Lab+10

__**Tutorial 10 Wiki Questions:**__


 * Write three paragraphs to define the term 'ergonomics'. (3 paragraphs)**

Ergonomics is the study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body, its movements, and its cognitive abilities. Proper ergonomic design is needed in order to prevent repetitive strain injuries which can lead to long-term disability if left untreated. Ergonomics designers use various fields in science to help them in their design process to make their products stand out.

Ergonomics is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system. It wants to optimize human well-being and overall system performance. The term ergonomics in terms of a workplace is finding ways to improve the productivity of employees while reducing fatigue and discomfort.

There were many scenarios described in the video that were related to the ergonomics of products. The video talks about the ergonomics of an office room. The ergonomics of design in the office room included products such as desk, chair, computer screen, lighting, keyboard, etc… All of which were designed with the idea of ergonomics in mind, making sure that they were all comfortable and simple to use. The video compared 2 employees working in a office space, one had ergonomically-fit designs while the other didn’t. The end results were that the employee without the ergonomic designs was struggling to cope with the office and its surroundings.


 * What is the 'Gilbreth system of motion analysis' (1 paragraph)**

Frank Gilbreth analyzed brick layers who were working on buildings and studied their motions and movements. He observed that while workers were layering bricks, they were unnecessarily stooping, walking and reaching for the bricks which resulted in wasted motions that could easily be prevented to increase productivity and reduce fatigue. Gilbreth then designed a patented product, a non-stooping scaffolding platform that can reduce the bricklayers’ unnecessary actions. The scaffolding reduced the amount of motion needed for bricklaying from 18 to 5, therefore increased the overall productivity and efficiency of the task.


 * Who was Henry Ford influenced by the efficiency expert, Frederick Taylor? (2 paragraphs)**

Henry Ford was the man who first created and introduced assembly lines in car productions. He was influenced by the efficiency expert, Fredrick Taylor. Ford wanted to change the way cars were build because the old method was rather slow. Therefore he hired Frederick Taylor to come in to his factories and examine why the workers were unable to speed up the productions of cars. Taylor studied the actions of the employees and introduced the Taylorism method (also known as the assembly line method) where people were responsible for working at different stations. This method allowed production method to be faster and cheaper because they don’t have to hire skilled specialists anymore.

Later on, Ford added his own twist to the work of Taylor by adding his own conveyor belt and assembly line. This method became the key to the mass production of cars because the conveyer belt moved along and workers had to place parts together at the rate that it moves. Ford’s factory gained instant efficiency boost. However, there are drawbacks with this approach which Ford tried to eliminate by increasing the pay of the workers.


 * What are the four basic principles of McDonaldization? (List of 4)**


 * **Efficiency** – the best method for accomplishing a certain task
 * **Predictability** – standardization and uniform service
 * **Calculability** – the objective should be quantifiable rather than subjective
 * **non-human technology/control** – standardized and uniformed employees