Vol. 19 No. 4 (2020): Revista UIS Ingenierías
Articles

The analysis of human error in manufacturing: a key to improve production quality

Yaniel Torres-Medina
École de Technologie Supérieure de Montréal

Published 2020-07-29

Keywords

  • human reliability,
  • assembly system,
  • complexity,
  • ergonomics,
  • continuous improvement cognitive load.

How to Cite

Torres-Medina, Y. (2020). The analysis of human error in manufacturing: a key to improve production quality. Revista UIS Ingenierías, 19(4), 53–62. https://doi.org/10.18273/revuin.v19n4-2020005

Abstract

Despite the increasing level of automation in manufacturing, manual assembly continues to play a key role in several production domains. However, manual assembly operations are susceptible to human errors which cause quality problems and economic losses. This article aims to present some methods that allow the identification of different types of errors as well as factors that affect operator performance. Among these methods are SHERPA and HEART. The article also discusses the importance of considering the complexity of the task because of the negative impact on the cognitive load of the worker which increases the risk of error. For the discussion, different concepts from the specialized literature are used while an articulation of different branches of knowledge such as ergonomics, industrial engineering and system reliability is made.

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