Closed Loop Feedback Mechanism Effect Pilot Investigation on Manual Assembly Time and Process Variation

Increasing customer demand for individualized and cost-effective products within shorter production times is reshaping the manufacturing and production environment. Human workers and machines must be able to react to changes with increased flexibility and efficiency. To meet these needs, the tools and products of modern assembly have continually updated and changed, but much work remains to incorporate the natural intelligence of an assembly worker more deeply into future assembly system information flow, both to and from the worker (feedback loop). This work presents a pilot lab evaluation of varied real-time feedback mechanisms for human workers on manual assembly processes to understand better how the method of the information feedback loop to the assembly associate affects their assembly time, variance, and accuracy as well as their perceived acceptance of each mechanism for information feedback. Lego building block models were used as the assembly product to build while wearing a wireless feedback mechanism device. The device incorporated LED lights, vibration, a text screen, and an image screen to provide feedback to the worker. All feedback was provided by an administrator who was able to send commands to the respective feedback methods as needed. Early conclusions in the pilot show a difference in the assembly time depending on both the feedback mechanism used and the complexity of the assembled model. Future work will include expanding the number of participants per test case and increasing the number and types of feedback provided to include non-wearable types such as stationary monitors and sound.