Introduction: Today, effective flow is of great importance in companies in heavier industries to get the maximum capacity out of their resources. Automating their flows can prove extremely important to get the maximum capacity you capable of. RFID is a smart technology for achieving an automated flow built for the future. Importance of logistics is becoming increasingly important for competitive companies that want to create the greatest possible profitability. More developed processes in flow can be a way for companies to move towards becoming more efficient and competitive. RFID can be a way of working as technology to quickly and efficiently simplify processes while ensuring that information is read managed faster.Purpose: The purpose of the study is to create a broader knowledge of RFID as a technology and its opportunity to create value for and to improve the flow and processes of companies that choose to apply this tool within their business.Method: To achieve the objectives of the study and answer the purpose of this thesis project, observations have been made at a case company and interviews with carefully chosen personnel at the case company were made. This has since been critically reviewed against data collected in the theoretical reference framework. Theory has been critically reviewed in most databases and compared with several sources to ensure credibility. Interviews that belong to the qualitative data collection consist of varying interview questions that are available in the study. This is a general approach the authors have used to achieve the purpose of the study.Result: The result of this study was conducted through the qualitative survey conducted through the case company, where it was founded that the case company is manual in its processes and way of working. Based on data and previous research investigated it has been suggested that a more automated approach would be more optimal and create a higher value for a larger company in heavier industry.Conclusion: The study identifies and detects the challenges that manual a flow and processes have in comparison to more automated flow and processes when it comes to eliminate wastes that arise. RFID is a good and useful technology when it comes to reading different amounts of data in a fast and efficient way. / Introduktion: I dag är ett effektivt flöde av största vikt hos företag inom tyngre industrier för att få ut maximal kapacitet ur sina resurser. Att automatisera sina flöden kan visa sig vara ytterst viktigt för att få ut högsta möjliga kapacitet. RFID är en smart teknik och ett bra verktyg för att nå ett automatiserat flöde. Betydelsen av logistiken blir allt mer viktigare för konkurrenskraftiga företag som vill skapa största möjliga lönsamhet. Mer utvecklade processer i flöden kan vara ett sätt för företag att ta i riktning mot att bli mer effektiva och öka konkurrenskraften. RFID tekniken kan vara ett bra arbetssätt för att snabbt och effektivt förenkla processen samtidigt som man säkerställer att information läses av och hanteras snabbare.Syfte: Studiens syfte är att skapa en bredare kunskap kring RFID som teknik och dess möjligheter att skapa värden för och förbättra flöden och processer hos företag som väljer att applicera denna teknik inom sin verksamhet.Metod: För att uppnå studiens mål och besvara syftet i detta examensarbete har observationer ute hos fallföretag samt intervjuer med noggrant utvald personal hos fallföretaget genomförts. Detta har sedan kritiskt granskats mot data som samlats in i den teoretiska referensramen. Teorin har kritiskt granskats i flertalet databaser och jämförts med flera källor för att säkerställa trovärdigheten. Intervjuer som tillhör den kvalitativa datainsamling består av varierande intervjufrågor som finns att ta del av i studien. Detta är ett generellt arbetssätt författarna har använt för att uppnå studiens mål och syfte.Resultat: Resultatet i denna studie togs fram via den kvalitativa undersökningen som utfördes hos fallföretaget där det framkom att man inom fallföretaget är väldigt manuella inom sina processer. Utifrån data och tidigare forskning som undersökts har man tagit fram att ett mer automatiserat arbetssätt skulle vara mer optimalt och värdeskapande för ett större företag inom tyngre industri. Slutsats: Studien identifierar och upptäcker de utmaningar som manuella flöden och processer har i jämförelse med mer automatiserade flöden och processer när det gäller att eliminera slöseri som uppstår. RFID är en bra och användbar teknik när det gäller att läsa olika mängder data på ett snabbt och effektivt sätt.

Background: In South Africa, limited research has focused on the task demands and workers responses associated with forestry silviculture work, particularly pitting and planting. The methods currently in use are manual, but despite our lack of understanding of the existing demands, advances in forestry engineering have resulted in an introduction of semi-mechanised versions of these tasks. This project aimed to compare the task demands of silviculture tasks using the current manual techniques and the more modern, semi-mechanised techniques. Methods: A holistic investigation focused on the worker characteristics of a sample of black male pitters and black female planters from the Kwa-Zulu Natal forestry industry, as well as biomechanical (spinal kinematics and L5/S1 forces), physiological (heart rate, oxygen consumption and energy expenditure) and psychophysical (ratings of perceived exertion and body discomfort) responses associated with manual and semi-mechanised pitting and planting. Results: The pitting task saw significant improvements in the spinal kinematic measures as a result of the increased mechanisation, with eight of the 16 recorded variables decreasing to a lower level of risk classification. Physiologically, the manual task was associated with a mean heart rate of 157 bt.min⁻¹ and absolute energy expenditure of 11.27 kcal.min⁻¹, which were not found to be significantly different to the values of 143 bt.min⁻¹ and 9.8 kcal.min⁻¹ recorded during the semi-mechanised technique. Psychophysical responses indicated that the workers perceived manual pitting to be more physically demanding than the semi-mechanised method. The manual and semi-mechanised planting tasks were, in general, found to be acceptable from a spinal kinematics perspective, with the majority of variables classified as low risk. However, the maximum sagittal angle was reduced by more than 20 degrees as a result of the new equipment. The physiological and psychophysical demands associated with manual planting were found to be within acceptable limits. Conclusion: In terms of pitting, it can tentatively be concluded that the semi-mechanised technique is better than the manual one, based on the biomechanical and psychophysical findings, however physiological demands require further investigation. When considering the planting techniques, the semi-mechanised method showed a slight improvement from the biomechanical perspective, but further physiological and psychophysical investigations are needed.

The purpose of this study is to see to what extent the factors of intelligence, socio-economic status, personality, condition of mental health, and manual work load have influence the grades received by forty-five freshmen at Southwestern Junior College.

Background: Agriculture plays a vital role in the economy of any industrially developing country, including South Africa. In the Eastern Cape of South Africa citrus farming is a significant contributor to the local economy (Johnson et al., 2005). The harvesting phase of citrus farming is performed manually and exposes workers to physical risks, which can lead to the development of musculoskeletal disorders. In particular, the standard harvesting bag comprises of a single shoulder strap and promotes asymmetrical load carriage which results in shoulder and lower back pain complaints. The current study compared the physiological (EMG), perceptual (RPE), usability (PUEU) and productivity effects of two new harvesting bag designs (a hip belt and a backpack bag design) to the standard harvesting bag design. This was performed in a laboratory as well as a field setting. Methods (Laboratory phase): 36 participants (12 males and 24 females) were assigned to one worker group. The “tall ladder worker” group was comprised of only males and the “step ladder worker” and “ground worker” group of females. Each participant was required to simulate a citrus harvesting task while utilizing each of the bag designs on different days. On each day/test session, participants performed three harvesting cycles. Muscle activity was measured throughout the entire testing session and RPE were recorded at the end of each cycle. Results (Laboratory phase): The EMG and RPE results indicate that the backpack design was the most ideal design to reduce asymmetry, while the standard harvesting bag design was the worst. Although not significant, there was greater muscle asymmetry (p=0.109) and a significantly higher perceived exertion when using the standard bag (p=0.0004), in comparison to using the backpack. Methods (Field phase): 17 Xhosa-speaking citrus harvesters (6 females and 11 males) participated in this study. Each harvester worked with one of the three bag designs on a different day. Productivity of each worker was assessed every hour by recording the number of bags filled with fruit and at the end of the shift. A Perceived Usefulness & Ease of Use questionnaire was presented to each participant to obtain feedback on worker acceptance to the new bag designs. Results (Field phase): A general trend in support of the hip belt bag design over the other two bag designs were found, even within the different worker demographic groups (age, sex and worker experience). The workers perceived less exertion (7.98 ± 1.86) and were more productive (9.90 ± 2.11 bags/hour) when using the hip belt design; they also found this bag the most useful (1.02 ± 0.09) and easy to use (1.07 ± 0.25). In contrast, the backpack bag design had significantly poorer responses when compared to the other two bag designs and this was evident in all the dependent variables assessed (RPE, productivity and PUEU). Conclusion: The results from the laboratory phase supported the expectation that the backpack bag design reduces asymmetry and hence, is more suitable than the standard harvesting bag. However, results from the field show that the hip belt bag design was the most preferred and the backpack was the least preferred. Bao & Shahnavaz (1989) highlight the need for ergonomics researcher to convey laboratory findings into the field context. However, as shown by the current study, there are numerous challenges associated with field work, making it difficult for laboratory findings to be successfully conveyed to the field. Limitations and Recommendations: For the laboratory phase of the project, no biomechanical and cardiovascular responses were assessed. However, for a holistic approach, these variables should be considered in future studies. Due to high variability from one harvesting cycle to another, more than three harvesting cycles should also be performed to accurately replicate the harvesting process as done in the field over extended durations of time. For the field phase, data should be collected from more than one citrus farm and thus a larger sample size could be obtained. This would improve the validity of the study. In addition to this, data should be collected for a full working day, especially if environmental conditions are not a hindrance, as well as for a whole season, since workloads vary, depending on the time of the harvesting season. / Name on Graduation Programme: Bassey-Duke, Elizabeth Missan

Studien syftar till att öka förståelsen för de utmaningar som läkemedelstillverkare står inför när manuellt arbete i befintliga tillverkningsprocesser ska förbättras. För att uppnå syftet utfördes en fallstudie vid ett av AstraZenecas produktionsavsnitt, med målet att undersöka hur manuellt arbete konkret kan och bör förbättras samt identifiera de faktorer som begränsar förbättringsarbetet. Studien identifierade både risker och potentiella förbättringsområden. För att förebygga risker presenterade studien följande rekommendationer: gå från att agera reaktivt till att agera proaktivt, riskbedöm alla aktiviteter och arbetsmoment, se över arbetsställningar och arbetsrörelser samt visualisera detta, inför specifika ergonomirutiner, utbilda personalen i grundläggande ergonomi och arbetsteknik, kompetensutveckla personalstyrkan, anställ ergonom internt, implementera studiens designförslag och utred möjligheten att förändra arbetsstationens utformning ytterligare. Studiens resultat indikerar att det är svårt att förändra arbetsstationernas utformning, således rekommenderas främst insatser på organisations- och individnivå. Faktorer som särskilt hindrade förbättringsarbetet kopplades till rådande regelverk, men fabrikens nuvarande förutsättningar påverkade också. Dessa hinder medförde att förvaltning av befintlig produktion prioriterades över faktisk förbättring. Studien bekräftade således att läkemedelstillverkare tenderar att ha en restriktiv syn på förändring. Föråldrade anläggningar och en ergonomisk eftersatt produktionsmiljö identifierades som de främsta konsekvenserna av detta synsätt. Slutsatsen av denna studie är att manuellt arbete i den studerade processen kan behöva förbättras och att förbättringsarbete generellt är utmanade. De framtagna rekommendationerna har anpassats efter en produktionsmiljö där teknik och designförändringar är svåra att genomföra. För att råda bukt på industrins restriktiva syn på förändring kan även en attitydförändring avseende förbättring av befintlig produktion krävas. / The purpose of this study is to enhance knowledge about the challenges pharmaceutical manufacturers face when trying to optimize manual work in manufacturing processes. To examine this, a case study of a production section at AstraZeneca was conducted. As part of the study, the factors that limit the improvement of manual work were identified, as well as in which ways work could and should be improved. The study identified both ergonomic hazards and potential areas for improvement. To prevent risks, the study presented the following recommendations: React proactively instead of reactively, ensure all activities and work steps are risk-adjusted, review work postures and movements, introduce routines with a focus on ergonomic inspectors, training staff in basic ergonomics and work techniques, develop the skills of the workforce, hire an ergonomist internally, implement the new design proposal and try to radically change workstation design. Study results indicated that changing the workstation layout and design was challenging. In this regard, the recommendations primarily address initiatives at the individual and organizational levels. Regulatory restrictions, as well as prevailing conditions in the factory, limit improvement. Additionally, the study confirms pharmaceutical manufacturers' conservative approach to change, identifying outdated facilities and a neglected ergonomic environment as primary reasons for their inaction. In conclusion, manual work in the studied process can be improved; however, it is challenging to do so. This is why the recommendations have been adjusted to fit a production environment where technology and design changes are difficult to implement. In other words, they are tailored to suit the needs of regulated industries. Furthermore, it may be necessary to overhaul the industry's attitude toward improving existing production as well.