The Quantitative Analysis of Workers’ Stress Due to Working Environment in the Production System of the Automobile Part Manufacturing Industry

Abstract

Production now requires the management of production processes and operations on the basis of customers' demand to ensure the best combination of technology and humans in the system. The role of the humans in the production process is very significant for the production and quality of the product. The production system depends upon technology and human factors and is highly influenced by the working conditions of the workers, that is, work load, physical, dealings, job timings and so forth. In the current global economy, minimizing production costs is a serious priority for the industries. However, the costs of bad working conditions increase the intensity of the average stress among employees to cause extra costs by affecting the workers' efficiency and products' quality, which is invisible in the eyes of decision makers. This research identifies the cost of workers' stress by developing a linkage between the economic benefits of the firms and the social upgrading of the workers. A numerical example of a production based system is performed to represent the real-time application of the proposed model. A sensitivity analysis is also carried out to quantify the impact of average stress among workers on the production system. Sequential quadratic programming is used to optimize the given nonlinear model for production planning. The optimal results influence ergonomics awareness and the relationship with the safety culture among managers in a firm. It is concluded that efficient and effective production cannot be possible without considering the working conditions of humans in the firm. Managerial insights are also generated from the implications of the results and sensitivity analysis.