Honda of America took home the Ergo Cup for the best workplace ergonomics solution while Ford earned an Ergo Cup for training and education at the annual Applied Ergonomics Conference in Dallas this week. Honda’s award is for the company’s link arm adjustment jig and marks the second year in a row Honda has earned the award.
According to Honda team members Kevin Porter, Chuck Marks, Garry Hammons, and Mark Smith, the jig was used to reduce tool weight, assembly time pressures, and hand clearance in Honda’s assembly operations at the company’s Marysville, Ohio, automotive plant. The jig, fabricated in-house with off-the-shelf materials, cost around $200 to build and returned an estimated one-million dollars in injury avoidance and scrap reduction.
Ford Motor Company won the training and education Ergo Cup for its Global Study Process Allocation System, a management tool used to define the correct assembly sequence of a given product.
The Ergo Cup competition recognizes innovative solutions in workplace ergonomics and is held annually in conjunction with the Applied Ergo Conference.
Source: Institute of Industrial Engineers