A simulation-based approach for time allowances assessment during production system design with consideration of worker’s fatigue, learning and reliability

Abstract Health and safety of human operators in production systems is tightly linked to overall work system design. Well-designed production systems must grant adequate allowances to operators, to cope with the variability of predictable situations, whether normal or not. In this article, time allowances concept is presented from two standpoints: industrial engineering and occupational risk prevention field. This is followed by an introduction of a new time allowances indicator. Combined with an agent-based simulation model, this indicator can be used to assess time allowances in a given work organization during its design process. The proposed model integrates worker’s fatigue, learning and reliability as relevant human factors. To uphold the article proposal, three production system configurations are investigated: a classical production line designed based on Ford work paradigm, a cellular configuration with autonomous breaks, inspired from Volvo Uddevalla plant and finally, a hybrid configuration, cellular with planned breaks. The simulations showed that cellular configuration with autonomous breaks grants to operators the time allowances they need to carry out their work activity safely and efficiently.