Job Rotation Schedules Research Articles

A novel framework for optimizing job rotation schedules across industries

Implementing job rotation (JR) can yield positive or negative impacts depending on the firm characteristics and industry type. As a result, a generic framework for its implementation is difficult to develop and presently does not exist in literature. Existing models/frameworks have limited application as they are either too specific or generic, but imprecise. Consequently, managers often rely on their intuition to develop JR schedules which sometimes leads to suboptimal/unwanted outcomes. In this article, we propose a generic JR framework, which can be used by managers to develop optimal JR schedules in firms across many industries, such as IT, manufacturing, banking, medical, construction, chemical, aviation, etc. The proposed framework contributes to theory by addressing important questions, such as when to implement JR, and how to quantify some of its most important impacts. We also demonstrate the utility of the proposed framework through an illustrative industrial example.

Human beings influencing assembly line performance: a comparison of job rotation strategies

Industries recently have faced high uncertain market demand with a greater product variety and a shorter life cycle. The primary aim of assembly systems is to increase line efficiency by maximizing the ratio of throughput to incurred costs while maintaining high flexibility. Workers are essential in determining line performance since most assembly tasks are still manual. Consequently, worker diversity plays a critical role in the operation of an assembly line, not only in terms of efficiency and productivity, but also from a human perspective. The human factor has a significant impact on task execution times and the overall production process; in any event, few studies considered human beings in assembly line operations. This study aims to explore the effect of human beings on assembly line performance; the case of an Italian company in which workers’ behavior deeply influences production performance is presented, with the aim of analyzing different alternatives for the planning strategy in order to meet this requirement. The studied assembly line consists of three manual workstations and two automated workstations. It operates in a multi-model production environment and has an imbalance level of 50%. The proposal is to manage the allocation of workers through job rotation scheduling to ensure equal treatment despite different levels of efficiency. The study outlines three scheduling alternatives, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Optimizing worker productivity and the exposure to hand-arm vibration: a skill-based job rotation model

ABSTRACT Productivity and concerns regarding the well-being of workers exposed to vibrations stand as significant topics within labor-intensive sectors. In particular, this study contributes to the existing research by analyzing the problem with linkages among worker skill level, production rates, and vibration exposure. A bi-objective mixed integer linear programming model was employed to optimize both productivity and the exposure to hand-arm vibration in the manufacturing workplace. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to examine the impact of key parameters on the trade-off between productivity and vibration exposure. The results demonstrate the model’s effectiveness in determining the best job rotation schedules by achieving optimal productivity and vibration exposure for low and medium problem sizes. Moreover, the numerical case study points out that strengthening the workforce by adding more proficient skilled workers can maintain a good level of productivity with a decreased likelihood of excessive vibration exposure.

Ergonomic assessment of repetitive work time as a key parameter for job rotation schedules

Repetitive work, awkward postures, and load handling, along with their associated efforts, constitute one of the main causes of occupational diseases in the agricultural industry. The purpose was to design a job rotation schedule that considers the ergonomic risk and production demands that are proper for the rose harvesting tasks. The ergonomic risk was assessed through the OCRA index, which was used as a task assignment parameter. Through a case study carried out in the Colombian flower industry, respective OCRA index values for the right (3.3) and left (2.5) upper limbs in the rose harvest activities were observed. In this case, a network-structure-based task programming model was introduced as the basis for the solution. The objective function (OF) yielded a feasible solution value Z = 20.1. This indicates a decreased effort resulting from the task allocation flow, which preserves the productivity of the tasks of the harvest area of the six companies under study.

Towards industry 5.0: A multi-objective job rotation model for an inclusive workforce

The new Industry 5.0 paradigm complements the well-known Industry 4.0 approach by specifically driving research and innovation to facilitate the transition to sustainable, human-centric and resilient industry. In the manufacturing context, workers' diversity in terms of experience, productivity and physical capacity represents a significant challenge for companies, especially those characterized by high staff turnover and manual processes with high workload and poor ergonomics. In seeking to address such challenges, this research adopts a human-centric perspective to define new flexible job arrangements by developing a new multi-objective job rotation scheduling model. The proposed model is unique in that it aims to achieve multiple job assignment objectives by simultaneously considering different socio-technical factors: workers' experience, physical capacity and limitations, postural ergonomic risks, noise and vibration exposure, and workers' boredom. The model's implementation in real environments can be supported by new sensor-based technologies that collect data on workers' efficiency, ergonomic scores and task performance and enable workers to participate in measuring perceived fatigue and boredom. The primary goal of our model is to find the most appropriate assignment of job and individual-flexible rest-break plan for each worker. The authors test the model application in an industrial setting. Useful managerial insights emerge and prescriptive recommendations are provided.

A genetic algorithm approach to design job rotation schedules ensuring homogeneity and diversity of exposure in the automotive industry

Job rotation is a work organization strategy with increasing popularity, given its benefits for workers and companies, especially those working with manufacturing. This study proposes a formulation to help the team leader in an assembly line of the automotive industry to achieve job rotation schedules based on three major criteria: improve diversity, ensure homogeneity, and thus reduce exposure level. The formulation relied on a genetic algorithm, that took into consideration the biomechanical risk factors (EAWS), workers’ qualifications, and the organizational aspects of the assembly line. Moreover, the job rotation plan formulated by the genetic algorithm formulation was compared with the solution provided by the team leader in a real life-environment. The formulation proved to be a reliable solution to design job rotation plans for increasing diversity, decreasing exposure, and balancing homogeneity within workers, achieving better results in all of the outcomes when compared with the job rotation schedules created by the team leader. Additionally, this solution was less time-consuming for the team leader than a manual implementation. This study provides a much-needed solution to the job rotation issue in the manufacturing industry, with the genetic algorithm taking less time and showing better results than the job rotations created by the team leaders.

Ergonomic assessment of repetitive work time as a key parameter for job rotation schedules

Ergonomic assessment of repetitive work time as a key parameter for job rotation schedules

The job rotation scheduling problem considering human cognitive effects: an integrated approach

PurposeThis paper aims to unfold the role that job rotation plays in a lean cell. Unlike many studies, the authors consider heterogeneous operators with dynamic performance factor that is impacted by the assignment and scheduling decisions. The purpose is to derive an understanding of the underlying effects of job rotations on performance metrics in a lean cell. The authors use an optimization framework and an experimental design methodology for sensitivity analysis of the input parameters.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is an integration of three stages. The authors propose a set-based optimization model that considers human behavior parameters. They also solve the problem with two meta-heuristic algorithms and an efficient local search algorithm. Further, the authors run a post-optimality analysis by conducting a design of experiments using the response surface methodology (RSM).FindingsThe results of the optimization model reveal that the job rotation schedules and the human cognitive metrics influence the performance of the lean cell. The results of the sensitivity analysis further show that the objective function and the job rotation frequencies are highly sensitive to the other input parameters. Based on the findings from the RSM, the authors derive general rules for the job rotations in a lean cell given the ranges in other input variables.Originality/valueThe authors integrate the job rotation scheduling model with human behavioral and cognitive parameters and formulate the problem in a lean cell for the first time in the literature. In addition, they use the RSM for the first time in this context and offer a post-optimality analysis that reveals important information about the impact of the job rotations on the performance of operators and the entire working cell.

A job rotation‐scheduling model for blue‐collar employees' hand–arm vibration levels in manufacturing firms

AbstractJob rotation schedules are generally conducted without considering hand–arm vibration (HAV) exposure especially in manufacturing firms, such as heavy industry, which confront ergonomic risks easily. This does not create any occupational health and safety (OHS) issues in the short term; however, certain occupational diseases such as the white finger disease are inevitable in the long‐term. This paper investigates how the risks of developing HAV‐related occupational diseases can be minimized by producing optimal job rotation schedules using ergonomic mathematical models. In the proposed models, both ergonomic and traditional aspects of manufacturing environments are considered. Moreover, the skill level and workers' day off preferences are also considered for total system efficiency. The mixed‐integer programming approach is used to formulate the models. The applicability of the models is tested using real‐world data. It is seen that the total assignment cost of the models increases when the ergonomic aims are included in the models. Thus, there is a conflicting relationship between economic and ergonomic aims. The main findings of the models show that the employees' HAV exposure level can be kept under control with one simple constraint. By employing these models, employees and employers can be protected in terms of not only OHS but also economic issues.

Balancing, sequencing, and job rotation scheduling of a U-shaped lean cell with dynamic operator performance

Performance of a manufacturing cell is dependent on an efficient layout design, and optimal work schedules. However, the operator-dependent factors such as learning, forgetting, motivation, and boredom, can considerably impact the output of the system. In this study, we consider heterogeneous operators with dynamic performance metrics and integrate the job assignment, and job rotation scheduling problems, with the balancing and production sequencing in a U-shaped lean manufacturing cell. We present a novel multi-period nonlinear mixed-integer model to minimize the deviations from takt time, and the number of operators, in a finite planning horizon. An efficient meta-heuristic approach is developed to solve the problem and the results are compared to a static case where no human factor is included. Our computational results demonstrate that including the operator-dependent metrics can improve the performance of the cell design. We conduct a sensitivity analysis of the scheduling parameters including, rotation frequencies, takt time, cell size, and task types, and derive that the obtained solutions with the static settings, are not sufficient for an efficient lean cell design in the presence of dynamic human factors.

Job rotation scheduling in the Seru system: shake enforced invasive weed optimization approach

PurposeLine–cell conversion and rotation of operators between cells are common in lean production systems. Thus, the purpose of this study is to provide an integrated look at these two practices through integrating job rotation scheduling and line-cell conversion problems, as well as investigating the effect of rotation frequency on flow time of a Seru system.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a nonlinear integer programming model of job rotation scheduling problem and line–cell conversion problem (Seru-JRSP) was presented. Then, because Seru-JRSP is NP-hard, an efficient and effective invasive weed optimization (IWO) algorithm was developed. Exploration process of IWO was enhanced by enforcing two shake mechanisms.FindingsComputations of various sample problems showed shorter flow time and less number of assigned operators in a Seru system scheduled through job rotation. Also, nonlinear behavior of flow time versus number of rotation periods was shown. It was demonstrated that, setting number of rotation frequency to one in line with the literature leads to inferior flow time. In addition, ability of developed algorithm to generate clusters of equivalent solutions in terms of flow time was shown.Originality/valueIn this research, integration of job rotation scheduling and line–cell conversion problems was introduced, considering lack of an integrated look at these two practices in the literature. In addition, a new improved IWO equipped with shake enforcement was introduced.

Job rotation and work-related musculoskeletal disorders: a fatigue-failure perspective

Job rotation is an organisational strategy that can be used, in part, to reduce occupational exposure to physical risk factors associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Recent studies, however, suggest that job rotation schedules may increase the overall risk of injury to workers included in the rotation scheme. We describe a novel optimisation framework evaluating the effectiveness of a job rotation scheme using the fatigue failure model of MSD development and a case study with real injury data. Results suggest that the effect of job rotation is highly-dependent on the composition of the job pool, and inclusion of jobs with higher risk results in a drastic decrease in the effectiveness of rotation for reducing overall worker risk. The study highlights that in cases when high-risk jobs are present, job redesign of those high risk tasks should be the primary focus of intervention efforts rather than job rotation. Practitioner summary: Job rotation is often used in industry as a method to ‘balance’ physical demands experienced by workers to reduce musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) risk. This article examines the efficacy of reducing MSDs through job rotation using numerical simulation of job rotation strategies and utilising the fatigue failure model of MSD development.

Designing Cyclic Job Rotations to Reduce the Exposure to Ergonomics Risk Factors.

Job rotation is an administrative solution to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders that has become widespread. However, job rotation schedules development is a complex problem. This is due to the multi-factorial character of the disorders and to the productive and organizational constraints of the real working environments. To avoid these problems, this work presents an evolutionary algorithm to generate rotation schedules in which a set of workers rotate cyclically over a small number of jobs while reducing the potential for injury. The algorithm is able to generate rotation schedules that optimize multiple ergonomics criteria by clustering the tasks into rotation groups, selecting the workers for each group, and determining the sequence of rotation of the workers to minimize the effects of fatigue. The algorithm reduces prolonged exposure to risks related to musculoskeletal injuries and simplifies the assignment of workers to different tasks in each rotation. The presented procedure can be an effective tool for the design of job-rotation schedules that prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders while simplifying scheduled changeovers at each rotation and facilitating job monitoring.

Considering workers’ features in manufacturing systems: a new job-rotation scheduling model

The European manufacturing industry is entering a new era in which working populations are ageing. The E.U. had set itself strategy objectives to increase the labour market participation of older workers. However, practical limits arise, and a complete re-thinking of operation management strategies and manufacturing systems design and management is needed. As underlined in several works, older workers have not the same physical capacity as the younger ones. Consequently, they are more subjected to develop work-related musculoskeletal disorders despite younger colleagues. On the other hand, they might present higher skill levels in doing some specific tasks due to their considerable experience. Thus, they can be employed in teaching or training younger or unskilled workers. Starting from these initial considerations, in this paper, we develop a new age-oriented job rotation scheduling model. Both physical capacity and experience level aspects are included in the mathematical model aiming to maximize daily productivity. We quantify physical fatigue by using the energy expenditure rate and the maximum acceptable energy expenditure. Then, the rest allowance concept is evaluated according to the workers’ age and the shift work duration. Variable execution times of each job according to the workers’ experience level and mandatory training activities for unskilled workers are also taken into consideration. Finally, a numerical case derived by a real application is proposed to validate the model and demonstrate benefits we can achieve by applying it.

Examining Driving Forces of SHRM Practices Promoting Organisation Effectiveness

The aim of this study is to find out the factors underlying a SHRM practice which promotes organization effectiveness by studying the implication and existence of SHRM practices in the firm and analyzing the impact of HR strategy on achieving organizational effectiveness in the firm. Both primary and secondary data was used in the process of carrying out the study. In order to collect the primary data, a well-formulated questionnaire was circulated and personal interviews were carried out with the employees in the firm. Secondary data was collected from the firm’s employee manual, HRM reports, and HR journals. All the 30 (sample size) officials from top management and few line managers from the firm (stationed at Tuticorin) are the respondents for the study. Judgmental sampling was used. Percentage and Correlation method was used for the analysis. Forty-three percent employees feel that the CSR activities carried out in the firm has been influenced by the incorporation of SHRM in the management. More attention can be given on carrying out CSR activities effectively. Job rotation and flexible schedules can be carried out to improve the employees’ progress. The management should ensure that the functional managers should work in close co-ordination with the HR managers rather than allowing it to work isolated. This will ensure that, the HR practices are carried out without deviating from the HRM policy of the company

A Game-Theory Method to Design Job Rotation Schedules to Prevent Musculoskeletal Disorders Based on Workers' Preferences and Competencies.

Job rotation is an organizational strategy based on the systematic exchange of workers between jobs in a planned manner according to specific criteria. This study presents the GS-Rot method, a method based on Game Theory, in order to design job rotation schedules by considering not only workers’ job preferences, but also the competencies required for different jobs. With this approach, we promote workers’ active participation in the design of the rotation plan. It also let us deal with restrictions in assigning workers to job positions according to their disabilities (temporal or permanent). The GS-Rot method has been implemented online and applied to a case in a work environment characterized by the presence of a high repetition of movements, which is a significant risk factor associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). A total of 17 workstations and 17 workers were involved in the rotation, four of them with physical/psychological limitations. Feasible job rotation schedules were obtained in a short time (average time 27.4 milliseconds). The results indicate that in the rotations driven by preference priorities, almost all the workers (94.11%) were assigned to one of their top five preferences. Likewise, 48.52% of job positions were assigned to workers in their top five of their competence lists. When jobs were assigned according to competence, 58.82% of workers got an assignment among their top five competence lists. Furthermore, 55.87% of the workers achieved jobs in their top five preferences. In both rotation scenarios, the workers varied performed jobs, and fatigue accumulation was balanced among them. The GS-Rot method achieved feasible and uniform solutions regarding the workers’ exposure to job repetitiveness.

Reviewing the Effects of Integrated Lean Six Sigma Methodologies with Ergonomics Principles in an Industrial Workstation

This work presents the importance of a combination of three approaches: the Lean idea of waste to be eliminated, the Six Sigma concept of variance to be reduced, and Ergonomics approaches that play an important role in maintaining workers’ productivity. Improper workstation layout conditions lead to excessive stress, reduced performance, and physical burdens. This leads to increases in waste indicators such as loss of time, poor space, and low quality levels. A single-minded focus on productivity may neglect health and safety issues and, worse, changes introduced by Lean may lead to additional risks. Muda is a term in Lean referring to any action or process that doesn’t add value within processes, such as physical waste of time or safety violations. Job Rotation as a problem-solving tool refers to the structured interchange of workers between different jobs that are recognised as problem or high-risk jobs. The methodology of this research work proposes an integrated model combining Lean as represented by reducing Muda or waste that does not add value to both process and workers, previewed by means of the DMAIC Six Sigma stages, with job rotation used as an efficient measurement tool to observe jobs that may be identified as overly stressful. A computerised worksheet tool was used to perform a semi-quantitative assessment process for rating a job’s Exertion Index (IE), which can be used to determine the best arrangement of Job Rotation schedules. The work aims were: I) Rearrangement of jobs according to risk level of producing non-well-being to reduce additional psychological stress on workers and to II) reflect this by achieving continuous improvement by eliminating waste, decreasing activities that are Non-Values Add, and thereby creating good quality levels. The findings showed enhancement of current safety and productivity levels from evaluating the Exertion Index and swapping some workstations with unacceptable indices. This offered a reduction in physiological strain, stress, and fatigue on various muscle sets. The case study for this research work was implemented in the General Company for Hydraulic Industries/Damper factory.

Perception on Prolonged Standing Work in Electronic Manufacturing Company

Prolonged standing is one of the common activities in electronic industry as the task requirement. Prolonged standing can cause discomfort on the body of the workers and can lead to injury and occupational disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate standing workers perception on the fatigue and the discomfort on their respective body region for 12 hours working time. The subjects are the 80 workers with a good health condition and at least 6 months tenure. The subject data are collected via questionnaires and Likert scale to define the discomfort, pain, and fatigue. The workers were interviewed regarding their job and perceived fatigue discomfort. The results show the domination of the lower body region with the higher mean at the lower back, legs, and foot ankle. No statistically significant differences were found between the job tenure and body part discomfort pain and fatigue. There is a significant relation between gender and discomfort pain on legs and foot ankle. The result also shows a strong relation between age and the discomfort body parts of thigh and foot ankle. The perceptions of the workers towards discomfort pain and fatigue cause by prolonged standing during performing the task. The results from this study will provide a view for industrial consultants or ergonomist with evidence to support for ergonomic interventions for prolonged standing activity such as job rotation and work-rest schedule.

Biomechanical characteristics in the recovery phase after low back fatigue in passive and active tissues

Previous studies have shown how abnormal low back conditions can increase the risk of low back pain (LBP) by using the flexion-relaxation phenomenon (FRP) to provide insights into the function of the lumbar spine around the full flexion. However, the characteristics of each abnormal condition during the recovery phase remain poorly understood. To expand our knowledge in this area, twelve subjects performed the following three protocols on three different days: (1) passive tissue elongation (PTE), (2) muscle fatigue (MF), and (3) its combination (PTE & MF). The lumbar angle at which FRP of the lumbar muscles is initiated (electromyography (EMG)-off point) and the full lumbar flexion angle were captured before and after the protocols and during the subsequent 40-min recovery period. Results showed no recovery in EMG-off point after PTE until 40 min of rest, but a rapid recovery in 5 min of rest after MF. The combined protocol did not exhibit any boosting effect by an interaction between muscle fatigue and stress-relaxation in passive tissues, but rather the trend closely mirrored the PTE recovery. However, the combined protocol demonstrated gradual recovery after 40-min resting time in both kinematic measures, although the EMG-off points and the full lumbar flexion angle were not fully recovered. These results suggest that the slow recovery of the viscoelastic tissues caused by the prolonged stooping of PTE and PTE&MF may lead to longer spinal instability than low back muscle fatigue. Relevance to industryFor workers performing various manual material handling tasks for up to 8 h daily, knowledge about the recovery phase from any abnormality can help develop an appropriate work-rest and job rotation schedule.

Skill-based Job Rotation Scheduling for Occupational Noise Exposure Control

Skill-based Job Rotation Scheduling for Occupational Noise Exposure Control