Optimizing Ergonomics and Productivity by Connecting Digital Human Modeling and Production Flow Simulation Software

Abstract

Simulation software is used in the production development process to simulate production and predict behaviors, calculate times, and plan production in advance. Digital human modeling (DHM) software is used to simulate humans working in production and assess whether workstation designs offer appropriate ergonomic conditions for the workers. However, these human simulations are usually carried out by human factors engineers or ergonomists, whereas the production simulations are carried out by production engineers. Lack of integration of these two simulations can lead to suboptimal solutions when the factory is not optimized to improve both productivity and ergonomics. To tackle this problem, a platform has been developed that connects production flow simulation software data and DHM software data and integrates them in a generic software for data treatment and visualization. Production flow simulation software data and DHM software data are organized in a hierarchical structure that allows synchronization between the production data and the ergonomic data on the target simulation software. The platform is generic and can be connected to any production flow simulation software and any DHM software by creating specific links for each software. The platform requires only the models of the production line, workstations, and tasks in order to perform the simulations in the target simulation software and collect the simulation results to present the results to the user of the platform.