When the operations director at JARP Industries signed up for a lean operations course at UW-Madison, he wasn’t expecting the impact it would deliver. Learn how the course shaped plant manufacturing practices and updated workflow, output and efficiency.
Month: March 2017
Smartphone technology could combat workplace injuries
Manufacturing industries rely on the efforts of factory employees who work daily to make, package, prepare and deliver the products we find on our shelves. That’s a lot of physical effort, and the strain can lead to various injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome or tendonitis in the wrists, arms and shoulders. Risk of injury is hard on workers, and can create costs to employers for workers’ compensation, lost time and reduced productivity.
“We want to solve these problems before people get hurt,” says Rob Radwin, a University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of industrial systems engineering. Radwin has been studying this problem for more than two decades, and he may be able to harness relatively simple technological tools such as smartphones to create a solution that is easy, efficient and economically viable.