A Study on Operator Allocation in Consideration of Fatigue in Cell Manufacturing System

In a labor-intensive cell production system, it is important to train operators effectively because their skills are essential for productivity. Our previous study proposed a method to classify these skills according to a “skill index” based on the time required for each task and the allocated operators based on this method. However, in actual workplaces, it is assumed that operators accumulate fatigue due to the repetition of work, which affects the assembly time. In this study, we propose an operator allocation method that considers the effect of fatigue and verify its effectiveness compared with the results of the previous study by computer experiments. In addition, an assembly experiment with a toy is conducted based on the operator allocation method derived from the computer experiments. The experimental results show that the proposed method is effective and indicate that appropriate parameter setting is crucial when applying it in real-world scenarios.