The history, status and outlook of the research and development actions associated with the creation of the digital human modelling tool intelligently moving manikins (IMMA) are described. The underlying fundamental concepts are described and research and development results so far are illustrated or referred to. Two case studies illustrating use of IMMA on industry-based problems are described. The paper also covers reflections on conceptions for prospective DHM tool developments from a general perspective, relating to areas of ergonomics and design methodology, as well as describing some of the plans for further developments and applications of the IMMA tool. These may be of assistance when identifying challenges for future research and development of DHM tools that are used in product and production design processes in industry.

Simulation can support the design of an ergonomic workplace by enabling early assessment of ergonomic conditions in a virtual environment. An important feature is the possibility to study alternative solutions or the effect of improvements from an ergonomics perspective. To be able to conduct an efficient and reliable evaluation in a virtual environment, an objective analysis method is essential. Such an analysis method should be integrated in the simulation software, and support a company's everyday ergonomics work process. In order to gain from existing ergonomics knowledge within a company, the possibility to implement such wisdom in the current simulation software becomes important. This paper presents an implementation work done with the purpose of integrating an established ergonomics work process into a virtual environment. It describes the benefits of an ergonomics work process where simulation and evaluation at early stages of a design process are key factors. The paper will also describe the integration process, i.e., the technical issues as well as the change in work methods.

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONS Worker well-being and overall system performance are important elements in the design of production lines. However, studies of industry practice show that current design tools are unable to consider concurrently both productivity aspects (e.g., line balancing and cycle time) and worker well-being related aspects (e.g., the risk of musculoskeletal disorders). Current practice also fails to account for anthropometric diversity in the workforce and does not use the potential of multi-objective simulation-based optimization techniques. Accordingly, a framework consisting of a workflow and a digital tool was designed to assist in the proactive design of workstations to accommodate worker well-being and productivity. This framework uses state-of-the-art optimization techniques to make it easier and quicker for designers to find successful workplace design solutions. A case study to demonstrate the framework is provided. Rationale: Simulation technologies are used widely in industry as they enable efficient creation, testing, and optimization of the design of products and production systems in virtual worlds. Simulations of productivity and ergonomics help companies to find optimized solutions that maintain profitability, output, quality, and worker well-being. However, these two types of simulations are typically carried out using separate tools, by persons with different roles, with different objectives. Silo effects can result, leading to slow development processes and suboptimal solutions. Purpose: This research is related to the realization of a framework that enables the concurrent optimization of worker well-being and productivity. The framework demonstrates how digital human modeling can contribute to Ergonomics 4.0 and support a human factors centered approach in Industry 4.0. The framework also facilitates consideration of anthropometric diversity in the user group. Methods: Design and creation methodology was used to create a framework that was applied to a case study, formulated together with industry partners, to demonstrate the functionality of the noted framework. Results: The framework workflow has three parts: (1) Problem definition and creation of the optimization model; (2) Optimization process; and (3) Presentation and selection of results. The case study shows how the framework was used to find a workstation design optimized for both productivity and worker well-being for a diverse group of workers. Conclusions: The framework presented allows for multi-objective optimizations of both worker well-being and productivity and was successfully applied in a welding gun use case.

This paper describes and evaluates the boundary case methodology for the simultaneous consideration of variance for a number of selected anthropometric variables. The methodology includes the calculation of key dimension values for extreme but likely anthropometric measurement combinations. This data can be applied when utilising digital human modelling (DHM) tools for proactive design work and entered as input data when representative manikins are defined. The mathematical procedure is clearly described and exemplified to demonstrate how to use the methodology in design work. The outcome of the method is illustrated and compared using several different cases where the number of measurements is varied and where principal component analysis (PCA) is used to reduce the number of dimensions in one case. The paper demonstrates that the proposed boundary case method is advantageous compared to approaches based on the use of univariate percentile data in design.