Ergonomics: In a Box?

Published: May 15, 2002, By Teresa Koltzenburg, Senior Editor

Out-of-the-box thinking from Ergonomic Technologies Corp. has resulted in a cost-effective way for your operation to have an "ergonomist in a box."

"Doing" ergonomics makes good business sense, says Cindy Roth, president/CEO of Ergonomic Technologies Corp. (ETC). But despite its documented benefits—"because you do have: productivity gains and a reduction in injuries. You go head to head with every one of these variables, and you could measure them," Roth says—"doing" ergonomics is not necessarily something companies want to spend a lot of time (and money) on, especially in tight times like these.

Additionally, if your operation involves several plants, particularly several plants or production facilities added through M&A (merger & acquisition) activity, planning and implementing an effective ergonomics program may be little more than a pipedream.

Ergotivity: Your Very Own Ergonomist
One economically viable way to get your ergonomics program going may be via a product manufactured by Roth's company, ETC. "Ergotivity," ETC's web-based software, essentially, says Roth, "puts an ergonomist in a box."

Ergotivity's Welcome/Log-In screen

Roth notes ETC also provides traditional ergonomic consulting services, but she says ETC came up with "Ergotivity" as a way to help companies with several operating locations. She explains: "We said to ourselves: 'Okay, now the majority of our companies are Fortune 500, which means they have multiple locations. And they have multiple locations globally. Now what does that mean? I put ten people on a [plane] to travel to Europe? Does that makes sense in terms of cost?'"

"Not really," answers Roth to her own question. Ergotivity, she explains, is a cost-effective way to implement and manage an ergonomics program in one facility or multiple operations within in company. "This software means you don't have to re-create the wheel. You take your facility that best represents your business, and you do all the ergonomics in that facility, and as you're doing it, because it's on the Internet, you can collaborate with all the rest of your facilities. By doing this, you can tell what doesn't work, because doing the wrong thing consistently can be much more expensive. Eventually, you can band together with others in the industry and get your vendors and suppliers on-board."

Ergotivity's "Create Project" module enables you to create various ergonomics projects; the intuitive program provides instructions for project types.

Ergotivity also offers industry-relevant news updates and articles, helping you keep abreast of the latest developments affecting your manufacturing practices or operation(s).