• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.6-9
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• 2015

The objective of manufacturing knowledge sharing platform is to convert the production experience like a worker's know-how into quantitative values, to construct database of the process technologies and to share the technologies systematically via web portal service. In addition, the knowledge sharing platform contains the total production processes of automobile and mobile products such as information of experts, facilities, and cutting-edge R&D outputs. Automobile, telecommunication mobile, and semiconductors account for a large amount of Korea's export industry rate. These industries need production technology which is a result of converting worker's know-how and R&D. Manufacturing knowledge portal aims to enable transforming production experience such as worker's know-how into standardized form for constructing database and sharing technologies systematically. Manufacturing knowledge portal can contribute to small and mid-sized manufacturing companies with further improvements.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.144-153
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• 1991

This study was conducted to evaluate worker exposure to airborne asbestos fibers by industry, and to evaluate polarized-light microscopy for determining airborne asbestos fibers. A total of 11 plants including asbestos textile, brake-lining manufacturing, slate manufacturing, and automobile maintenance shops were investigated. Rsults of the study are summarized as follows. 1. Worker exposure levels to airborne asbestos fibers were the highest in asbestos textile industry, followed by brake-lining manufacturing, slate manufacturing, and automobile maintenance shops, in order. In asbestos textile industry, large variation of asbestos levels was found by plants. The worst plant indicated airborne fiber concentrations in excess of 10 fibers/cc, however, the best plant showed concentrations within 0.50 fibers/cc. 2. Characterization of airborne fibers by industry indicated that fibers from asbestos textile industry were the longest with the largest aspect ratio. Fibers from automobile maintenance shops were the shortest with the smallest aspect ratio. Based on characteristics of fibers and the highest levels of concentrations, it is concluded that workers in the asbestos textile industry are exposed to the highest risk of producing asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. 3. Result s obtained using polarized-light microscopy were $43.7{\pm}12.3%$ of the results obtained using phase contrast microscopy. This may be resulted from the worse resolution of polarized-light microscopy than that of phase contrast microscopy. Based on the results, it is recommended that polarized-light microscopy be used for mainly bulk sample analyses and further study be performed to improve the method for determining airborne samples. However, polarized-light microscopy can be used for determining thick fibers.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.231-244
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• 2017

Objective: This study aims to understand the occupational injury characteristics of the workers in the motor vehicle parts (automobile parts) manufacturing industry and to present basic guidelines on accident prevention through accident analysis. Background: There occur many occupational injuries in the motor vehicle parts manufacturing industry. But there were few researches for the occupational injuries of the workers in the motor vehicle parts manufacturing industry. Method: This study analyzed the data of occupational injuries of 1,609 workers in the motor vehicle parts manufacturing industry in 2015. The accident characteristics were analyzed by dividing them into worker related factors and accident related factors. Results: Among the occupational injuries of the workers in the motor vehicle parts manufacturing industry, 80.6% of the victims were males, 64.0% were older than 40. 57.8% of the victims were employed by the companies with less than 50 workers. In addition, there was a difference in accident characteristics according to age, work experience, employment type, events or exposures, accident time of the day, agents, natures of injuries and illnesses, injured organs and injured body part. Conclusion: It is important to prevent equipment/machinery accidents. For this purpose, more efforts should be made to establish safety measures faithful to the basics of safety devices and safety work procedures. It is also suggested that prevention of disasters should be intensively carried out for workplaces with less than 50 employees and middle-aged and elderly people. Application: The result can be used to present guidelines for preventative measures for the workers in the motor vehicle parts manufacturing industry including safety education/training.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.107-114
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• 2016

The efficiency of the purchasing and procurement logistics is important in automotive industry. The rationalization of production system is directly impact on productivity and quality. For this reason importance of logistics is high. Despite we are continuously making effort, our country are still below the level than developed country on logistics efficiency. Rising labor costs is an important factor in increasing logistics costs. So workforce reduction in logistics department is a large part. We deal with A-company inbound logistics, especially procurement logistics in automotive logistics as research object. So in this study we do research on work load balance about workers. We do research on 1,475 kinds of components in procurement process. We applied work load balance algorithm on chassis, final, sequence, trim warehouses workers. According to number of workers and average M/H, algorithm is applied in two ways. After applied work load balance algorithm we reduced numbers of workers from 28 to 20 and improved worker load balance rate from 47.1% to 93.7%.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.129-137
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• 2024

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the risk factors focusing on the neck and lower back between general workers (GW) and mild intellectual disability workers (MIDW) in the automobile manufacturing industry. Methods: A total of 32 participants were required for this study design to achieve 80% power, 0.9 effect size, and an alpha level of 0.05. Each group consisted of 16 subjects, including GW and MIDW. Pain levels in the neck and lower back were measured for all participants using the visual analog scale (VAS). A dual digital inclinometer was used to measure the range of motion (ROM) in the neck and lower back three times, and the average was used for analysis. The independent t-test was used to compare between the wo groups. Cohen's d effect analysis was employed to determine the effect size. The significant level was set at 0.05. Results: In the MIDW, neck pain was significantly higher, and left cervical flexion was significantly decreased compared with the GW. There was no significant difference in lower back pain between the MIDW and GW. However, both lumbar flexion and extension, as well as lateral flexion, were significantly reduced in the MIDW compared with the GW. Conclusion: This study reveals that MIDW working in the automobile manufacturing industry have a greater risk of neck pain, limitation in left cervical flexion, and overall restriction in the ROM of the lower back compared with GW.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.100-106
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• 2013

According to the Statistics Korea, in 2011, people over the age of 65 years old accounted for 11.8% of Korea's population. This number is expected to rise to 15.0% by 2019, making Korea an "aged society". As age increases, physical ability degrades to the point that the workload must be adjusted limitations. However, workloads are given regardless of workers' ages or abilities. In addition, a decline in work efficiency due to aging also increases the risk of work-related injuries. Furthermore, the cases of stress related diseases along with musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs) rise as main factors of industrial disasters and excessive job stress gives negative influence not only on mental health but also on physical health so that job stress becomes a hot issue as a main cause of work ability falloff and turnover. The purpose of this research is to examine how the sociodemographic characteristics, MSDs symptoms and musculoskeletal workload of workers in the manufacturing industry of automobile parts influence work ability and job stress. As a result of the research, job ability showed significant differences statistically according to age, working year, sex, marital status and musculoskeletal workload and job stress showed significant differences statistically according to age, working year, marital status and musculoskeletal workload. In addition, it showed that as the worker's job ability decreases, job stress increases.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.24-27
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• 2006

International standards claim the best possible reliability in industrial manufacturing processes. This is also essential for the application with manual applicators. The application of adhesives with manual applicators is one of the most frequently used application techniques. The range of application reaches from the building of prototypes in the automobile industry over the use in single or small-batch manufacturing up to applications in crafts enterprises. Conventional manual applicators for adhesives and sealants don't fulfill the demands in international standards for the best possible reliability. Only the worker is able to control the quality and the quantity of the bond. A velocity-controlled manual applicator solves these restrictions. Special sensors and micro controllers calculate the flow-rate, the velocity and the location of the manual applicator. This leads to stable and repeatable application processes which are claimed in international standards. The location of the bond can be compared with the nominal value, so that it is possible to check the quality of the bond during application. Furthermore there is the potential to document the data of the manufacturing process.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.109-116
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• 2019

PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of an active tailored exercise program on pain and the Oswestry disability index (ODI) among workers with musculoskeletal symptoms of the lower back in an automobile parts manufacturing company. METHODS: Twenty-two workers with musculoskeletal symptoms of the lower back were included in the study. The experimental group was composed of 15 workers and a control group of seven workers. The experimental group was provided an active tailored exercise program and education on the risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders. The control group was only provided ergonomic education. The exercise program, which consisted of movement pattern correction, muscle stretching and strengthening, and postural correction exercises, was applied twice a week for two months for one hour a day. Pain, which was determined using a visual analogue scale (VAS), and the ODI were measured before and after exercise. RESULTS: After applying the exercise program for two months, the VAS and ODI of the experimental group were significantly lower than those of the control group (p<.05). In the experimental group, the VAS decreased significantly after one month (p<0.05), and the ODI decreased significantly after two months (p<.05). CONCLUSION: Because active tailored exercise programs are effective in improving the pain and disability indices, it is necessary to actively implement such programs among manufacturing workers with musculoskeletal symptoms of the lower back.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.48-54
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• 2021

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of exercise programs according to various music tempo on pain, posture, and function of automobile parts manufacturing workers. Design: Two-group pretest-posttest design. Methods: This study was an exercise program tailored to the prevention and treatment of musculoskeletal diseases were performed for a total of 4 weeks and 3 times a week for 60 minutes. The exercise program consisted of customized exercises according to the characteristics of the subject's musculoskeletal system. The subject provided music during the exercise program, and the group who applied the fast tempo music listened to the music of 120~140 bpm, and the group who applied the slow tempo music listened to the music of the low tempo of 60~80 bpm. Results: Significant differences were found in pain and physical function before and after the fast tempo music group and the slow tempo music group (p<0.01). However, there was a significant difference in posture characteristics only in the fast tempo music group (p<0.01). In terms of pain, physical function, and posture characteristics, the fast tempo music group showed significant improvement compared to the slow music tempo group (p<0.05). Conclusions: A customized exercise program using fast-tempo music and slow-tempo music to workers in the automobile parts manufacturing industry, significant differences in pain, physical function, and posture characteristics applied with fast-tempo music were found. In the future, applying an exercise program with a fast tempo is expected to help improve musculoskeletal disorders.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.125-133
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• 2016

Objective: The aim of this study is to figure out the level of Functional Movement Screen (FMS) of 122 automobile manufacturing workers and to set the FMS score for predicting risk of musculoskeletal disorders. Background: Although today's industrial sites have been becoming automated rapidly, the risks of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) have been on the rise. In the case of WMSDs, it is important to control WMSDs at the early stage. Early detection of WMSDs is very important for the successful treatment. However, the medical examination puts a great financial burden on most workers. To reduce their burden, there is one test to check the musculoskeletal functional condition and to predict the risk of injury, which is called FMS. Method: This research tested the FMS score of 122 workers at a motor company, and also conducted a questionnaire survey of individual characteristics and job characteristics. Results: For the 122 subjects, the average score of FMS is $14.63{\pm}2.27$. There is a negative correlation between FMS and their ages and BMI (p <0.05). FMS is higher when exercising regularly (p <0.05). The FMS scores of musculoskeletal disorder patients are lower than those of normal workers (p <0.05). While it is more likely to become a musculoskeletal disorder patient when FMS score is less than 14, it is more likely to become a normal worker when FMS score is more than or equal to 14. Conclusion: According to the result of FMS test, there is a score difference between individuals with musculoskeletal disorders and normal ones. FMS scores can also predict and identify workers with risk of the musculoskeletal disorders. Application: According to this study, FMS can be expected to have a positive effect on the prevention of WMSDs in worksites.