Advanced Ergonomics

Part I: Introduce yourself to your instructor with your name, location( Memphis, Tennessee current employment(Labcorp), and what you hope to gain from taking this course.

Part II: In our first unit lesson, we discuss the importance of considering human variability in the design process. When designing products such as airplanes, which are used by global populations, variations in overall body size and shape provide a challenge for designers. Please share your thoughts on whether you feel products used in global markets should be achieved by designing for a single variant, or should multiple variants—each targeted at a different market—be considered? Please include an example to support your design decision.

Please include the name of the person or question to which you are replying in the subject line. For example, "Tom's response to Susan's comment."ALSO PLEASE REPLY TO ANOTHER STUDENTS COMMENT BELOW 

MATTHEW:

My name is Matthew Mault. I live in Charlotte, North Carolina. I am currently employed by Essentra Packaging as the HSE (health, safety, & environmental) manager. We manufacture packaging products for pharmaceutical companies for humans and animals. Unfortunately due to the Prior to this I worked in chemical manufacturing specific to the textile industry, and in the automotive manufacturing industry (encapsulated thrust bearings for transmissions). From this class I hope to gain useful knowledge that will help me perform ergonomic assessments to improve work cells in my current job. We have a lot of manual material handling and I know there is a lot of opportunity for improvements. 

In regards to products on the global market being designed for single variants versus multiple variants, I believe that from a sales stand point, a designer/brand would benefit by designing based on multiple variants targeted at different markets. Take for example the clothing industry: everyone is most likely familiar with the discrepancy among sizes of clothing. What is a large in one store fits like a small in another. There is no universal standard for size of clothing that all designers must follow. Some individuals prefer tight fitting clothing while some prefer loose. If a company only provided slim fit or tight fit clothing I would not purchase clothing from then and would give my business to another brand. When a brand or designer has multiple variants targeted and different markets they open up their consumer base to more customers and bring in more sales/orders. I know that the clothing industry doesn't have a lot of impact on ergonomics but when you think about it wearing tight fitting or improper fitting clothing in general it can limit or impact your range of motion or flexibility. I look forward to reading my other classmates responses