✍ Scribed by Kitty Hong; Romesh Nagarajah; Pio Iovenitti; Michelle Dunn
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Traditional approaches to defect reduction in manufacturing environments rely heavily on the introduction of technology‐based detection techniques that require significant investments in equipment and technical skills. In this article, the authors outline a novel, alternative approach that utilizes the largely untapped abilities of assembly‐line operators. Targeting zero‐defect manufacturing, the SEISMIC (stabilize, evaluate, identify, standardize, monitor, implement, and control) methodology developed herein is a sociotechnical‐based system built on the decentralization of technical knowledge and the transfer of responsibility for product quality from technical staff to manual operators. Along with defect reduction, important secondary goals of the SEISMIC methodology are improved operator performance and job satisfaction. The SEISMIC methodology provides a quantitative approach for classifying assembly environments and determining their required skill sets. Effective methods for transferring the identified skills throughout the production team are also provided. A pilot application of the protocol in an automotive assembly environment has achieved promising results in the target areas of defect reduction and operator performance. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 17: 137–148, 2007.
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