From field operators to central control room operators An integrated educational, research and consultancy approach

Abstract

The Auebe food industry in the Netherlands has planned to modify their factories in view of the recovery of proteins out of potatoes. After modification of the first factory some human factor problems were recognized which led the project management to ask for ergonomic advice from an external team, consisting of the three authors.

The problem was approached in the following way. Firstly, two-day courses were set up to introduce ergonomics to the whole design team. The lectures were illustrated with examples of poor ergonomic design observed in the modified factory. During the course the participants were asked to suggest improvements for some of these situations.

The second step in approaching the problem was an investigation into the functioning of the operators in the modified factory. It appeared that most of the problems could be reduced to the incongruity between technical and social aspects in the original design. On the one hand there is a central control room operator which is supposed to have a complete overview of the process. On the other hand there are field operators each of which is responsible for its part of the plant. Communication is often difficult because of the distance, the noise, and ambiguities in the respective responsibilities of the operators. Comparison of the five shifts showed that reasonable functioning was difficult and in fact only possible if a friendly relation existed between operators in the control room and in the field. In addition the style of leadership of the shift supervisor had a strong influence.

In the third place the design team for the second factory was advised to let every operator supervise his part of the plant from a common control room. When he has to leave for observations or actions in the field one of his colleagues can take over. With some technical adjustments, such a system can be realized. Hence the final concept of automation can be characterized by geographical centralization and organizational decentralization.

Notes

∗ Now at Philips Company, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.