Quality and Ergonomics a Panel Discussion

Abstract

The primary objective of this panel is to bring together professionals in the intersecting area of quality and Ergonomics, highlight the current state of research in this topic, and get some directions for future work. Ergonomics and Quality have a natural marriage that can be of mutual benefit to both the areas. Human centered concepts such as motivation, and empowerment are some of the building blocks of TQM, while improving all aspects of human work life quality is the basis for ergonomics. This is all the more important in contemporary economy from two perspectives. Service has become a major player these days and there is human involvement at every aspect of service. Secondly, manufacturing is proceeding towards more and more miniaturization, the result is that every quality function needs human components in its dispensing. This panel will address all these issues. Dr. Carayon will present an overview; dr. Karwowski will talk about traditional manufacturing; Dr. Henriksen will talk about health care; Dr. Garamopadhyay will talk about training, while Dr. Bishu will talk about micro manufacturing.