Are Productivity and Quality in Electronics Manufacturing Industry Affected by Human Factors? A Quantitative Analysis Using Statistical Tools

Productivity and quality in electronic manufacturing companies with a high level of automation are key performance indicators; customer complaints represent the most tangible examples that affect those indicators as well as recurring events. The aim of this chapter is to investigate if human factors have an incidence in the loss of productivity and quality in manufacturing companies. To achieve this, a case study was considered using different approaches, both for quantitative and qualitative analysis. For the first, statistical tools were applied, and for the later, cognitive ergonomics evaluations were performed. Productivity and quality historical data from the production department were collected and evaluated statistically, and interviews were conducted with related workers for assessing their suitability for the job assigned. Results showed that psychological factors (lack of compliance with rules/not following procedures) and socio-technical factors (inadequate and/or incomplete skills development) combined with ergonomically deficient process design are among the most important human and technical factors affecting customer’s satisfaction and key performance indicators of manufacturing companies.