Currently, there are many issues with poorly designed workplaces in the manufacturing industry in Indonesia. Inadequate working conditions, especially in the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) manufacturing sector, result in high accident rates and low productivity. This issue is primarily caused by a lack of a proper workplace design process framework for SMEs.
This problem has become a special concern for Dene Herwanto and is discussed in his dissertation for the Doctoral Program in Industrial Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia (FTUI), titled “Development of Workplace Design Process Framework for Small and Medium-sized Manufacturing Enterprises in Indonesia.” The dissertation was presented at the FTUI Doctoral Promotion session held on Thursday (04/12) at the UI Campus in Depok.
“Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) contribute significantly to the country’s economy, especially in developing countries, including Indonesia. Most of the physical workplace conditions in Indonesian SMEs engaged in the manufacturing industry are poor and do not meet the standards set by the government. In addition to the issue of poor working conditions, SMEs in Indonesia also face numerous complaints of musculoskeletal disorders caused by the repeated and prolonged poor posture of operators during the production process,” explained Dene in his presentation.
In his research, Dene Herwanto developed a framework for the workplace design process that aligns with the characteristics of manufacturing SMEs in Indonesia. This framework aims to assist managers of manufacturing SMEs in designing their workplaces effectively to create safe, healthy, and productive working environments.
“The development of the framework is based on the qualitative analysis of six articles on workplace design process frameworks for the manufacturing industry introduced by previous researchers. The analysis resulted in two frameworks that can be used as references to develop the initial proposed framework, which was then verified through interviews with manufacturing SME managers in the Karawang Regency, West Java,” continued Dene.
The application of the framework developed by Dene Herwanto showed improvements in average productivity by 14.69%, enhanced efficiency in material handling distance and time by an average of 23.97% and 22.46%, eliminated occupational safety and health risks to zero, and improved the physical environmental conditions (noise, lighting, and temperature) by 100% following the standards or threshold values set by the government.
“We hope that the development of this framework will not only be applied in manufacturing SMEs in Karawang but also in manufacturing SMEs throughout Indonesia and be developed for application in manufacturing SMEs with product characteristics exhibiting high variations and low production volumes to achieve high productivity in material handling activities,” said FTUI Dean, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, ST., M.Eng., IPU, regarding this research.
Dene Herwanto earned his doctoral degree with a GPA of 3.9 and the predicate “Very Satisfactory.” He is the 19th doctoral graduate from the Department of Industrial Engineering at FTUI. The Doctoral Promotion session was chaired by Prof. Dr. Ir. Yanuar, M.Eng., M.Sc., with the Supervisor being Prof. Dr.-Ing. Amalia Suzianti, S.T., M.Sc., and Co-Supervisor, Dr. Komarudin, S.T., M.Eng. The Examination Committee consisted of Prof. Ir. Hardianto Iridiastadi, MSIE, Ph.D., Dr. Ir. Ho Hwi Chie, M.Sc., IPU, ASEAN Eng., Prof. Dr. Ir. Teuku Yuri M. Zagloel, M.Eng.Sc., Prof. Dr. Ir. Akhmad Hidayatno, S.T., MBT, IPU., Dr. Maya Arlini Puspasari, S.T., M.T., MBA.
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