Manufacturing assembly serial and cells layouts impact on rest breaks and workers' health

Abstract

Rest breaks are necessary for workers to avoid and/or recover from overall fatigue and to preserve their health. The type of assembly layout, either in lines or in cells, is a determining factor for organizing work at manufacturing companies, and it could also influence workers' work break and microbreak times. This study aimed at evaluating rest breaks in serial and cell assembly layout configurations as well as the layout's influence on workers' health. One hundred and twenty workers from a large automobile industry, divided into two groups (series and cells), were measured for their cycle-times and break times through biomechanical exposure analysis and questionnaires to evaluate the behaviors, physical, cognitive, and mental health. The Kolmogorov-Smimov test was used to verify the distribution of the data with a significance level of p < 0.05. The cell assembly-line layouts had the greatest cycle-time and break time, and the workers had a higher level of physical activity (p < 0.05). The serial assembly-line layouts did not generate major occupational risk, need for rest, reduced capacity for work, or higher levels of stress for the workers. The production layouts differed in relation to the cycle-times for just-in-time manufacturing, but there was no difference in relation to the production demands and to the workers' health.Relevance to industry: When taken at appropriate times, rest breaks in the workplace can improve workers' overall health and productive performance, which reduces healthcare costs and improves industrial productivity.