The software tool EMA (“Editor for Manual Work Activities”) facilitates digital production planning and ergonomics assessment by providing a more efficient and accurate approach to 3D human simulation. EMA uses a modular system for describing human work activities based on a pre-defined library of “complex operations”, which allows the generation and simulation of human movements with highly-automated algorithms. Moreover, EMA includes standard tools for the assessment of ergonomic strains (EAWS – “Ergonomic Assessment Worksheet”) and production time (MTM – “Methods Time Measurement”). After introducing some basic analysis functions of EMA and their typical use cases, this paper presents an evaluation study that examines the validity of EMA ergonomic evaluations in comparison to paper-pencil-assessments with EAWS. Moreover, this paper shows several use cases of the EMA software application in automotive and aviation industry. These applications illustrate that EMA considerably reduces the effort for preparing human simulations and enables the user to analyze ergonomic conditions (body posture, action forces, manual load handling) and productivity (e.g., walk ways) very thoroughly.

The Editor for Manual Work Activities (EMA), a planning method based on a 3D digital human model, addresses the need for realistic and holistic assessment of time and ergonomics in an early phase of product, process and resource planning. Since the first introduction of EMA in 2011 practical applications have triggered several improvements driven by the requirements of various industrial customers. Experiences in different branches called for a wide focus of new developments that now allow a broader application. This paper illustrates the connection between practical requirements and technical improvements of EMA within the past years. It also demonstrates how EMA may contribute to cost-efficient and accurate planning in different phases of the product development cycle. Finally, some of the future developments are illustrated.

The increasing global competition and changing demographic profiles amplify the importance of efficient design of work stations and processes that considers the physical job demands and the operators' abilities. Good ergonomic design is not restricted to the current production, but should be considered during all phases of the product life cycle. Digital human model (DHM) simulations provide good opportunities for an integrated ergonomic design, particularly during pre-production planning. This article gives an overview on DHM used in production ergonomics and highlights two new approaches to enhance current DHM applications. The editor for manual work activities (EMA) helps to speed up and optimise human movement simulation. MTMergonomics is an ergonomic risk assessment tool for industrial engineers (and ergonomists) during the planning phase of the product development process, based on MTM process languages like MTM-UAS. The ergonomic assessment worksheet (EAWS) is a tool for the holistic evaluation of physical workloads. It is implemented in digital human models like Jack and serves as an ergonomic evaluation tool within EMA and MTMergonomics. EAWS serves as a common feature to link DHM, EMA and MTMergonomics activities.