Macroergomonics’ contribution to the effectiveness of collaborative supply chains

Abstract

This article presents a conceptual model that combines Macroergonomics and Supply chain. The authors combine their expertise on these individual topics, building on their previous research. The argument of the paper is that human factors are key to achieve effective supplier-customer collaboration. A conceptual model is presented, its elements and their interactions are explained. The Content-Context-Process is applied as a departing point to this model. Macroergonomics aspects considered are: a systemic approach, participatory ergonomics, formation of ergonomics teams and evaluation of ergonomics projects. The expected outcomes are: (a) improvement of production and productivity levels, (b) improvement of the product quality, (c) Reduction of absenteeism, (d) Improvement in the quality of work life (from the employees’ perspective), and (e) increase in the employees’ contribution rate of ideas for improvement. A case study was carried out at a vitroplant production organisation incorporating environmental aspects to obtain sustainable benefits.