An ergonomically designed workstation for the lasting department of Xander Shoe manufacturing company

• Main Author: Santos, Roselle
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1998
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/1649
• Institution: De La Salle University

Small to medium sized shoe companies have a significant contribution in terms of production to the industry. Xander Shoe, a typical medium-sized shoe manufacturing company, was used as subject of study in improving the workstation design of one of its departments. The lasting department, which performs the crucial task in shoemaking, was investigated to have workstations that do not conform to the requirements of the workers in terms of comfortability. An improved design of the workstation would reduce the pain currently experienced by the workers. Implementing the improved design would result to a higher productivity since the problem on discomfort with regards to body position and repetitive tasks are addressed. Complaints on body pain are reduced when the proposed workstation was used. Furthermore, an increase of 15.80% in productivity has been achieved upon using the proposed workstation. The proposed workstation has dimensions that conforms from the 5th up to 95th percentile of the male Filipino manufacturing workers since most of the workers at the lasting department are male. The proposed chair has a contoured cushion preventing the workers from slipping from the chair. A lumbar rest is provided to support the lower back, thus, reducing fatigue due to long period of sitting. A five-prong base is provided to make the chair steady while tasks are being performed. For the table, an adjustable inclined middle portion is provided for particular tasks such as tracing and gluing of insole and outsole. This reduces pain due to wrist and bending while using the table. A lighting fixture is included in the features of the table, thus, preventing glare that contributes to neck and trunk bending. An improved footrest is placed at the proposed table to support the legs and feet. In order to address the discomfort while the leather is being molded in the shoe pattern, a stand is provided. The stand has an inclined tip where a shoe pattern with a hole is inserted. The stand has reduced pain by 48.90% on wrist due to twisting and bending. The materials used in the proposed workstation are relatively durable as compared to the present workstation's materials. A savings of 87.5% is achieved for a long-term maintenance of the chair since the present chair requires a replacement every 3 months while the proposed chair only requires a replacement every 24 months. The proposed table saves 25% on maintenance cost since it is replaced every 2 years while the present table only lasts for one and one-half year.