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UNIVERSITY OF VOCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

Faculty of Industrial & Vocational Technology Bachelor of Technology in Manufacturing Technology - 2010 / 2013 Year II Semester - II Examination March 2013

Work Study and Ergonomics (MT4040)

Instructions : Answer All Questions of Section A and any four (4) Questions of Section B Time Allocated : 03 Hours Section A: Problems and Case study (60 Marks)

This section consists of questions with serial number 1 - 3. Answer all questions. Marks are indicated against each question. Detailed workings/explanations should form part of your answer. Do not spend more than 110 - 120 minutes on Section A. Case studies Read the following case study carefully and answer the question 1 PRODUCTIVITY GAINS AT WHIRLPOOL
Workers and management at Whirlpool Appliances Benton Harbor plant in Michigan have set an example of how to achieve productivity gains, which has benefited not only the company and its stockholders, but also Whirlpool customers, and the workers themselves Things werent always rosy at the plant. Productivity and quality werent good. Neither were labor-management relations. Workers hid defective parts so management wouldnt find them, and when machines broke down, workers would simply sit down until sooner or later someone came to fix it. All that changed in the late 1980s. Faced with the possibility that the plant would be shut down, management and labor worked together to find a way to keep the plant open. The way was to increase productivity-producing more without using more resources. Interestingly, the improvement in productivity didnt come by spending money on fancy machines. Rather, it was accomplished by placing more emphasis on quality. That was a shift from the old way, which emphasized volume, often at the expense of quality. To motivate workers, the company agreed to gain sharing, a plan that rewarded workers by increasing their pay for productivity increases. The company overhauled the manufacturing process, and taught its workers how to improve quality. As quality improved, productivity went up because more of the output was good, and costs went down because of fewer defective parts that had to be scrapped or reworked. Costs of inventory also decreased, because fewer spare parts were needed to replace defective output, both at the factory and for warranty
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repairs. And workers have been able to see the connection between their efforts to improve quality and productivity. Not only was Whirlpool able to use the productivity gains to increase workers pay, it was also able to hold that lid on price increases and to funnel some of the savings into research.

(Source: Based on A Whirlpool Factory Raises Productivity-And Pay of Workers: by Rick Wartzman, from The Wall Street journal, 1992.) (1) 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 What were the two key things that Whirlpool management did to achieve productivity gain? Who has been benefited from the productivity gains? How quality related productivity ? How can a company afford to pay it workers for productivity gains? (5+5+6+5 = 20 Marks) Read the following case study carefully and answer the question 2 MAKING HOTPLATES Group of 10 workers were responsible for assembling hotplates (instruments for heating solutions to a given temperature) for hospital and medical laboratory use. A number of different models of hotplates were being manufactured. Some had a vibrating device so that the solution could be mixed while being heated. Others heated only test tubes. Still others could heat solutions in a variety of different containers. With the appropriate small tools, each worker assembled part of a hotplate. The partially completed hotplate was placed on a moving belt, to be carried from one assembly station to the next. When the hotplate was completed, an inspector would check it over to ensure that it was working properly. Then the last worker would place it in a specially prepared cardboard box for shipping. The assembly line had been carefully balanced by industrial engineers, who had used a time and motion study to break the job down into subassembly tasks, each requiring about three minutes accomplishing. The amount of time calculated for each subassembly had also been balanced so that the task performed by each worker was supposed to take almost exactly the same amount of time. The workers were paid a straight hourly rate. However, there were some problems. Morale seemed to be low, and the inspector was finding a relatively high percentage of badly assembled hotplates. Controllable rejects-those caused by the operator rather than by faulty materials-were running about 23 percent. After discussing the situation, management decided to try something new. The workers were called together and asked if they would like to build the hotplates individually. The workers decided they would like to try this approach, provided they could go back to the old program if the new one did not work well. After several days of training, each worker began to assemble the entire hotplate.
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The change was made at about the middle of the year. Productivity climbed quickly. By the end of the year, it had leveled off at about 84 percent higher than during the first half of the year, although no other changes had been made in the department or its personnel. Controllable rejects.

had dropped from 23 percent to 1 percent during the same period. Absenteeism had dropped from 8 percent to less than 1 percent. The workers had responded positively to the change, and their morale was higher. As one person put it, Now, it is my hotplate. Eventually, the reject rate dropped so low that the assembly workers themselves did all routine final inspection. The fulltime inspector was transferred to another job in the organization

(Source: The Modern Manager, by Edgar F. Huse, copyright @ 1979 by West Publishing Company.) (2) 2.1 What changes in the work situation might account for the increase in productivity and the decrease in controllable rejects? 2.2 What might account for the drop in absenteeism and the increase in morale? 2.3 What were the major changes in the situation? Which changes were under the control of the manager? 2.4 Which were controlled by workers? 2.5 What might happen if the workers went back to the old assembly line method? (4+5+4+3+4= 20 Marks) Office worker carrying out task at a work station- movie You will watch the video of related to the ergonomics of work. According to the video, you are supposed to answer question number 03. (3) 3.1 Identify Risk causes, factors and problem (poor work conditions and poor work practices) by observing the working environment and the working habits? 3.2 According to the findings, propose the follow up actions to eliminate the risk and injuries. 3.3 Draw the picture of work station system of work with your new implementations.

(10+5+5 = 20 Marks)

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Section B: Basic concepts (40 Marks)

This section consists of questions with serial number 4 - 8. Answer any four (4) questions. Each question carries ten marks. Detailed workings/explanations should form part of your answer. Do not spend more than 60 minutes on Section B.

(4) 4.1 How do you ascertain productivity? 4.2 Discuss the factors influencing productivity? 4.3 List down five productivity improvement techniques and discuss one of them. (2+3+5=10 Marks) (5) Time is the basic technique for determining accurate time standards. They are economical for repetitive type of work. 5.1 Explain the steps in time study in brief 5.2 What are the different equipments and forms used in time study? (6+4=010Marks) (6) 6.1 What is the purpose of work measurement? Explain the different two applications by using example. 6.2 What are the four different techniques of work measurement? Explain two of them. (7) 7.1 From your point of view, explain the scope of method study. 7.2 In method study all activities recorded with the help of certain symbols. Write the symbols and explain each. (4+6= 10 Marks) (8) Work station that use Advanced Manufacturing Technology is lacking attention in terms of health and safety 8.1 Define your view on Ergonomics 8.2 Discuss objectives of implementing the work station ergonomically (4+6=10 Marks)

(4+6=10 Marks)

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