids that are curved can be created by without applying external force. This represents a study of the relationship between the structure and the curve.

Unlike other Japanese traditional narrow fabric such as braids, Sanada-himo has a woven structure with warp and weft intersecting in a right angle to produce a narrow band. Sanada-himo is hard to stretch and hence can be tied into very tight knots available to Samurai amours and ties of toolbox for the tea ceremony. The aim of this study is to clarify the reason for the high strength of Sanada-himo. The characteristic of the structure of Sanada-himo is that fineness of weft yarn is thicker than that of warp yarn. The effects of the fineness of weft yarn on the structure and mechanical property were investigated. Sanada-himo specimens were fabricated using cotton yarns with variable fineness of weft yarn. The structures such as shape of yarns, distance between yarns, crimp ratio of weft and warp yarns were observed by optical microscope and quantified. Then the mechanical properties of Sanada-himo were measured. From these results, the effects of the structures above on the mechanical properties were investigated.

This study aims to clarify the decision-making processes in color selection of people of various generations. As a preliminary study, a 13-year old, 80 junior high school students were subjected to a questionnaire survey for their thread color combination and impression of the resulting braids during a workshop at their classes. Among 28 words describing colors positively or negatively, those well describing the colors chosen by the students were applied without limitation. Association with the completed braids and degree of satisfaction for the color combination were also declared and classified into one of five levels. Within the scope of this questionnaire survey, it was found that the color combination for a braid by junior high school students tended to combine similar colors for a resonance effect that can be seen in the natural world. With this working hypothesis, further data acquisition is needed to draw a more general conclusion.

In the previous study, we assigned one expert and two non-experts to braid strands, and measured the movements of their eyes and evaluated the quality of the finished braids. From the measurement result, we clarified two points of the know-how hidden behind the skilled worker’s technique. The first is the height from marudai, a circular frame stand, used for Japanese style braiding and the strand being moved. The other is the angle between marudai, a circular frame stand, and the strands being moved. In this study, we firstly conducted trainings with focusing on the height from the circular frame stand and the angle between the stand and strands. And then, conducted eye movement measurement and motion analysis to verify how the know-how extracted from these results brought the educational benefits to instruct a non-expert on the braiding technique.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the various properties for braiding strings quantitatively. Flexibleness, compression and reconstruction properties in transverse direction was quantified by using universal testing machine, and relationship between quantitative data, feeling of human being, and braiding structure was investigated. From the result, loading and un-loading curves of the braid fabricated by an expert were smoother than that by a beginner. These results meant the braids fabricated by expert should be uniformly braided. Consequently, by understanding the internal structure of the braids and using mechanical testing for the braids, not only the quality of the braids, feature of the braids for suitable usage can be determined.

The crucial issue concerning employment of people with disabilities is making workplace adjustments to accommodate their special needs and abilities. In Poland, the Labor Code and statutory law on occupational and social rehabilitation and employment of people with disabilities impose this obligation on the employer. However, the regulations provide no further explanation of how to proceed with such accommodation. A review of EU legislation has not revealed any exact guidelines or instruments for workplace disability analysis. In the two-part article, an example of workplace adjustments to accommodate the needs of disabled people is presented based on a case study of a research company operating in Łódź as a typical representative of the industry. In the first part, the results of the study performed with the ‘Checklist for assessment of workplace adjustment to the needs of people with disabilities’ are discussed. The second part presents adjustment recommendations to accommodate the needs and capacities of people with different types of disabilities. Other research and development organizations, scientific and higher education institutions may use the reported results to improve the employment-to-population ratio for people with disabilities.

Market globalization has initiated the increase in the number of norms that induce the use of external resources, the growth of productive and innovative efficiency, and the promotion of business process orientation. The ISO 55000 series is a thorough and detailed standard that allows to create a method of implementing a system into technical resources management in a company. Technical assets management is an important element of each organization as it allows to bring out the value from the possessed resources. The ISO 55000 series aims at providing a framework for a normalized system of asset management. Change of the maintenance organization, change of the rules of equipment effectiveness management is executed based on a new management standard resulting from an international norm. The article discusses the assumptions of the new standard, the consequences of its implementation and the changes it exerts over the role of employees responsible for maintenance.

The crucial issue concerning employment of people with disabilities is making workplace adjustments to accommodate their special needs and abilities. In Poland, the Labor Code and statutory law on occupational and social rehabilitation and employment of people with disabilities impose this obligation on the employer. However, the regulations provide no further explanation of how to proceed with such accommodation. A review of EU legislation has not revealed any exact guidelines or instruments for workplace disability analysis. In the two-part article, an example of workplace adjustments to accommodate the needs of disabled people is presented based on a case study of a research company operating in Łódź as a typical representative of the industry. In the first part, the results of the study performed with the ‘Checklist for assessment of workplace adjustment to the needs of people with disabilities’ are discussed. The second part presents adjustment recommendations to accommodate the needs and capacities of people with different types of disabilities. Other research and development organizations, scientific and higher education institutions may use the reported results to improve the employment-to-population ratio for people with disabilities.

This paper describes expert skills and qualifications needed for a successful injection molding process. Injection molding is a technology for manufacturing plastic products, where the resin is melted at high temperatures and injected into the mold. The plastic material is then maintained into a certain shape by cooling it. Injection molding can produce many same shape moldings, however this is not an easy process. Experts have a short time between checking the molded item and changing its initial conditions. Therefore expert skills is very important aspect in the process besides measurements. Experts confirm the resin in solution repeatedly, and to obtain them, the subject use wearable camera attached to the head. The actual process of molding is recorded using wearable cameras to show the line of sight during the process. In this paper, the skills needed for molding were investigated.

The educational scheme for composite processing needs to be established to expand the number of experts and to overcome the difficulty of quality control. In this paper, we propose the educational aid for the trimming and hole-making operation of autoclave technology to effectively improve the skill of workers. Trimming by power tools such as grinders and sanders is crucial to satisfying the required shapes and dimensions of CFRP products. The training aid for trimming translated from the skill of an expert is prepared and analyzed to identify the relationship between work and skill.

Japanese Kyoto bows consist of bamboo and several different wood materials and are the adhesive structure of natural materials regarded as composite structures. Mr. Kanjuro Shibata is the 21st generation Kyoto bow maker and one of the most famous bow making experts in Japan. A lot of tacit knowledge in the fabrication of the bow is not disclosed. In this paper, the interviewing process called as the Oral DENTO MIRAI technique is performed to understand skill and process from materials to structures of the bow. The interview with Mr. Shibata led to the educational information reflecting his tacit knowledge to fabricate excellent bows.

In the field of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), it is difficult to find the optimal molding conditions, since the Vacuum-assisted Resin Transfer Molding(VaRTM) requires a process which makes fiber-base materials fit into a three-dimensional shape, by applying pressure and heat simultaneously. In this study, three subjects with a varying number of years’ of experience produced a VaRTM molding, with the objective of identifying the factors that contribute to the accuracy in molding conditions. The study showed that the process was dependent on the ability of the worker and experience. Herein, the researchers analyzed the behavior of experts and develop a standard procedure in order to help beginners training and to contribute to the composites CFRP industry process learning procedures.

Paper tubes are usually produced by expert workers who are trained from experience. The manufacture technology can also be developed by this empirical rule. The so-called expert is non-expert person who is trained in the daily working and improve the technology by himself. It is a task for middle and small-sized enterprises in how to train the workers in a short time effectively. This is not only for paper tubes production, but also for a small factory on how to inherit its technology in a short time effectively. The objective of this is to analyze the motion for paper tubes fabricating by observe difference between expert and non-expert at work site as one of “Great master’s work” in middle and small-sized enterprises.

In order to create the environment where effective transfer of proficient skill to the next generation, we conducted the analysis of the work of expert and non-expert in the polishing work, which influences the lifespan of a cold forging die. As most of polishing work employs files or abrasives, it can be described as a removal processing of the processed parts. In this study, polishing work is regarded as a removal processing, and used the impulse, which is attained as the product of multiplying polish processing force by operation time, for the comparison of removal volumes. As a result, the possibility for preventing the discrepancy in operation time by maintaining a constant processing force was shown.

A stable quality control that accurately follows the specifications of the drawing is required in the tools that are used for mass production of parts, such as a forging die. In order to satisfy such parts processing requirements, establishment of die production system that can repeatedly recreate the same processing conditions, including the processing time, is necessary. Thus, it is of importance to prevent the processing discrepancy caused by proficiency levels of workers. In this report, we analyzed the work of an expert and non-expert, using a Finger TPS sensor system. The analysis results of the factors that influence their work efficiency are reported.

As joining by welding is a particularly important processing method for melting and integrating multiple components. That is because poor welding is directly linked to fatal vulnerability in the product structure. Therefore, high-quality welding technology is required, which means the accuracy of the previous step called “edge preparation” is also important to achieve high-quality welding. “Edge preparation” refers to a step of opening up the edges of the object to be welded in a suitable form in order to facilitate welding. Edge preparation, unlike conventional fusing processing, requires delicate and advanced technologies for cutting a steel plate obliquely. In this study, as one of the methods of explicating the tacit knowledge in manufacturing, that is, the inheritance of technology in edge preparation, the work of expert and non-expert was comparatively observed in order to clarify differences.

Metal machining is an important mechanical process primarily performed to secure the metal’s required form. Micro-level deburring can require manual work due to the shape and size of the metal, which can involve precision parts. This research explores and clarifies the differences between an expert and a non-expert in their techniques of removing micro burs produced in the machining process. We specifically focus on transitions in gripping force used on the tools.