Worker evaluation of a macroergonomic intervention in a Brazilian footwear company.

This article presents a macroergonomic intervention in a Brazilian footwear company and its evaluation by the workers. Using participatory ergonomics, the traditional Taylor/Ford production system was transformed into a socio-technical one and tested by 100 volunteers working during 3.5 years in a pilot production line. Multiskilling and teamwork were the major changes promoted to enlarge and enrich work and make it more flexible. The workers' evaluation pre- and post-intervention showed an increase in overall satisfaction with the work and more commitment to the results and company targets. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: This study showed that problems and solutions can be identified through participatory ergonomics, that it is easier to involve workers than the managerial staff, and that a macroergonomic intervention, mainly focusing on work organization, led to positive personnel, health and production outcomes, despite management's resistance to changes.

Cost-benefit analysis of a socio-technical intervention in a Brazilian footwear company.

This article presents a costs-benefits analysis of a macroergonomic intervention in a Brazilian footwear company. Comparing results of a pilot line (composed by 100 multiskilled workers organized in teams) with eight traditional lines (still working in a one human being/one task model) the intervention showed to be worth pursuing since achieved gains were higher than intervention costs: there was a reduction in human resource costs (80% reduction in industrial accidents, 100% reduction in work-related musculoskeletal disorders or WMSD, medical consultations and turnover, and a 45.65% reduction in absenteeism) and production improvement (productivity increased in 3% and production waste decrease to less than 1%). The net intervention value of the intervention was around U$ 430,000 with a benefit-to-cost ratio of 7.2. Moreover, employees who worked in the pilot line understood that their quality of work life improved, compensating the anxiety brought up by the radical changes implemented.

A socio-technical approach for improving a Brazilian shoe manufacturing system.

UNLABELLED: This article presents a macroergonomic intervention in a footwear company in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, to improve both the quality of life of the employees and productivity by optimizing the traditional Taylor/Ford work organization. Multi-functionality and team working were implemented as means of making tasks more flexible and richer and the working hours were changed. The results showed a reduction in human and material resource costs and a consequent improvement in health and workers quality of life. Although middle managerial staff displayed strong resistance to the project and to breaking traditional production paradigms, the socio-technical system has been implemented throughout the plant and is expected to end up becoming the benchmark for other companies in the sector. KEYWORDS: Macro-ergonomics, footwear industry, organization work.

A learning curve-based method to implement multifunctional work teams in the Brazilian footwear sector.

This paper presents a method for implementing multifunctional work teams in a footwear company that followed the Taylor/Ford system for decades. The suggested framework first applies a Learning Curve (LC) modeling to assess whether rotation between tasks of different complexities affects workers' learning rate and performance. Next, the Macroergonomic Work Analysis (MA) method (Guimarães, 1999, 2009) introduces multifunctional principles in work teams towards workers' training and resources improvement. When applied to a pilot line consisting of 100 workers, the intervention-reduced work related accidents in 80%, absenteeism in 45.65%, and eliminated work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD), medical consultations, and turnover. Further, the output rate of the multifunctional team increased average 3% compared to the production rate of the regular lines following the Taylor/Ford system (with the same shoe model being manufactured), while the rework and spoilage rates were reduced 85% and 69%, respectively.