EFFECTS OF PNEUMATIC SCREWDRIVERS AND WORKSTATIONS ON INEXPERIENCED AND EXPERIENCED OPERATOR PERFORMANCE

This study investigated the effects of pneumatic screwdriver character istics and workpiece orientation on operator productivity. Operators u sed four pneumatic screwdrivers (two pistol and two straight grip) rep resenting two different clutch types (positive and automatic air shut- off). The two grip types represented both fast (1700 RPM) and slow (10 00 RPM) motor speeds. The pneumatic screwdrivers were used at each of three different workstations representing different workpiece orientat ions (horizontal workpiece at a fixed height, horizontal workpiece wit h an adjustable height, and angled workpiece with adjustable height). In the first phase of the study, 18 university students (inexperienced operators) participated in a simulated furniture assembly operation. In the second phase, 16 experienced employees of a furniture manufactu ring facility participated in an actual furniture assembly operation. The results of the study indicate that operators took longer to comple te the required tasks and made more errors when the straight grip scre wdrivers were used than when the pistol grip screwdrivers were used. T hese differences were more pronounced at the end of the task than at t he beginning of the task. No strong performance differences were found among the three different workstations used. Relevance to industry Di fferent types of pneumatic screwdrivers are often used in industry and manufacturing for assembly operations. Different types of workstation s are used for these operations, as well. Under these conditions, both inexperienced and experienced operators are exposed to these variable conditions. This research addressed the performance impacts of these variables and provided results important to training, operation and ge nder-tool appropriateness for tasks similar to those performed herein.