Ergo-innovative design of cow slaughter tool

Abstract

Rough handling in the slaughtering operation can cause animal’s stress resulting in the poor quality of meat because of the depleting muscle reserves to the lowest level. This condition will reduce the muscle lactic acid and increase the potential hydrogen on the meat above the normal level allowing a higher possibility for bacterial growth. Moreover, the rough slaughtering operation using the conventional technique may lead to slaughterer’s accident because of the cow’s mutiny. Thus, it is crucial to use the slaughtering tool that is safer and more comfortable to operate. This study aims to design the innovative slaughtering tool ergonomically and satisfying the user requirement. A survey was conducted to identify user criteria of the design. Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) was implemented as a fundamental basis to determine the inventive principle of the design, and the Quality Function Deployment was applied to develop the design specification. Non-parametric statistical analysis was done to test the hypothesis. This study reveals some identified inventive principles including dynamic quality, parameter changes, combination, and equipotentiality. Thus, the proposed design is valid to satisfy user need at 5% of significance level as it is proven to be safer, stronger, more practical, and more durable.