People at Work: Modelling Human Performance in Shop Floor for Process Improvement in Manufacturing Enterprises

Predicting actual human performance in manufacturing plants is difficult and not a straightforward task. This motivates further investigation of ways of modelling, measuring and predicting behaviours of people working in production systems. People can be modelled in terms of their competences in relation to the roles they play in realising enterprise activities. This research introduces a combined application of Enterprise Modelling (EM) and Simulation Modelling (SM) to investigate and understand how people systems can be matched to process-oriented roles in production situations. EM facilitates the development of static models of structural aspects of people system from both top-down and bottom-up points of view. It can also provide organisational models in terms of roles and role relationships. Developed versions of EMs can also explicitly define key attributes of current and possible future ‘work contexts in which productions systems’ are used. In this way any given EM can underpin the creation of multiple SMs that characterise important structural and dynamic aspects of production systems (in terms of human configuration, performance, flexibility, etc), and production throughput within specific contexts of use. The research methods are illustrated via the use of case studies in which roles that people play in the production systems of an international company were studied and modelled. The findings of related SM experiments have generated useful insights for industrialist and academics.