Abstract
This chapter discusses the ergonomics approach used to develop the digital factory solution for the European-funded DiFac project (IST-5-035079). The main aim of DiFac was to develop an innovative solution for small-to-medium enterprises which, based on a foundation of good human factors, would support their activities in the digital factory. Ergonomics focuses on understanding people and their capabilities to improve their interaction with hardware, software, other people, and their environments. The ergonomics approach of participatory design was applied to the iterative development of the technologies. This chapter describes this approach and the ergonomic methods selected to assess the various iterations of the DiFac technologies. A case study is provided illustrating the specific improvements to an emergency training simulator arising from the ergonomics approach. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the importance of these methods, and their associated difficulties, for this type of project and a summary of recommendations.
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© 2011 Springer-Verlag London Limited
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Lawson, G., D’Cruz, M. (2011). Ergonomics Methods and the Digital Factory. In: Canetta, L., Redaelli, C., Flores, M. (eds) Digital Factory for Human-oriented Production Systems. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-172-1_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-172-1_2
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