Development and initial usability evaluation of a digital tool for simulation-based multi-objective optimization of productivity and worker well-being

Engineers use modelling and simulation techniques to efficiently create, evaluate, and optimize design solutions. In an industrial production context, engineers often need to consider requirements related to both productivity and worker well-being in order to find successful design solutions. However, simulations related to productivity and worker well-being respectively, are typically carried out by different engineering roles, using different digital tools. This lack of integrated work procedure could lead to inefficient development processes and suboptimal design solutions. Additionally, since performing multi-objective optimizations is likely to be seen as a complicated task by engineers in areas such as design engineering, production engineering, and ergonomics, requiring specific knowledge and skills, such tasks are typically performed by engineers specialized on optimization. This paper presents the development and usability evaluation of a digital tool that supports engineers not specialized in optimization to define and perform simulation-based multi-objective optimizations of requirements related to both productivity and worker well-being in an automated and simultaneous manner. The digital tool is the result of research carried out over a period of four years, following an iterative development and assessment process by the means of use cases, done in close collaboration with potential users of the digital tool, i.e. engineers at several companies. The usability evaluation of the digital tool shows that potential users in the industry view the tool as a promising support for performing their engineering tasks in a more efficient and integrated manner.