Planning working environment and production by using paper drawings and computer animation

It is assumed that pictorial visualization can be used to facilitate communication between industrial professionals when planning working environments and production. This article analyses how managers, supervisors, machine operators, and occupational health and safety officials, accustomed to using both paper drawings and computer animation of both shop floor and workplace view, evaluate these four types of visualization in relation to a set of planning issues. Twenty-four subjects participated in a controlled two-day planning workshop. They designed a new production layout by means of computer graphics, and responded to a questionnaire. From the analysis it may be concluded that the four types of visualization are unique enough to be evaluated differently with regard to some of the planning issues. Hence, great care should be devoted to analysing what features a visualization of a production layout or a working environment aims at illustrating. Furthermore, it can be concluded that each of the four types of visualization seems to be significant for planning activities in ways that can be anticipated. Shop floor view and workplace view is valuable for planning issues related to survey of a plant and specific machines, respectively. Computer animation is in general preferable to a paper drawing concerning dynamic planning issues. Computer animation of workplace view is valuable for planning issues related to working environment considerations. All of the four types of visualization are less significant for illustrating or describing physical factors of the working environment.