Improving manufacturing productivity by combining cognitive engineering and lean-six sigma methods.

摘要

Increasing automation of manufacturing has changed the relationship between workers and the technology employed to get work done. Cognitive work is replacing manual labour. Established productivity improvement methods need to comprehend increased complexity, less tractable processes and a workforce where expertise is a differentiator of outcomes. This paper describes how human factors and cognitive engineering methods can be combined with Lean - Six Sigma to create an enhanced productivity framework for complex manufacturing. Action research over a three-month period is used to validate its effectiveness recording the cognitive work of engineers engaged in a quality control task.