Planning software bears “approved by MTM ASSOCIATION” seal of quality
The “approved by MTM ASSOCIATION” seal of approval will in future identify tested software and consulting products in the MTM environment. The MTM ASSOCIATION e. V., which awards this seal of approval on the basis of defined criteria, is thus making an important contribution to the standardized and correct dissemination of MTM worldwide. One of the first products “approved by MTM ASSOCIATION” is the ema Work Designer of imk automotive GmbH, a scientifically based software for virtual workplace design and process planning of industrial production sequences by means of 3D simulation.
The focus of the planning software is on manual and partially automated activities, which are realistically represented by digital human models. The result is the 3D visualization of processes as well as the analysis and evaluation of time and ergonomics, for example by means of the process building block system MTM-UAS® and the ergonomics evaluation tool EAWS®.
A new feature of ema Work Designer is the automated generation of MTM HWD® process descriptions based on the 3D simulation created. The new functionality was also the focus of the presentation by Prof. Dr. Lars Fritzsche, imk automotive GmbH (e-mail: lars.fritzsche@imk-ic.com ), at MTM SUMMIT 2021, when the results of the HWD® development project were officially handed over to the MTM ASSOCIATION e. V. (see also the article “MTM-HWD marks the start of a new era in work design”).
Integrated assessment of time and ergonomics
The advantages of MTM-HWD® are the integrated evaluation of time and ergonomics in only one process building block system as well as the easily understandable process modeling based on pictograms. The process description is automatically derived from the 3D simulation using an evaluation algorithm. The process description includes all information of an MTM-HWD® analysis, which is necessary to determine the basic time and an ergonomic load analysis. By integrating the process description into a suitable (MTM) time management software, an MTM-HWD® analysis is derived without manual effort. The applicable set of rules is taken into account and a high analysis quality is ensured.
The validation was performed in cooperation between imk automotive GmbH, Audi AG and MTM ASSOCIATION e. V. For this purpose, eight characteristic production scenarios including a real assembly example from the automotive industry were defined and the automatically generated MTM-HWD® process description was checked for compliance with the rules. Based on the positive result and the fulfillment of the defined test criteria, the automated MTM-HWD® process description with the ema Work Designer received the MTM seal of approval “approved by MTM ASSOCIATION”.
Companies interested in “approved by MTM ASSOCIATION” seal of approval for a product or service are welcome to contact Dr. Fabian Nöhring, Innovation Manager, e-mail: fabian.noehring@mtm.org.