Title: Analysis of human work decisions in an aluminium smelter

Authors: Mark P. Taylor, Albert Mulder, Michael J. Hautus, John J.J. Chen, Marco Stam

Addresses: University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. ' Aluminium Delfzijl B.V., Oosterhorn 20-22, 9936 HD Farmsum, The Netherlands. ' University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. ' University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. ' Aluminium Delfzijl B.V., Oosterhorn 20-22, 9936 HD Farmsum, The Netherlands

Abstract: Automation is often considered a dominant influence in the process of making most products. However a number of investigators have concluded that decisions of staff are actually a key influence on quality and safety of production plants. In this study, decisions of staff during repetitive, manual or semi-automated operations in a production plant have been observed over years to understand the decisions and their impact on efficiency and quality. A range of operations were observed in an aluminium smelter including replacement of anodes. Many key decisions lay embedded behind the operating procedures themselves and these |implicit| decisions and relationships to design of the operating system are examined with respect to the removal of carbon dust from the cell electrolyte. A hypothesis about graduated scales of sensory information compared to sensory information presented in a binary way is developed. The importance of feedback during and after the task is also noted.

Keywords: human work decisions; production environments; decision making; recognition primed decisions; RPD; feature matching; repetitive production operations; embedded decisions; operating procedures; graduated scales; binary scales; sensory information; aluminium smelting; production technology; employee decisions; efficiency; quality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJDSRM.2010.034671

International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management, 2010 Vol.2 No.1/2, pp.46 - 65

Published online: 14 Aug 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article