Towards a methodology for the selection of preventive measures to mitigate error influences in manual assembly lines

Societal and economic developments pose numerous challenges for companies in the manufacturing industry. Increasing pressure on quality, time, and costs due to global competition puts entire companies at risk. Growing demands on employee performance due to individualization and increasing product variety pose a further threat. In addition, countries such as Japan and Germany face demographic change and a corresponding shortage of workers at specific skill levels. While a higher age influences the performance level of employees negatively, the shortage of qualified workers induces a lack of required skills. This mismatch between the actual capabilities of employees and the growing performance requirements is leading to an increasing number of human errors, e.g., due to stress reactions, with rising costs caused by scrappage, rework, and further quality-related problems. Therefore, this article proposes a conceptual methodology for selecting measures to prevent human errors in manual assembly lines by mitigating error-influencing factors. Firstly, a method for the selection of error-influencing factors is outlined. Subsequently, a method for the adaptive pre-selection of preventive measures is introduced. Finally, a systematic link between the error-influencing factors and the preventive measures is outlined, which allows an individual selection of measures for the most relevant error-influencing factors. The proposed methodology aims to create value for manufacturing companies by promoting profitability by preventing error-related costs, caused by things such as scrap, rework, or other quality-related issues.