Physical and psychological effort required to perform work. Physically demanding jobs are generally associated with manual labor or public safety. Psychological demand at a job may take many forms, from fast paced routine work on an assembly line to jobs with large responsibility and little authority.

Improvement Action: Establish buffers of work in process to allow work pace to vary without affecting production rate       

Source:

P.G. Gyllenhammar, People at Work, Reading, Mass., Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., 1977

  • GWT Analyst Summary: In a radical departure from conventional automotive assembly, the Volvo Kalmar plant was designed such that automobiles moved through the plant on carriers controlled by the assembly workers. Additionally, buffer zones were built between stations. By designing the work flow in this way, the pace of work could vary without having harmful effects on the overall production pace. Small problems that cause extra time did not stop the line, and workers that worked faster simply filled their buffers first.
  • Excerpt from text: “Teams mainly choose to work in one of two ways. The first method somewhat resembles traditional assembly. The cars move on their carriers through the team zone, while each member does a different job on each car. The main difference from traditional assembly is that the team controls the pace, and the [car] carrier normally stops unless a worker wants to travel while working. Tn the other mode of working, which seems to be growing more common at Kalmar, a team divides itself into subgroups of two or three people, and a subgroup carries out all team jobs on a particular buffer zone, and when they finish if goes directly to the outgoing buffer zone. The only contract the workers have with management is to deliver a certain number of finished doors, or installed brake systems, or interiors, every day. If a team fills its buffer zones, the members feel free to stop for coffee or a cigarette. People often use this time to make minor adjustments or double-check their work. Many people were interested in learning new tasks from each other.” p 65

 

Improvement Action: Allow components or subassemblies to be completed away from main assembly line

Source:

Nilsson, Lennart.(1994). The Uddevalla plant: Why did it succeed with a holistic approach and why did it come to an end. In Ake Sandberg (Editor), Enriching Production: Perspectives on Volvo’s Uddevalla Plant as an Alternative to Lean Production (pp. 75-86). Brookfield, VT: Ashgate     

  • GWT Analyst Summary: The author refers throughout the text to “Natural Work”, of which he defines a group of characteristics. Of these, he asserts that “The work is meaningful from the worker’s point of view and is not predetermined by time factors”. The Uddevalla plant was constructed around the idea of stationary cars assembled by small “families” of workers. The workers were trained in longer work cycle assembly sequences on the car, in contrast to traditional short work cycles on one long moving assembly line. Doing so provided flexibility for natural variation found both in people and processes. 

Improvement Action: Expand work tasks to whole units or major components and build in parallel

Source:                

Nilsson, Lennart.(1994). The Uddevalla plant: Why did it succeed with a holistic approach and why did it come to an end. In Ake Sandberg (Editor), Enriching Production: Perspectives on Volvo’s Uddevalla Plant as an Alternative to Lean Production (pp. 75-86). Brookfield, VT: Ashgate

  • GWT Analyst Summary: The author refers throughout the text to “Natural Work”, of which he defines a group of characteristics. Of these, he asserts that “The work in its entirety should be surveyable [by the worker]”. The Uddevalla plant was constructed around the idea of stationary cars assembled in parallel. Workers were trained in longer assembly sequences on the car, in some cases one-quarter of the total car assembly time, in contrast to traditional short work cycles on one long moving assembly line.

Improvement Action: Strive for continuous improvement (Kaizen) of work methods

Source:

Vanderburg, David, “The Story of Semco: The Company That Humanized Work”, Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, Vol. 24, No. 5, October 2004, pp. 430-434

  • GWT Analyst Summary: At Semco, factory committees were started to increase workers' involvement in improving company operations. These committees were made up of workers from all levels in the factories. The committees helped identify wasteful activities and promote continuous improvement. 
  • Excerpt from text: “Factory committees were started (made up of machinists, mechanics, office workers, draftsmen, maintenance workers, etc.) to increase involvement in the company and to resolve issues. The same committees voted that managers should spend less money on retreats (they were no longer allowed to bring their spouse, they stayed in less expensive hotels, etc.) as they saw it as a waste of the company’s resources. The committees became vital to Semco’s success as they assumed some managerial responsibilities and took charge of caring for the common spaces. This system helped identify surplus managers, constantly questioned expenses, set production goals, and suggested major changes in product manufacturing.”