BACKGROUND Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common occupational disorder associated with repetitive manual work. Little information exists about the possible relation between the variation of biomechanical hand/wrist exposure and the development of symptoms and median nerve conduction values. AIMS To investigate the prevalence of CTS in a group of workers exposed to intensive use of the hand...

Mixed-model assembly line (MMAL) is a type of production line where a variety of product models similar to product characteristics are assembled. Line balancing and model sequencing problems are important for an efficient use of such lines. This paper presents integer programming formulation and a solution for a loading and assembly plan selection problem in a mixed-model assembly system. The p...

Assembly lines are special flow-line production systems which are of great importance in the industrial production of high quantity standardized commodities. Recently, assembly lines even gained importance in low volume production of customized products (mass-customization). Due to high capital requirements when installing or redesigning a line, its configuration planning is of great relevance ...

A new hybrid tabu search (HTS) method for solving assembly line balancing problems is proposed in this paper. The tabu search (TS) method is combined with the genetic algorithm (GA) to identify and provide solutions for assembly line balancing problems. With the proposed HTS method, the TS method can well address the number of tasks assigned for each workstation, while the GA can also assign th...

Background: Ergonomics is a science that provides methods of creating reasonable adaption between occupation and worker by improving usability through consideration of job demands and human ability to satisfy them. A deep understanding of user’s thoughts on and attitudes toward utilizing a tool could improve its design. In the present study, two cushions designed particularly for one of c...

AMACOIA (for Approche Multi-Agents pour la COnception d’Installations d’Assemblage) is a tool for designing flexible assembly lines. Its objective is to determine the functional specifications of the constituting equipments (manipulators, fixtures, grippers, conveyors, ...) and the organisational structure (cells, workstations) for the least expensive assembly line able to assemble a product (o...

This paper proposes a biologically inspired ‘molecular assembly line’ — an externally programmable polymeric chain along which molecules are shuttled between chain sites along an arbitrary pathway. Our hope is to construct a scaffold that mimics biological enzymes known as polyketide synthases in their ability to physically hand-off molecules between assembly sites or domains, thereby making al...

The productivity of assembly lines is considerably affected by the health condition of assembly workers, and work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are common occupational diseases among assembly workers due to repetitive motions or heavy working loads. The conventional approaches to decreasing WMSD risks in the assembly lines include slowing the work-pace or applying job rotations. The...

This work presents a vision-based quality assurance system that does assembly line monitoring. The is developed using machine learning hand tracking and object detection methods to monitor the worker’s movement while evaluating correctness of assembly. Feedback about order steps worker has taken continuously shown user. potential reduce amount manual required for in line.