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The impact of absenteeism on the quality of assembly line production: The importance of a specialization requirement
Author(s) -
Mateo Ricardo
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
human factors and ergonomics in manufacturing and service industries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.408
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1520-6564
pISSN - 1090-8471
DOI - 10.1002/hfm.20095
Subject(s) - absenteeism , assembly line , quality (philosophy) , affect (linguistics) , production (economics) , work (physics) , operations management , business , psychology , economics , engineering , microeconomics , social psychology , communication , epistemology , mechanical engineering , philosophy
Absenteeism among manual workers is without doubt one of the most significant factors that affect the functioning of assembly lines. It is a widely held view that high levels of absenteeism have negative repercussions on the quality and costs of operations. According to the scientific theory of work, workers who temporarily stand in for their absent colleagues affect production quality levels because of a lack of work specialization and experience. However, new and sophisticated automation can eliminate the effect of absenteeism on assembly line production. This article gathered more than 960,000 products produced by different levels of absenteeism. The effects of absenteeism on the quality of products in assembly lines over the course of one year were analyzed. In contrast to established thinking, the empirical evidence presented here confirms that absenteeism does not always produce problems in the quality of products. This evidence can be explained by the need for specialization among manual workers has been reduced by the invention of more sophisticated and specialized machinery. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.